Chris McKee scored twice as Linfield beat FK Vllaznia 3-1 in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier at Windsor Park.

Earlier on Thursday, Crusaders drew 2-2 in Finland with FC Haka in their first round qualifier while Glentoran also drew 2-2 with Gzira United in Malta.

Derry City were held to a goalless draw with HB Torshavn in the Faroe Islands.

The second legs will take place on Thursday, 20 July.

Linfield made a bright opening with Daniel Finlayson heading wide at the back post from a Kirk Millar free kick, while Matthew Fitzpatrick glanced a header wide from a McKee cross in the opening minutes.

The home side also had appeals for a penalty waved away by Luxembourg referee Ivo Torres when Fitzpatrick went down in the area under a challenge from Milos Stojanovic.

Linfield had another opening on the half hour mark when Fitzpatrick cleverly headed down a Millar cross into the path of McKee but the striker couldn’t keep his volley down.

Despite the home side’s dominance, they were almost undone at the other end five minutes into the second half as Bekim Balaj spun away from Ben Hall to race clear on goal but his tame shot was easily gathered by Chris Johns.

Eventually, however, Linfield broke the deadlock on 57 minutes. Kyle McClean’s strong run into the penalty area was blocked by a defender with the ball looping towards goal over goalkeeper Qarri. He did well to scoop the ball clear but in the scramble that followed, McKee was on hand to steer home a shot from six yards.

McKee doubled his and Linfield’s tally on 68 minutes when he collected a misplaced clearance and played a pass to Cooper on the left hand side of the penalty area before continuing his run to meet Cooper’s delivery with a thumping volley.

And it got even better for Linfield on 78 minutes as McKee turned provider with a clever ball inside a defender for full-back Jack Scott to race into the penalty area and find the bottom corner with an assured finish.

What looked like a virtually perfect evening for Linfield took a downward spiral in the closing minutes. Firstly, defender Finlayson was shown a second yellow card for a foul and from the resulting free kick, defender Marko Juric volleyed home to give the Albanians a lifeline heading into next week’s second leg.

Glens and Crues hit back in draws

Glentoran head back to Belfast with a good chance of progression after an entertaining 2-2 draw with Gzira United in the first leg in Malta.

Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe missed an early penalty for the Glens, who were in their first competitive outing under new manager Warren Feeney.

However, the striker made amends for his earlier miss when he headed home Shay McCartan’s cross.

Gzira hit back and led by half-time when Jose Wilkson tapped home a close-range effort and Brooklyn Borg finished off a fine counter attack shortly before the interval.

Feeney’s side came out energised in the second half and equalised through a cleverly taken short free-kick. Niall McGinn’s shot on the left side of the box was parried away by David Cassar but Daire O’Connor was there to meet the ball and head in the equaliser to set up a tantalising second leg.

Crusaders, much like their Belfast rivals Glentoran, head back to Northern Ireland with a positive result after a frantic 2-2 draw in Finland with 10-man FC Haka.

Jordan Forsythe gave Stephen Baxter’s men the lead in the 22nd minute with a superb finish into the top corner from the edge of the area.

The hosts responded from the penalty spot when Jarlath O’Rourke was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area and Logan Rogerson converted from 12 yards.

FC Haka hit the front on 36 minutes when Stavros Zarokostas’ low cross found Tiemoko Fofano and the home striker slotted past Jonathan Tuffey.

Philip Lowry had a goal ruled out after the restart as the Crues pushed for an equaliser, but the hosts almost extended their lead when Janne-Pekka Laine’s free-kick struck the crossbar.

Laine was then dismissed for a second yellow card with 20 minutes to play and Ross Clarke levelled the game with a fine strike from the resulting free-kick.

Derry held in Faroe Islands

It was a nervy start at Torsvollur for the Candystripes when Emil Berger’s strike crashed off the right-hand post in the 16th minute. The 32-year-old was in action again shortly after but this time his attempt was off target.

However, Ruaidhri Higgins’ men grew into the tie with Michael Duffy showing good pace down the wing before playing a skilful pass to Scottish newcomer Paul McMullan, whose resulting strike proved an easy save for Bjarti Mork.

Cameron Dummigan shot from distance was also denied by the alert HB Torshavn stopper on the 31st minute.

Half-time substitute Jamie McGonigle nearly made an instant impact after Duffy’s corner caused a scramble in the box before eventually falling to the Derry striker, but his strong strike was inches wide of the post.

The 27-year-old tried his luck again, this time with a low effort which was saved by Mork.

In the final ten minutes, Ciaran Coll nearly grabbed the winner with his first touch of the game after he nodded Patrick McEleney’s free-kick goal-bound, but once again the busy HB Torshavn keeper denied the Candystripes the goal to make it all to play for at the Brandywell.