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Mikel and Ekuban's Trabzonspor advance into Uefa Europa League group stage

John Obi Mikel and Caleb Ekuban's Trabzonspor have advanced to the group stage of the 2019-20 Uefa Europa League despite a 2-0 loss to AEK Athens on Thursday.

Two first-half goals from the Greek visitors were not enough to secure the needed result at the Medical Park Stadium as Trabzonspor progressed into the group stage based on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate score.

Ghana's Ekuban scored a hat-trick for Unal Karaman's side last Thursday which gave them a 3-1 advantage at Athens.

Mikel started for the Black Sea Storm on Thursday but was substituted in the 36th minute, eight minutes after he was shown a yellow card.