Omonia Nicosia beat Sint-Truidense VV 4-2 in the UEFA Europa League playoff round. Loïs Diony scored a hat-trick to give the home side a commanding lead, and they saw out the win despite a late away goal.
Diony opened the scoring in the 16th minute and doubled the lead on 29. Ilias Sebaoui pulled one back for Sint-Truidense four minutes later, but Diony restored the two-goal cushion in the 50th minute, with Ewandro Costa providing the assist. Nikolas Panagiotou made it 4-1 on 82, and the visitors added a 90th-minute goal to narrow the margin.
Sint-Truidense shaded possession with 53% and took six corners to Omonia's five, yet both sides managed five shots on target. Omonia were the more clinical side, with Diony's treble proving the decisive difference.
