(CNN) -- English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur crushed Scottish outfit Heart of Midlothian 5-0 in the qualifying round of UEFA's Europa League. Tottenham, who had their opening Premier League clash against Everton postponed due the recent London riots, nevertheless looked much the sharper as they raced into a 3-0 lead by half time. It took just five minutes for Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart to take advantage of some calamitous defending to poke Tottenham 1-0 in front before Jermain Defoe and 21-year-old Jake Livermore, scoring his first goal for his club, put the tie beyond the Edinburgh club. Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon completed the rout. It was a great night for English clubs as Fulham beat Ukraine's Dnipro 3-0 thanks to a brace from U.S. international Clint Dempsey, Stoke City -- playing their first European tie in nearly 40 years -- snatched a 1-0 victory against FC Thun in Switzerland whilst second division Birmingham City held Nacional to a 0-0 draw in Portugal. Elsewhere Europe's leading clubs fared badly. Helsinki pulled off arguably the biggest shock of the night by beating German side Shalke 2-0 in Finland. Shalke was missing talismanic Spanish striker Raul after he was left out of their Europa League squad. AS Roma also face a tough second leg after Slovan Bratislava beat them 1-0 in Slovakia. The second leg ties all take place August 25th.
Tottenham Hotspur smash Hearts 5-0 in the Europa League .
Good night for English clubs as Fulham and Stoke City win .
Shalke 04 and AS Roma both lose .
Second leg of qualifying round takes place August 25th .
(CNN) -- English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur crushed Scottish outfit Heart of Midlothian 5-0 in the qualifying round of UEFA's Europa League. Tottenham, who had their opening Premier League clash against Everton postponed due the recent London riots, nevertheless looked much the sharper as they raced into a 3-0 lead by half time. It took just five minutes for Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart to take advantage of some calamitous defending to poke Tottenham 1-0 in front before Jermain Defoe and 21-year-old Jake Livermore, scoring his first goal for his club, put the tie beyond the Edinburgh club. Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon completed the rout. It was a great night for English clubs as Fulham beat Ukraine's Dnipro 3-0 thanks to a brace from U.S. international Clint Dempsey, Stoke City -- playing their first European tie in nearly 40 years -- snatched a 1-0 victory against FC Thun in Switzerland whilst second division Birmingham City held Nacional to a 0-0 draw in Portugal. Elsewhere Europe's leading clubs fared badly. Helsinki pulled off arguably the biggest shock of the night by beating German side Shalke 2-0 in Finland. Shalke was missing talismanic Spanish striker Raul after he was left out of their Europa League squad. AS Roma also face a tough second leg after Slovan Bratislava beat them 1-0 in Slovakia. The second leg ties all take place August 25th.
Midlothian 5-0 in the qualifying round of UEFA's It was a great night for English clubs as Fulham U.S. international Clint Dempsey, Stoke City -- Europa League squad. AS Roma also face a tough August 25th.