Greg . 2 days ago

FC Copenhagen tear apart Malmo in the Battle of Scandinavia to proceed to CL-playoff round

FC Copenhagen clinched their place in the UEFA Champions League play-off round after a dominant 5-0 victory over Malmö FF in the second leg of their third qualifying round tie at Parken Stadium.

Both teams have become accustomed to tasting success at this stage of UCL qualifying in recent times, however both were tasked with responding to recent disappointment in their respective domestic campaigns in their quest to reach the coveted League Phase.

And it was the home side who created the first opening of the contest inside the first 10 minutes when a low ball was played into the area and found Andreas Cornelius, who took a touch before shooting left-footed on the turn and seeing his effort saved at close range by the alert Robin Olsen.

The Lions went close again when Gabriel Pereira’s header across goal just evaded the arriving Robert Silva.

The Danes eventually made their pressure tell to deservedly take the lead.

First, Rodrigo Huescas did brilliantly to direct his header past Olsen and into the bottom left-hand corner to underway the scoring, and then two minutes before the interval Silva received the ball just inside the area and showed quick feet to create room for a shot which found the bottom right-hand corner.

Copenhagen have now scored at least once in their last 15 UEFA home games.

Malmo thought they had been awarded a penalty in the final minute of stoppage time, however after consulting the pitchside monitor referee José María Sánchez Martínez overturned his original judgment.

Di blåe knew they needed to strike early in the second half to give themselves some hope.

Instead, it was the Lions who found the net six minutes after the restart when Jordan Larsson and Mohamed Elyounoussi exchanged passes before the latter fired his effort into the bottom left-hand corner to put the Danes into a commanding position.

Malmo were struggling badly to make any impression on the game, registering just the single shot on target inside 60 minutes.

And their misery was further compounded when Magnus Mattsson broke free inside the area and sent a powerful effort goalwards which took a slight deflection to lift it over the stranded Olsen, before Silva got on the end of Cornelius’ cross to direct it into the bottom left-hand corner for 5-0.

 Things could have got even worse for the Swedes, but Youssoufa Moukoko’s goal was ruled out to spare any further humiliation.

After a five-star display, Copenhagen can now look forward to being two games away from the UCL League Phase, while Malmö will now drop into the UEFA Europa League play-off round.

Betopick Man of the Match: Mohamed Elyounoussi (FC Copenhagen)