FC Copenhagen on Wednesday advanced to the third qualifying round of the Conference League following a 5-4 aggregate victory over Ukraine's FC Polissya.
The home side played the second half with ten men following a straight red card for Japanese defender Junnosuke Suzuki. Captain Mohamed Elyounoussi and Brazilian winger Robert scored the goals for the Copenhagen side, who have yet to fully hit their stride in terms of performance this season, despite remaining unbeaten after three matches.
In the third qualifying round of Europe's third-tier competition, the Danes will face either Hungary's Debreceni or Armenia's Pyunik in the coming weeks. The Hungarians hold a 1-0 lead heading into Thursday's return leg.
After a very passive start by Bo Svensson's squad, FC Copenhagen began to find their feet in the match, and after 25 minutes, Brazilian winger Robert used his pace to win a penalty.
Captain Elyounoussi converted it confidently, and the home side went into the break with a 1-0 lead. The second half then barely kicked off when Suzuki mistimed a challenge, was forced into a desperate last-ditch tackle, and left his teammates a man down.
This resulted in fifteen minutes of Ukrainian pressure, before FC Copenhagen hit the visitors on the counter after an hour's play.
Midfielder Mads Emil Madsen both won the ball and provided the assist for Robert’s simple close-range finish, following an energetic run into space.
This was followed by perhaps the home side's best spell of the match; they defended well and, despite being a man down, managed to launch several attacks, ensuring the game did not turn into a one-sided siege.
Polissya were not without chances, however. Yet, their goal only came right at the end of stoppage time, so there was no real suspense regarding the outcome.