FLORIANA-0, AEK LARNACA-8
Floriana suffered a humiliating 8-0 defeat to AEK Larnaca in the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying round match at the Hibs Stadium this evening.
As the scoreline clearly indicates, the game was a no-contest as AEK Larnaca outclassed Floriana who found it impossible to cope with their opponents' fluid and intelligent football.
Local hopes of a positive showing by Floriana fizzled out after just 24 minutes as AEK Larnaca surged into a 3-0 lead and added two more goals before half-time.
Floriana conceded after just three minutes. Dutch midfielder Edwin Linssen profited from the open space to advance on the right before crossing into the box where Serbian forward Miljan Mrdakovic headed past Matthew Towns to send the numerous AEK Larnaca fans into raptures.
AEK Larnaca dominated the early exchanges and doubled their lead after 11 minutes. Mano Micallef felled Doding Priso, the former Valletta winger, in the inside-left channel and Kyriakos Pavlou's swerving but tame drive from the ensuing set-piece caught Towns by surprise.
Two goals down after 11 minutes, Floriana were clearly up against it as AEK Larnaca were physically and technically superior to the Greens.
The Cypriots threatened to go 3-0 up when Priso, a source of constant danger for Floriana on the right wing, broke clear and teed up Gregoor Vandijk who blasted over from a favourable position.
The game was only 24 minutes old when AEK Larnaca put the game to bed. Receiving a diagonal pass on the left, Pavlou outpaced Owen Bugeja and served Spanish forward Gonzalo Garcia who drove the ball home from point blank.
Fears of a humiliating defeat for Floriana loomed large after AEK Larnaca's goal avalanche.
The home side produced their first attack after 35 minutes. Brazilian signing Edilson swapped passes with Christian Caruana and ran into the box but his cross was a bit too high for Alcorse who headed well wide of goal.
In their next attack, AEK went 4-0 up, Priso making progress on the right before crossing for Linssen who hit past Towns.
AEK Larnaca made it 5-0 four minutes from half-time, Garcia again beating Towns from close in after receiving a pass from Pavlou.
The second half had only just begun when Pavlou again surged clear on the left and crossed for Garcia whose overhead kick sailed wide.
Floriana's reprieve was temporary as AEK Larnaca scored goal no.6 eight minutes into the second half. Priso made another scurrying run on the right before sending in a teasing cross into the six-yard box. Mrdakovic's header was blocked by Towns but Garcia hit home from the rebound.
AEK now seemed happy to coast through the remaining minutes, giving Floriana some respite. From a corner, taken by Christian Cassar, Alcorse headed wide.
At the other end, Nigerian substitute Kingsley Ekeh shot wide from just outside the box but 16 minutes from time, AEK further increased their lead when Ruben Gomes, another second-half substitute, drove past the stranded Towns after receiving from Ekeh.
AEK Larnaca made it 8-0 six minutes from the end. Ekeh stormed into the Floriana box but his floated drive was deflected away by Towns. The ball dropped near Nestor Mytidis, another substitute, who bundled the ball into the net from close in.
In stoppage time, AEK Larnaca captain Kevin Hofland almost committed an own goal, heading just wide of the post as he tried to clear Cassar's cross.