Balzan                     4

Effiong 12; Lecao 22

Kaljevic 33; Kadu 56

FK Kesla     1

Kozli 27pen.

Balzan put themselves in a strong position to reach the second qualifying round of the Europa League when they cruised past Azerbaijan's FK Kesla 4-1 at the Centenary Stadium.

It was an impressive performance for Balzan who put their foot on the accelerator right from the outset.

In fact they took the lead after 12 minutes. Kadu sent a low cross towards Bojan Kaljevic who opted to leave the ball into the path of Alfred Effiong who stabbed home.

Balzan doubled their lead on 21 minutes when Milos Lepovic picked Kadu who elegantly flicked the ball towards the unmarked Alex Alves who drilled into the net.

Balzan outclassed Kesla in the first leg of their Europa League commitment. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

However, FK Kesla pulled a goal back when Alves handled Slavik Alkhasov cross inside the area and from the resultant penalty Cesar Meza Kolli scored from the spot.

But Balzan soon regrouped and they restored their two-goal lead on 33 minutes when Kaljevic latched onto Kadu’s delivery from a corner and bundled the ball into the net.

Two minutes from the break, Alves picked Effiong inside the area and the Malta striker nodded the ball into the path of Lepovic who fired over.

Things got even better for Balzan 11 minutes into the second half when in another swift foray, Kadu moved past his marker to hit a firm low drive that rolled into the net.

Uros Ljubomirac replaced Effiong and the Serbian striker almost struck on 65 minutes when he was put clear by Kaljevic but fired wide with only Agayev to beat.