Hibernian humiliated as Malmo inflict 7-0 Europa League humbling

Posted Friday, July 26, 2013 by theguardian.com

• Hibs go out 9-0 on aggregate after Easter Road thrashing
• St Johnstone stun Rosenborg to reach third qualifying round

Hibernian's European adventure came to an end in embarrassing style as they crashed out of the Europa League second qualifying round after suffering a 7-0 defeat by Malmo at Easter Road.

While the task was always going to be a difficult one for the Scottish side as they trailed by two goals from last week's first-leg meeting in Sweden, the second leg turned into a night of humiliation for last season's Scottish Cup finalists who went out 9-0 on aggregate.

Magnus Eriksson added to his goal from the first leg after 20 minutes, Emil Forsberg doubled the lead on the night on 25 minutes and Markus Halsti effectively ended the tie as a contest four minutes later.

But there was no let-up as Miiko Albornoz made it 4-0 just before half-time and in the second half goals from Tokelo Rantie, Jiloan Hamad and Simon Kroon completed the rout for the rampant Swedes.

The emphatic win ensured Malmo progressed to a meeting with the Capital One Cup winners Swansea City, ending any hope of a 'Battle of Britain' clash in the next round.

Hibernian humiliated as Malmo inflict 7-0 Europa League humbling

"I'm embarrassed more than anything else. It's difficult to say too much to be honest," said the shell-shocked Hibernian manager, Pat Fenlon, afterwards. "We did all right at the start of the game and then conceded a goal and lost our way. It's very, very disappointing.

"It's difficult to say anything after a game like that. I've got to look at myself and not just blame players. The fans were fantastic and I apologise to the supporters. I won't make excuses, it's not good enough. I know how they're feeling."

Asked if the heavy defeat was the worst of his career, Fenlon said: "It feels like it at the moment. We've had some bad days and this is a bad day. You have to learn, it's as simple as that. Managers have to learn and players have to learn. It's difficult at this stage to be too positive about anything so I'm disappointed with that."

There was much brighter news for the Scottish game up in Perth, however, as St Johnstone pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the club's 128-year history by completing a surprise 2-1 aggregate win over Rosenborg to send the Norwegian side, Champions League regulars in recent seasons, spinning out of the Europa League.

The 22-time Norwegian champions had been defeated by Frazer Wright's winner in Trondheim last week and St Johnstone completed the job at McDiarmid Park as their young striker Stevie May netted a precious equaliser to secure safe passage to the third qualifying round with a 1-1 draw on the night, and 2-1 on aggregate.

The victory is Tommy Wright's first act as the new Saints manager and he can now look forward to another two-leg tussle with the Belarusian side FC Minsk.

He has urged his men to carry the same self-confidence into next Thursday's first leg in Belarus. "It was magnificent. It could not have gone any better for us. Now we face a rush to find out about Minsk

"We want the journey to continue. We dared to believe that we could beat Rosenborg and now we're saying let's see how far we can go. You want to get through the next round and the play-off and into the Europa League group. And on the standard they've set over these two games that wouldn't be unreachable."

May said: "I don't remember much about the goal. I know David Wotherspoon played it in but it was just a nothing ball, the defender was in front of me and I threw a leg around the side of him and managed to lob the ball over the keeper. It was a goal made in Perth with two local lads.

Wright added: "For us to turn over a team of that European quality and pedigree and the budget that they have is something the players should be very proud of. The pleasing thing for me was that over two legs it was deserved. They ran out of ideas and were knocking long balls into the box. That is all down to players and how hard they worked."