Metalist dazzle against ten-man Debrecen

FC Metalist Kharkiv showed poise and invention as they dismantled ten-man Debreceni VSC in UEFA Europa League Group I, though late goals from Edmar, Fininho and Serhiy Valyayev did their luckless hosts little justice.

Myron Markevich's side created a stir in reaching the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 16, and played some stylish stuff once more in Budapest. Edmar would have struggled to miss from Taison's cross after 24 minutes, but there was no doubting the artistry that underpinned their second goal, although Péter Kabát's dismissal before the break gave the home team cause to throw in the towel.

Debrecen looked a handy outfit early on, yet came unstuck as Taison was allowed to spin in from the right, darting a ball across Mindaugas Malinauskas's goal which fellow Brazilian Edmar bundled in at the far post. The Hungarian champions almost equalised immediately, as Metalist keeper Vladimir Dišljenković could only block Péter Czvitkovics's shot, with striker Kabát conspiring to send the rebound against the post.

That proved a costly piece of bad luck. Metalist made it 2-0, with Cleiton Xavier picking up the return ball after a back-heeled lay-off to Andriy Vorobey, switching the ball from right foot to left, and squeezing an elegant finish through two defenders past Debrecen's Lithuanian keeper. The combination of that strike and Kabát's red card for a foul on Milan Obradović effectively ended the contest by half-time.

To their credit, Debrecen made an effort to dig themselves out of a deep hole at the interval, bringing on forward Adamo Coulibaly and midfielder Luis Ramos, but Metalist produced a daunting finale. Edmar turned in Cleiton Xavier's corner with an audacious back-heeled volley, Fininho rifled in number four from distance, and Valyayev strolled through to make it 5-0 at the death.