Victorious København book play-off berth

FC København sealed a UEFA Champions League play-off berth at the expense of Shamrock Rovers FC thanks to a 2-0 victory in Dublin.

København's slender lead from the first leg was doubled prior to half-time through Dame N'Doye's fine finish. Christián Bolaños extended FCK's advantage with 17 minutes remaining when he pounced on the rebound after Ryan Thompson saved N'Doye's header.

With Sölvi Ottesen's first-leg goal separating the sides at kick-off, the onus was on the hosts to attack. Michael O'Neill's side did just that, with Chris Turner testing Johan Wiland in the visitors' goal early on. Turner was proving a handful for the FCK defence and the 24-year-old came close to opening the scoring again on 18 minutes only for his header to come back off the crossbar.

København eased their way back into the game but N'Doye's long-range strike, which was well saved by Thompson, was all they had to show for their efforts in the opening 30 minutes. However, with the half seemingly set to end goalless, Roland Nilsson's side extended their aggregate lead. Shamrock Rovers failed to clear a Bolaños corner and when the ball fell to N'Doye inside the penalty area, the former Panathinaikos FC forward finished with aplomb.

The hosts were visibly deflated after the break and a much-improved FCK controlled proceedings for long spells. It took until the 73rd minute, though, for the Danish champions to make their dominance count, with Bolaños the first to react when N'Doye's effort was parried by Thompson. FCK now await Friday's play-off draw with aspirations of emulating their performance from last season of reaching the round of 16.