Angan secures Molde victory against Ventspils

Davy Claude Angan struck twice in the second half to help Ole Gunnar Solskjær's Molde FK ease to a comfortable home second qualifying round first-leg win against FK Ventspils on their UEFA Champions League return.

The Norwegian titleholders, who played in the 1999/2000 group stage on their only previous entry, took 53 minutes to break the deadlock, but two Angan goals either side of a Vegard Forren penalty ensured a healthy lead for next Tuesday's away leg.

Angan could have scored on the half-hour when he was sent clear with only Ventspils goalkeeper Maksims Uvarenko to beat but shot to the right of goal. Six minutes later Molde captain Magne Hoseth hit the inside of a post from the edge of the box and soon after Uvarenko again denied Angan.

However, it was a different story eight minutes into the second half as Angan got his head to Magnus Eikrem's free-kick. The ball hit a Ventspils defender and the left-hand post, falling for Angan to poke into the empty net.

It was 2-0 on 74 minutes. Jo Inge Berget was pushed over in the box by Oļegs Timofejevs and Forren made no mistake from the spot, sending Uvarenko the wrong way. Molde increased their advantage when Daniel Hestad, who had replaced Hoseth late in the first half, sent a perfect pass in for Angan to again beat Uvarenko.