Young Boys secure emphatic Slovan win

• Young Boys secure biggest home win in UEFA competition
• Jan Lecjaks and Renato Steffen give hosts comfortable half-time lead
• Raphaël Nuzzolo, Adrian Nikci and Guillaume Hoarau add gloss after restart 
• Slovan hit woodwork three times but fail to find target
• Next games: Sparta Praha v Young Boys, Slovan v Napoli (2 October)

BSC Young Boys cruised to a 5-0 victory against shell-shocked Group I visitors ŠK Slovan Bratislava to begin their UEFA Europa League bid in style.

Goals from Jan Lecjaks, Renato Steffen, Raphaël Nuzzolo and Adrian Nikci were punctuated by three Slovan strikes against the woodwork before Guillaume Hoarau rounded off the scoring, as the Swiss side posted their biggest home success in a UEFA competition while extending their winning run in European home matches to five.

Lecjaks rode his luck to open the scoring, exchanging passes with Samuel Afum before his cross ricocheted back, allowing him to finish via the inside of the post. Juraj Halenár then served warning of Slovan's long-range threat by rattling the post with a brilliant strike, shortly before Dušan Perniš, his goalkeeper, denied Moreno Costanzo from an acute angle.

However, Young Boys immediately notched their second as Florent Hadergjonaj launched a cross from the right and Steffen stole a march on Slovan defender Erik Čikoš to loop his header in. Erik Grendel could have pulled one back before half-time, but his strike from distance cracked the bar.

Nuzzolo extended the lead in the second half as he latched onto a Steffen pass and ignored Afum inside of him to slot in for his fifth UEFA competition goal. Slovan were not done hitting woodwork, with Kristián Kolčák the next to try his luck, but it was not to be the Slovakian team's night. Indeed, Nikci got the fourth with a deflected effort from the edge of the area before fellow substitute Hoarau rounded off the scoring from a straight punt upfield.