Dinamo breeze past ZTE

NK Dinamo Zagreb added further insult to Zalaegerszegi TE's ignominy by running out 3-1 winners to record a 9-1 aggregate victory in their UEFA Cup first-round tie.

Fall from grace
The match provided ZTE with little more than the opportunity to regain some pride as they had quickly fallen from the graceful position that defeating Manchester United FC in the UEFA Champions League afforded them. Their return match at Old Trafford ended in a 5-0 defeat and elimination from Europe's premier club football competition, but worse followed in Zagreb two weeks ago when Péter Boszik's side were on the receiving end of a 6-0 thrashing.

Mitu opener
The Hungarian champions came out fighting in the first half, and though they created the majority of the early scoring chances, it was Dinamo who took the lead in the 13th minute. A combination on the edge of the penalty area involving Dumitru Mitu and Ivica Olic allowed the former to shoot low into the net from 12 metres past Géza Turi.

Missed opportunities
The home side continued to create chances, but with Krisztián Kenesei and Béla Koplárovics together missing three decent scoring opportunities around the half-hour mark, an equaliser looked beyond them. Indeed, the Croatians punished ZTE again before the interval when Olic scored from the penalty spot after being fouled by Otto Vincze following a quick counterattack.

Little consolation
Olic then turned provider in the 74th minute for a second time when he broke clear to play in Edin Mujcin, who fired high past Turi for Dinamo's third. Silvio Maric went close to scoring Dinamo's fourth with a long-range effort before Radu Sabo struck a consolation goal for ZTE in the last minute from Koplárovics's cross.