Samuel Eto’o scored two goals and set up a third as Anzhi demolished Hungary’s FC Honved 4-0 to reach the Europa League third qualifying round with a 5-0 aggregate win Thursday.
Their next opponents will be either Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem or Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Plovdiv, playing the second leg of their tie late Thursday after finishing 4-4 in Bulgaria last week.
Eto’o settled Anzhi’s nerves on seven minutes, bundling the ball home following mistakes in the Honved defense as they failed to deal with Mbark Boussoufa’s corner.
Anzhi stretched their lead on 53 minutes through new signing Lacina Traore, as the Ivorian striker got the better of four defenders, playing the ball through Andras Debreceni’s legs before flicking the ball past goalkeeper Szabolcs Kemenes.
Eto’o set up young winger Oleg Shatov for Anzhi’s third on 68 minutes with a perfectly-weighted pass that allowed Shatov to dart in behind the Honved defense and finish with a placed shot.
The Cameroonian striker grabbed his second on 81 minutes with a magnificent solo effort, dribbling through the defense before lofting the ball over Kemenes and into the net.
Honved played the last 35 minutes of the match with ten men after Richard Vernes picked up a straight red card for a foul on Anzhi midfielder Jucilei.
The Hungarians had their share of chances, with Vernes going close in the early stages, while Herve Tchami could have scored on 37 minutes but failed to make contact with Marko Vidovic’s low cross.
Eto’o did not leave with a perfect record, failing to convert an excellent chance on the stroke of half-time when one-on-one with Kemenes following a pass from Traore.
