Belgrade, August 14 (uefa.com) - Red Star effectively booked their place in the first round of the UEFA Cup with an impressive 5-0 victory over Moldovan side FC Nistru Otaci in Belgrade.
Star of the show for the home side was giant striker Nikola Zigic, who scored a hat-trick. Zigic was set up by Branko Boskovic for each of his goals before the Serbo-Montenegrin international helped himself to a goal of his own in the second half.
Red Star opened the scoring after just eight minutes through Zigic, who only arrived at the club earlier this summer after plying his trade in the third division. Defender Marjan Markovic and Boskovic combined before feeding Zigic and he made no mistake from close range.
Red Star's second arrived 12 minutes later when Boskovic sent over a dangerous corner which the towering Zigic steered home. The hosts extended their lead on the stroke of half-time when Nemanja Vidic coolly slotted home a penalty.
Within a minute of the restart it was 4-0 with Boskovic again displaying his set-piece skills, sending a rasping drive into the top corner from the edge of the box. The rout was completed four minutes later with Boskovic providing the cross for Zigic's headed finish. The home side were subsequently content to play out time safe in the knowledge that their passage to the first round is all but assured.
Coach Slavoljub Muslin was delighted with his side's display. He said: "It was a great match for us. I am very satisfied that we played at this level and impressed in our first home game, especially after our defeat at the weekend. The win is good for morale but we must play better and better in the future."
His opposite number, Yuri Gii, was magnanimous in defeat. He said: "What can you say after a 5-0 defeat. Congratulations to Red Star and I hope when we face them next that we will play better than today."
UEFA Cup qualifyng round, first leg, Belgrade, SERBIA-MONTENEGRO, August 14
Red Star Belgrade (SERBIA-MONTENEGRO) - Nistru Otaci (MOLDOVA) 5-0 (HT: 3-0)
Red Star Stadium in Belgrade. Attendance: 12,000. Referee: Peter Sippel (Germany). Scorers for Red Star: Zigic '8, '20, '50, Vidic '45 (penalty) and Boskovic '46. Booked: Markovic (Red Star) abd Dinov (Nistru).
RED STAR: Disljenkovic, Markovic, Vidic (Djordjic),
Vitakic, Sarac, Kovacevic, Mladenovic, Boskovic, Bogavac,
Zigic (Stojanovic), Orahovac (Bogicevic).
NISTRU: Dinov, Lupasco, Lascenkov, Kovalkov, Pogreban
(Yanchuc), Lichioiu, Doros, Groshev, Torešku (Leal), Mincev
(Popescu), Gheorghe.
