FC Nordsjælland steamrolled their way into the Conference League playoff round following a 7-0 aggregate victory over Iceland's Valur.
The groundwork had already been laid in the first leg in Reykjavik, where the North Zealand side won 2-0. On the artificial turf in Farum on Thursday evening, any lingering doubts were emphatically dispelled.
The home side ran crushed the Icelanders with a 5-0 victory, easily booking their ticket to the next round.
Five different players got on the scoresheet for FC Nordsjaelland, who could have won by an even wider margin. Hjalte Rasmussen, Villum Berthelsen, Marcus Walker, Lamine Sadio, and Levy Nene each scored once.
Awaiting them in the battle for a spot in the Conference League league phase is either FC Sheriff Tiraspol from Moldova or FC St. Gallen from Switzerland.
From the opening whistle in Farum, the North Zealand side firmly took control of the match. It took just four minutes for their dominance to translate into a goal. Prince Amoako played the ball across to Hjalte Rasmussen, who easily fired into an empty net.
Chances continued to come FC Nordsjaelland's way. Although the intensity dropped slightly towards the end of the first half, the Icelandic visitors struggled to keep up.
Even so, the home side came close to handing Valur a way back into the match when Juho Lähteenmäki's shot struck an opponent. The visitors appealed for a penalty, but after the referee reviewed the incident on the VAR monitor, no penalty was awarded.
However, Lähteenmäki soon played a decisive role at the other end of the pitch. He played the ball into the Icelandic box, where Villum Berthelsen easily tapped it over the line.
The onslaught continued after the break. Just over an hour into the match, Marcus Walker capitalized on a rebound to make it 3–0. Chances came thick and fast for the home team, and ten minutes later, Lamine Sadio beat the Icelandic goalkeeper.
Levy Nene wanted in on the action, too. Just three minutes after coming on, he cut into the box and made it 5–0.