Twente made light work of Dunajská Streda at home in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League on Wednesday evening. The Dutch side ran out 6-0 winners at the De Grolsch Veste, a scoreline that reflected their complete control from the opening whistle.
The visitors were on the back foot almost immediately. D. Rots opened the scoring in the seventh minute, and M. Pjaca doubled the advantage four minutes later. By then, Dunajská Streda had barely mustered a response. K. Nemanic picked up a yellow card in the thirty-ninth minute, and U. Kabic followed in stoppage time before being substituted for S. Ouro just after the break.
And here's the thing — the game was effectively over by halftime. The second half saw Twente add to their tally without real contest. D. Weidmann struck in the forty-eighth minute, and M. Bruns made it four in the fifty-sixth. R. Zerrouki added a fifth in the sixty-fourth, and R. Propper, who had already been booked, completed the scoring in the seventy-eighth.
To be fair, the statistics tell the full story. Twente enjoyed 63 per cent possession and launched 122 attacks compared to the visitors' 69. They registered ten shots on target against four, and their expected goals figure of 2.19 dwarfed Dunajská Streda's 0.52. The visitors managed just one successful cross from fourteen attempts, while Twente completed four from eighteen. Seven yellow cards in total — one for Twente, three for the visitors — suggested a match that grew increasingly one-sided.
Twente's recent form had been unpredictable. They lost 2-1 to Genk on their last outing, drew 2-2 with Ferencváros on two separate occasions, and beat Emmen 3-0. Dunajská Streda, meanwhile, had won their last two fixtures comfortably — 2-0 against Dukla Banská Bystrica and 3-0 over Velež — but this was a different level entirely.
The result means Twente move into a strong position for the next round. Six goals without reply is a commanding lead, and the visitors will need something extraordinary to overturn it. For Dunajská Streda, the trip home will be a long one.
