Clinical Sigma cause a sensation

SK Sigma Olomouc coach Zdeněk Psotka said his side punished Aberdeen FC "for every mistake they made" as the Czech club came away from Pittodrie with an awe-inspiring 5-1 first-leg victory.

Second-half rout
Having overcome Fram Reykjavík to reach the third qualifying round, Sigma ran riot in the north of Scotland. Though Charlie Mulgrew cancelled out Michael Hubník's opener, scored with a header from a corner, Mark McGhee's first game as Dons coach ended in a rout, with Lukáš Bajer, Jakub Petr, substitute Michal Ordoš and Tomáš Hořava all beating Jamie Langfield after the interval.

Too open
"We wanted to take a positive approach from the start and it was important that the first dead-ball situation we had brought us the goal," said Psotka, whose side finished fourth in the Czech Republic last season to qualify for Europe. "We were under enormous pressure at the start of the second half but they opened up the game too much and we punished them for every mistake they made."

McGhee contrite
Meanwhile, the side that won the 1982/83 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup under Sir Alex Ferguson were in shock, though McGhee took the defeat on the chin. "The result was hugely disappointing and embarrassing, but we will get better," he said. "I want to be here working at Aberdeen for a long time, but I now know I have a big job to go away and recover my reputation. I am up for it. We can still salvage something from the second game if we improve, but we're not going to win the tie."