AMSTERDAM – Molde FK netminder Ethan Horvath rebounded from his first career loss by notching a win in his Champions League debut, backstopping a 5-0 first-leg rout of Cesar Romero's FC Pyunik on Tuesday night.
The 20-year-old was only required to make a single save in helping the Norwegian champs put one foot in the third qualifying round. Horvath's lone stop of the evening smothered a Vardges Satumyan breakaway just before the half-hour. The youngster also caused quite a stir in the crowd with some tricky dribbling to get out of an early second-half jam.
Romero, meanwhile, worked a frustrating full shift for the visitors. The former Chivas USA stiker went agonizingly close with his lone shot attempt, buzzing the far upper 90 with a curler 16 minutes from time. All told, the usual free kick magnet earned none while committing three fouls of his own.
A goal would have halved a two-goal home lead at that time, but Molde piled on with three goals in the final six minutes to greatly stretch the odds of a Pyunink comeback when the tie swtiches to Armenia next Tuesday.
