Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa opened his Borussia Dortmund account in style with a first-half brace as the German Bundesliga club thrashed Azerbaijan's Garabagh Agdam 4-0 in the first leg of their Europa League playoff on Thursday night.
Kagawa calmed Dortmund's early jitters with a wonder strike and completed the scoring with a 41st-minute header to put his side in prime position to qualify for the group stages.
In Russia, Keisuke Honda's CSKA Moscow also enjoyed a 4-0 rout of Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus in their playoff, but the bleach-blonde World Cup star was forced to miss the match due to a sore left ankle.
Kagawa was disappointed at not getting on the scoresheet in Dortmund's 3-0 win away to third-division side Wacker Burghausen in the German Cup last Saturday.