Stoke City ran out utterly comfortable 4-1 winners (5-1 on aggregate) against FC Thun at the Britannia Stadium to move into the group stages of the Europa League as Jermaine Pennant put on a man of the match display, with a hand in Stoke's first three goals.
Kenwyne Jones scored two, with Matthew Upson and Glenn Whelan grabbing the others before Andreas Wittwer fired in an undeserved consolation for the Swiss side late on.
The first half in particular saw Stoke overrun and ultimately outclass a limited FC Thun side as the Potters grabbed three goals in 13 minutes, all courtesy of Pennant's right boot. FC Thun were limited to pot shots from range all evening as the excellent pairing of Ryan Shawcross and Matthew Upson easily dealt with the Swiss team's limited attacks.
'Oles' were heard as early as the first half from the Stoke faithful and the night ended with a roar of approval as Stoke made it to European football proper for the first time in their history.
On 25 minutes, Stoke won a corner following the first real passage of concerted pressure from the home side. Pennant whipped in one of many brilliant balls towards the back post and Upson got above his marker to power a header into the roof of the net.
Just seven minutes later and it was Pennant again was provider. From just outside the box, the ex Liverpool man swivelled and whipped in yet another dangerous ball into the space between defence and goalkeeper. Jones met it with a firm diving header that squirmed under Dragan Djukic, who really should have done better.
With FC Thun needing to score four goals to go through they seemed to lose any sense of belief and it was only a matter of time before Stoke added a third. Walters had just gone close with a flicked on header that landed wide, and from the corner Whelan scored what turned out to be the goal of the night.
An out swinging corner from Pennant caused a scramble, which was only half cleared to the edge of the box, where Whelan met it with a rasping drive that flew over a mass of bodies and dipped under the crossbar just in time.
The second half was a tamer affair, with Pennat coming off for Tom Soares after 55 minutes. It didn't take long for Soares to make an impact though as he beat his man brilliantly down the right on 72 minutes and clipped a ball across the six yard line, where Jones waited to head easily into the far corner.
FC Thun grabbed their consolation 15 minutes from time as Wittwer hit low across Thomas Sorensen, but it mattered not as both sides merely ran out time.
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