Adriano goals lead Shakhtar to 3-0 win at Braga

Posted Wednesday, September 29, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

BRAGA, Portugal (AP)—Shakhtar Donetsk won its second straight game but it struggled to put away Braga 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Luiz Adriano scored twice and Douglas Costa added a penalty for the Ukrainian champion.

But when Adriano broke into the area for a first-time shot in the 57th minute, it was Shakhtar’s first on target. He produced a similar move to extend the lead 15 minutes later. Costa scored from the penalty spot in injury time.

Braga, a tournament newcomer, was looking to bounce back from a 6-0 thrashing at Arsenal in its opening Group H match.

Leandro Salino looked likely to give Braga the lead in a promising first half for the home team. His header was cleared off the line after three minutes, and on the half-hour he sprinted into the area before shooting against the goalkeeper’s legs.

Braga launched a counterattack from a Shakhtar corner kick just before the interval, Matheus dashing down the right wing and crossing for Salino, who deflected the ball just wide of the goal.

Dario Srna, who got Shakhtar’s goal in its 1-0 victory over Partizan Belgrade in its opening group game, had his team’s best first-half chance in the 21st when he found space at the back post but he scooped the ball over.

Shakhtar twice sent the ball low across the face of the Braga goal in the early second half but there was nobody there to tap it in.

Matheus came close to leveling in the 62nd when his bicycle kick brought a reflex save from Andriy Pyatov.

Paulo Cesar brought down William and set Costa up for the penalty kick.