Top spot for Shakhtar - 7M sport

Top spot for Shakhtar



Posted Wednesday, December 08, 2010 by PA

Shakhtar Donetsk secured top spot in Champions League Group H with a 2-0 win condemning Braga to a place in the last 32 of the Europa League.

Both sides had a chance of going through to the knockout stages at the start of the tie but when Shakhtar netted through Razvan Rat (78) and Adriano (83) only one side were celebrating.

Braga fired the opening shot, Luis Aguiar giving Andrei Pyatov a relatively simple save after four minutes.

Douglas tried to return fire soon after but his 25-yard effort was blocked by Capela Anibal.

Decent chances were thin on the ground in the opening exchanges, Willian spurning a rare Shakhtar opening in the 21st minute when he shot wide of the left-hand post and Jadson following suit after half an hour.

It took Aguiar until the 37th minute to get his second sight of goal but this time he failed to hit the target from well outside the area.

As half-time approached there was a brief moment of excitement as Taras Stepanenko's foul on Leandro Salino gave Braga a promising free-kick.

Anibal delivered the set-piece and Alan met it in the centre of the penalty box only to head firmly at the waiting Pyatov.

The second half began scrappily with a series of fouls blighting the first few minutes, though Douglas was a lively presence for the hosts.

Paulo Cesar should have done better for Braga when he got on the end of Aguiar's 53rd-minute free-kick but he could only nod the ball wide.

Both sides looked to the bench after an hour's play, with four new faces entering the fray in the space of 10 minutes.

There were still more fouls than chances on display, though, and when the goal finally came it was something of a shock.

Rat, who had started to press forward, was the scorer. Darijo Srna's cross from the right byline missed its initial targets but as it drifted out of the penalty box Rat met the ball first time with a low drive that nestled in the bottom corner.

The scorer then turned provider as he broke down the right and floated a cross into the penalty area, where Adriano was on hand to stab into a gaping net and ensure victory with seven minutes to play.

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