10-man Braga advances after 0-0 draw against Kiev

Posted Friday, April 15, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

BRAGA, Portugal (AP)—Ten-man Braga shut out Dynamo Kiev for a 0-0 draw in the Europa League on Thursday and advanced on the away goal rule to set up an unprecedented all-Portuguese semifinal.

Braga held on for an hour after Paulo Cesar was sent off for a brutal challenge on Andriy Yarmolenko, who scored in the first leg’s 1-1 draw. Dynamo defender Goran Popov also saw a red card in the 88th.

The northern Portuguese club will meet Benfica for a place in the final. Benfica lies second in the Portuguese league and Braga is third.

Braga, which finished runner-up in the domestic competition last year to make its debut in the Champions League, has never advanced so far in a European competition.

Even so, its only goal over the two legs came when Oleh Husev deflected the ball into his own net.

Dynamo had most possession in the closely fought return leg and tried t press its advantage after Cesar’s departure but Braga, which went out in the first round of the Champions League, produced a typically gutsy performance.

While the Ukrainian team struggled to make progress, Braga almost opened the scoring when Olexandr Shovkovskiy failed to hold Hugo Viana’s 44th-minute free kick but Albert Meyong failed to tap in the loose ball.

Braga was the liveliest team after the restart as its Brazilian strikers found space. Lima broke into the area and forced a reflex save from Shovkovskiy in the 51st and shot just wide in the 64th, before Portugal’s Viana forced Shovkovskiy back into action.

Dynamo continued to probe but could find no way through the tight home defense, though Braga had goalkeeper Artur Moraes to thank for keeping out a close-range shot from Artem Kravets in the 61st.

Dynamo provided a tense last 10 minutes, with Denys Garmash firing a thundering free kick just over the bar and then Silvio stretching to clear Yarmolenko’s low cross before Popov earned his second yellow card for lunging at Alan.