Shakhtar Donetsk beat Benfica 1-0 for their first ever away win in the Champions League.
Brazilian scores in historic win for the Ukrainians
Jadson's cool finish earned Shakhtar Donetsk their first ever away win in the UEFA Champions League with victory at Benfica on Wednesday night.
The high-flying Ukrainians secured their second straight win in Group D to top the table after matchday two, following their 2-0 win at home to Celtic last time out.
Luis Fernandinho starred for Mircea Lucescu's side and set up Jadson's 42nd minute finish, which handed Shakhtar their historic win.
Having taken just one point from nine away matches in the competition before this game, Lucescu's side are now well-placed to progress from the group, which also contains European champions Milan.
Brazilians
Cristian Rodriguez produced the first meaningful effort of the game, with a fierce left foot shot, from 25 yards, that was well saved by Andriy Pyatov.
But Shakhtar began to pose more and more of a threat as the game wore on, with their South American contingent at the heart of everything that was good.
Brazilian wingers Fernandinho and Ilsinho provided real impetus down the flanks, and but for Cristiano Lucarelli's poor finishing the Ukrainians could have been ahead sooner.
Angel Di Maria's penetrating run down the left lifted the home crowd though on the half-hour mark, but his fearsome shot rebounded off the underside of the bar and away from danger.
And when Konstantinos Katsouranis found the side-netting after rounding goalkeeper Pyatov moments later the momentum decisively changed hands.
Fernandinho first directed a long range free-kick narrowly wide before full-back Razvan Rat broke down the left to feed Fernandinho in the box. Instead of shooting the left winger pulled the ball back into the path of Jadson, who calmly side-footed the ball into the roof of the net to hand his side a well constructed 1-0 lead.
Nuno Gomes replaced right-back Nelson at half-time, as Jose Antonio Camacho signalled the need to lift things in an attacking vein.
Excitement
Ilsinho had a great chance to double Shakhtar's advantage after the restart, but could not convert with the goalmouth gaping.
Luisao could then have levelled the scores, after Pyatov had flapped at a corner, but the Benfica captain directed his header harmelssly wide.
Brandao and Fernandinho were also wasteful around the hour-mark, as first the striker and then the winger showed a lack of composure with the game starting to really open up.
Oscar Cardoza was struggling up front for the Portuguese side though, and failed to make Shakhtar pay for their missed chances when firing a header from the edge of the six-yard box straight down goalkeeper Pyatov's throat.
Maxi Pereira worked a good opening for Katsouranis in the box with 10 minutes remaining, but with temperatures and the noise level rising in Estadio da Luz the midfielder put his bullet header just wide.
There was still time for Olexander Kucher to clear off the line from Edcarlos' header and for a dangerous volley from Gomes.
Shakhtar substitute Nery Castillo chipped a glorious opportunity wide over the advancing Quim in injury time, but it did not matter - the visitors finally had their win.
| Benfica |
Team Statistics |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
|
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
|
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
|
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
|
| 16 |
Shots off Target |
9 |
|
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
|
| 3 |
Corners |
7 |
|
| 16 |
Fouls |
11 |
|
| 0 |
Offsides |
1 |
|
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
|
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
|
| 78.8 |
Passing Success |
75.3 |
|
| 11 |
Tackles |
16 |
|
| 72.7 |
Tackles Success |
81.2 |
|
| 54.5 |
Possession |
45.5 |
|
| 51 |
Territorial Advantage |
49 |
|
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|
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