deadly finishing and some effective counterattacking helped steer fc dinamo bucuresti into the second round of the uefa cup as they won 3-2 in donetsk.
brave shakhtar clinical strikes from claudiu niculescu, ciprian marica and ionel danciulescu saw the romanian side come from behind after nigerian striker julius aghahowa's first-half double. the result should not, however, obscure a brave effort from the home side who began the game chasing a 2-0 deficit after two late dinamo goals in romania.
agahowa pounces it was no surprise that shakhtar started more keenly and, through aghahowa, almost took the lead on three minutes after he beat dinamo's belgian goalkeeper, gregory delwarte, to a loose pass, only to see his poked effort bobble wide. shakhtar - and aghahowa - had only 15 more minutes to wait before taking the lead on the night, though, the striker mopping up after serhiy zakarliuka had headed the lively andriy vorobey's right-wing cross against a post.
away goal it was a lead the ukrainian side deserved, yet they always seemed vulnerable to dinamo's midfield cunning and speed on the break. and once the goal had stirred the visitors into life, the lead lasted just ten minutes, niculescu volleying in smartly on the spin after ianis zicu's searching cross.
admirable response shakhtar's response was admirable, though, as they refused to wither - captain anatolly tymoschuk in particular was irrepressible. still, the feeling was that, should they not score before the break, shakhtar's will would finally be broken. but with just seconds of first half stoppage time remaining, aghahowa charged down delwarte's upfield clearance for a freakish second and home hopes were refuelled.
storm weathered however the first half had shown dinamo coach, ioan andone, enough, and once they had weathered a stormy first ten minutes, his players dealt more comfortably with shakhtar's giddying pressure.
second yellow the home side were repeatedly frustrated by dinamo's well-organised back-line before the visitors killed the tie off. a melee in the visitors’ box was cleared, leaving zicu the easy task of playing ciprian marica clear, and the substitute made no mistake. and eleven minutes later victory on the night was wrapped up emphatically by danciulescu's 30-metre drive high past pletikosa. dainius gleveckas was dismissed for a second yellow card late on as the home side's frustrations boiled over.
