fluent shakhtar ease to dinamo win published: wednesday 13 august 2008, 22.45cet fc shakhtar donetsk 2-0 nk dinamo zagreb the hosts took a tentative step towards the group stage thanks to goals from darijo srna and jadson.
by igor linnyk
fc shakhtar donetsk have the better of their uefa champions league third qualifying round tie against nk dinamo zagreb thanks to first-half goals from darijo srna and jadson.
group stage run shakhtar have come through this round three times in four years, whereas dinamo have fallen to arsenal fc and werder bremen in the last two seasons and are hoping to make amends. but having conceded twice before half-time they had to defend deeply to ensure they did not have to overturn an even bigger deficit in the croatian capital in a fortnight.
srna strike the home side were on top from the start and after three minutes dinamo defender mirko hrgović brought down srna outside the box and the midfielder converted the free-kick with aplomb. there was a blow for shakhtar when left-back răzvan raţ went down injured five minutes later, forcing an early appearance for mykola ischenko. but the central defender thrived in his makeshift wide role, putting in a fine cross which olexandr gladkiy was unfortunate not to turn in.
advantage doubled dinamo replaced igor bišcan with dejan lovren to shore up their own back line just before the half-hour, but within two minutes they were 2-0 down. brandão ran down the left and his low cross was only half-cleared to jadson, who produced a powerful finish. another of shakhtar's brazilians, midfielder willian, then sent a shot just past the post as the ukrainian champions aimed to put the tie beyond their visitors.
dinamo hold out josip tadić had dinamo's best chance of an away goal in the 57th minute but fired wide and shakhtar maintained their control, striving to increase their advantage after the introduction of marcelo moreno martins. dinamo goalkeeper ivan kelava parried a strike from the bolivian from a tight angle, and also made a fine save after a brandão header. marcelo, srna and jadson all had further chances but shakhtar can still be happy with their night's work.
