Two goals from Paraguayan international striker Oscar Cardozo booked Benfica's place in the Uefa Cup.
Benfica hold on in freezing Ukraine
Two goals from Paraguayan international striker Oscar Cardozo booked Benfica's place in the Uefa Cup and helped Celtic progress into the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Cardozo had been handed a starting spot at the expense of top goalscorer Nuno Gomes, and repaid Jose Antonio Camacho's faith with two first half goals to ensure that Benfica will still be playing European football in the new year.
Playing in their fetching pink away kit and with a number of players wearing gloves and head bands to keep out the cold, you may have expected the Portuguese side's players to not fancy the fight, but they surprised their Ukrainian counterparts with two goals inside the first 25 minutes.
A sloppy back pass by Mariusz Lewandowski after just six minutes was easily intercepted by Cardozo, who rounded Pyatov in the Shakhtar goal, before firing the ball into the top corner.
On 22 minutes, the Paraguayan doubled his, and Benfica's tally, when his powerful header from Maxi Pereira's right wing cross gave the goalkeeper no chance.
Lifeline
Shakhtar, who failed to qualify for the last 16 last season after being in the same situation, were given a lifeline after half an hour when the referee awarded them a dubious penalty after a theatrical dive by Cristiano Lucarelli.
The Italian got up off the floor to score from the spot, albeit fortuitously, after Joaquim Quim got a foot to the effort but could only steer the ball into the roof of the net.
Shakhtar enjoyed much of the possession in the first period, and created some good chances, but could not quite find a way through a battling Benfica back line.
The impressive Brazilian, Jadson, had two clear sights of goal in the last ten minutes of the first half, the first wasted after taking too many touches and the second a cleanly hit effort from the edge of the area that was straight at Quim.
Woeful
Obviously aware of the task in front of them, Shakhtar began the second period brightly, pushing forward at any given opportunity in search of an elusive equaliser. Full backs Rat and Srna barely set foot inside their own half during the second 45 minutes, but their final ball was poor on too many occasions.
Brandao, Ilsinho, Srna and Hubschman all had chances to give the Ukrainian champions hope but their finishing was woeful. Benfica withdrew further as the game progressed, with sporadic counter attacks their only foray into the opposition territory, but still there was no way through for Shakhtar.
As time, and hope, began to run out both sides appeared to accept the result and the last few minutes were played out with no major incidents.
Billionaire
Renat Akhmetov, the billionaire owner of Shakhtar, has pumped considerable funding into the club in past few seasons with the intention of seeing the club progress past the group stages of the Champions League and join the elite group of Europe's top clubs.
His club have failed him once again, with Shakhtar finishing bottom of Group D to miss out on the consolation of the Uefa Cup.
Benfica never looked in full control of the tie and are perhaps fortunate to come away from the Olympic Stadium with a victory, however none of their supporters will be complaining, and there will be a few fans of a certain Glasgow-based club who will be thankful that they were able to hold on as well.
| Shakhtar Donetsk |
Team Statistics |
Benfica |
|
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
|
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
|
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
|
| 11 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
|
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
|
| 9 |
Corners |
0 |
|
| 12 |
Fouls |
15 |
|
| 0 |
Offsides |
4 |
|
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
|
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
|
| 78.6 |
Passing Success |
73.1 |
|
| 21 |
Tackles |
29 |
|
| 76.2 |
Tackles Success |
69 |
|
| 56.6 |
Possession |
43.4 |
|
| 54.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.1 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
