Lucky stars as Tavriya prevail in Ukrainian Cup

Lucky Idahor scored the winner in extra time as ten-man SC Tavriya Simferopol won their first Ukrainian Cup, overcoming FC Metalurh Donetsk 3-2 to earn a place in next season's UEFA Europa League.

Serhiy Puchkov's Crimean side were quick out of the blocks and took the lead after two minutes when Oleksandr Kovpak set up Maksym Feschuk to slot in neatly. It looked like it might be a pushover when the Simferopol outfit doubled their advantage before the break, Kovpak dusting himself off after being fouled in the box to score from the penalty spot.

Beaten finalists in 1994, Tavriya's nerves started jangling as Nikolay Kostov Nikolov's Metalurh staged a second-half fightback. Henrik Mkhitaryan scored their first just after the break and Mário Sérgio made it 2-2 15 minutes from time. Saša Djurčić's dismissal in extra-time seemed to further undermine Tavriya, but Nigerian striker Idahor lived up to his name by grabbing the winner.

"Even though the game was so dramatic and nerve-wracking, I have to thank my players for their courage and will to win," said a happy Puchkov afterwards. "Yes, we made some mistakes today but we deserved the victory and gave our supporters a real feast. Now we can relax a bit and prepare for the start of the UEFA Europa League and the Ukrainian Super Cup match against FC Shakhtar Donetsk."