Dynamo's Shatskikh sinks Sarajevo

FC Dynamo Kyiv put poor domestic form behind them in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round as Maksim Shatskikh scored the only goal at the Olympic Stadium Asim Ferhatovic Hase to leave FK Sarajevo with it all to do when the tie concludes in Ukraine.

Early chance
With his side sitting a lowly eleventh in the Premier League after taking just six points from their opening five games, Dynamo coach Anatoliy Demyanenko responded by leaving Brazilian duo Diogo Rincón and Kleber on the bench and pushing the promising Michael into a more advanced role alongside Shatskikh. Save for a fourth-minute strike by Admir Raščić that was ruled offside, it was plain sailing for Dynamo early on and they scored what proved to be the only goal on 13 minutes when Michael fed a lovely pass to Shatskikh who burst into the box and found the roof of the net with a fierce rising drive.

Controlled football
The away goal allowed Dynamo to relax and the Ukrainian champions played some lovely controlled football to frustrate their hosts, who would have fallen further behind in the 20th minute had Muhamed Alaim not pulled off a wonder save to keep out an Andriy Nesmachniy cross-shot. The Sarajevo goalkeeper also denied Michael when the Brazilian was one-on-one ten minutes later, while Olexandr Shovkovskiy was enjoying a more comfortable evening at the other end.

Rebrov chances
Sarajevo had the greater possession in the second half without creating the kind of opportunities that twice fell Serhiy Rebrov's way – the Dynamo forward squandering a header when well placed, then narrowly failing to connect with a super pass from Michael. Still, Demyanenko was concerned and the introduction of Miloš Ninković and Kleber for Oleh Gusev and Shatskikh enabled Dynamo to reassert control before Almir Turković volleyed straight at Shovkovskiy on 72 minutes.

Hit the post
Dynamo might have wrapped up the tie in the final minute as the impressive Michael drove a shot against the post, but they will remain confident of doing just that on home soil on 29 August and progressing once again to the UEFA Champions League group stage.