Dynamo stun Porto to set up final-day decider
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
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Porto 0-2 Dynamo Kyiv
Andriy Yarmolenko's first-half penalty set the Ukrainian side on course for a shock victory as Porto's 15-match unbeaten start to 2015/16 ended.
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- Dynamo Kyiv become first away team to win at Porto in over 11 months
- Portuguese side's 15-match unbeaten start to season ends
- Dynamo will advance with victory on matchday six
- Dynamo have had ten straight group exits since last progressing in 1998/99
- Final Group G games: Dynamo v Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Chelsea v Porto (9 December)
Dynamo Kyiv upset the form book as they brought a sensational end to Porto's unbeaten start to the season and set up a mouth-watering final day in UEFA Champions League Group F.
The Ukrainian outfit had won five of their last 35 group stage engagements but goals in each half from Andriy Yarmolenko – a penalty – and Derlis González proved a fine time to buck the trend. It means their round of 16 fate will be in their own hands when they welcome Maccabi Tel-Aviv in a fortnight. Win, and currently joint leaders Porto and Chelsea will be battling for one spot.
A point would have sealed Porto's place in the last 16 and perhaps that preyed on their minds amid a flat first-half performance. They had plenty of early possession but made few incursions into the final third as the visitors' well-drilled back line held firm – evidence of a team that had kept 16 clean sheets in 22 outings this term.
Dynamo Kyiv posed a greater threat on the break, and really ought to have been ahead before the half-hour as Yarmolenko cut in from the right and dinked in a nice cross. The unmarked Denys Garmash thundered a header against the post; the ball rebounded to the no-better-attended Júnior Moraes but, stretching, the Brazilian stabbed wide.
It was brief respite for the hosts. Seven minutes later Giannelli Imbula tripped Serhiy Rybalka and the lively Yarmolenko made no mistake from the spot, sending Iker Casillas the wrong way. It signalled a night to forget for the Spain goalkeeper, whose hashed clearance just past the hour almost allowed Júnior Moraes in.
Another error on 64 minutes was punished to the full. Casillas failed to get enough on a one-handed effort to intercept González's hopeful long shot, and the ball dropped into the unguarded net. Porto frustrations were palpable, underlined in the closing ten minutes when Rybalka turned the ball against his own post and then André André rattled the bar. Those misses could be decisive.
Key player: Andriy Yarmolenko
Reaction
Julen Lopetegui, Porto coach
We tried to play like we always do, with possession, and we started well. But then the penalty happened and after that we began to rush our decisions. We will have to beat Chelsea in London – that's difficult but it is possible. We knew this was going to be a tough game and we didn't have the bit of luck that's sometimes needed in the decisive moments. I believe in this team and that we can go through to the next stage of the competition.
Serhiy Rebrov, Dynamo coach
I liked the fact that my players hung on and gave what they had until the end of the game – they put in all that effort. We are not thinking about Maccabi yet, we still have a lot of matches before then. But we are galvanised by this win and will feed on it to do well until the end of the season. We cannot think about Maccabi – we will prepare for them when the time comes. We will take it match by match, because nothing is decided until the games actually happen.