Shakhtar shine in Belgium

By Berend Scholten at the Jan Breydel stadium

Zvonimir Vukic scored twice in a 2-2 draw to ensure ten-man FC Shakhtar Donetsk made no mistake in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round encounter with Club Brugge KV in Belgium.

Early opener
Shakhtar had strolled to a 4-1 win in the first leg a fortnight ago and went further ahead on aggregate when Vukic opened the scoring on the night after just six minutes. Brugge goalkeeper Tomislav Butina could only parry a cross-shot from Julius Aghahowa into the path of the striker, who had no trouble finding the empty net from two metres out.

Brugge fightback
Brugge upped the tempo and it paid off in the 14th minute when Nasja Ceh surprised the visiting goalkeeper by driving a 20-metre free-kick low through the Shakhtar wall to level the scores on the night. The majority of the 15,900 crowd urged on Trond Sollied's side and were rewarded in the 33rd minute when Brugge were awarded a penalty after Victor had been brought down in the area by Mariusz Lewandowski.

Twice-taken penalty
Brugge captain Timmy Simons saw his penalty attempt saved by Jan Lastuvka but the referee's assistant spotted the goalkeeper off his line and alerted the referee, who had the kick retaken. This time Ceh took the resposibility and found the net to leave Brugge needing two more goals to pull off a remarkable comeback.

Vukic second
Ceh whistled an effort past the post in search of his hat-trick as the half-time interval approached but the tie was effectively over once the scores on the night were levelled eight minutes into the second half. Shakhtar had been deploying as many men behind the ball as possible but broke forward quickly and when Francelino Matuzalem picked out Vukic with a neat pass, the striker stroked in his second goal.

Stoican off
Shakhtar had the opportunity to put the result beyond any doubt when Simons brought down Vukic in the box on 67 minutes but Marica shot wide. However, despite the loss of Flavius Stoican following his second booking 15 minutes from time, Shakhtar were already home and dry.