Battling BATE reel in Dynamo

Pavel Nekhaychik struck a fine second-half equaliser as FC BATE Borisov held injury-depleted FC Dynamo Kyiv to a 2-2 draw in Group E.

The Belarusian visitors had enjoyed a dream start when Vitali Rodionov broke the deadlock after three minutes, but by half-time they were heading for defeat. Dynamo's Oleh Gusev had missed two good chances and Artem Milevskiy a spot kick when the latter equalised just after the half-hour, before the excellent Roman Eremenko gave the hosts a deserved lead. BATE refused to lie down, Nekhaychik's crisp drive soon after the restart ultimately earning a share of the UEFA Europa League spoils.

It did not look like being Dynamo's night from the moment Rodionov showed Leandro Almeida a clean pair of heels and made it 1-0 with the outside of his boot. The mood among home fans in the Ukrainian capital was hardly raised by the sight of Gusev turning Eremenko's cross over the bar via his knee when it seemed easier to score. The midfielder swiftly made amends by winning a penalty on 13 minutes, only for goalkeeper Sergei Veremko to guess right and keep out Milevskiy's effort.

There was nothing Veremko could do next time skipper Milevskiy came calling, the striker brilliantly cushioning Eremenko's through ball, rounding the custodian and passing in. BATE were spurred into action, Renan Bressan rattling the upright with a cross-cum-shot, yet when Eremenko capped a fine first-half performance with a goal after Edgar Olekhnovich was caught in possession, the game looked to be up.

Viktor Goncharenko's men are made of sterner stuff, and nine minutes after the restart Nekhaychik stepped inside Betão's weak challenge and fired into the far corner. Try as they might – Eremenko, Milevskiy and Andriy Yarmolenko all went close – Dynamo could not break through a third time.