Xavier stays cool as Metalist win in Vienna

A Cleiton Xavier penalty completed an FC Metalist Kharkiv comeback as FK Austria Wien failed to capitalise on taking an early lead in their UEFA Europa League Group G opener.

Tomáš Jun struck on seven minutes and it seemed for a while that slow and steady might win the day. However, defender Papa Gueye headed the visitors level after the break and Xavier sealed all three points with a coolly taken penalty 11 minutes from the end.

Metalist have gained a reputation as entertainers in Ukraine, and Myron Markevich's side sparkled and harried from the off, only to concede to Austria Wien's first meaningful attack. Nacer Barazite's cross found the head of Roland Linz, and while Gueye blocked that effort, there was no stopping Jun, who smashed the loose ball eagerly into Oleksandr Goryainov's net.

Quick and inventive, Metalist delighted in making their hosts look slow and cumbersome, but they found Austria Wien's sturdy rearguard hard to breach. The impish Taison lifted the ball over Pascal Grünwald, but the lack of power in his shot made for an easy clearance, while it was more by luck than judgement that Jonathan Cristaldo struck the bar as his downward header looped alarmingly over the goalkeeper.

Uncharacteristically, Metalist's equaliser owed nothing to their South American-accented skill; Milan Obradović's corner arced in from the right and Gueye muscled through to head it in. Georg Margreitter then nodded an innocuous-looking Obradović centre on to his own crossbar, before Grünwald pulled Cristaldo down and Xavier neatly dinked the penalty inside the No1's left-hand post.