Things eventually go to plan for Dynamo

A match that began badly for FC Dynamo Kyiv and goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy finished with the Ukrainian club defeating SK Rapid Wien 3-1 to reach the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

Rapid were on course to leapfrog their opponents into second place in Group G when Terrence Boyd beat Shovkovskiy, making his 125th UEFA club competition appearance, early on. Two goals before half-time put qualification back in the hosts' hands, however, and after Miguel Veloso made the points safe 20 minutes from time, Dynamo's veteran shot-stopper remarked "all's well that ends well". Despite Rapid failing to retain their early lead, defender Thomas Schrammel said: "We are proud of our performance today."

Olexandr Shovkovskiy, Dynamo goalkeeper
We knew that they attack well and that we had to be concentrated all the time and not let such attacks happen. From that point of view, we didn't play well in the first half because they had their moments, but all's well that ends well. We had our moments too and could have won by a bigger margin. But the most important thing is the result, the win and the Europa League in the spring.

As you know, this is football and football is unpredictable. Sometimes a game does not unfold as you plan, and you should be ready for that. We were sure that the mistake we made in defence was only that, a mistake, and it wouldn't influence the final result.

Thomas Schrammel, Rapid defender
I don't think anyone really thought we would still be fighting for qualification for the last 32. Even against Thun we fought back [to win 2-1 on matchday five]. We are proud of our performance today.

They put pressure on us from the start. We tried to resist with a few counterattacks and it worked out for the goal we scored, but it's pity we conceded a second. It really got difficult when we conceded a second. In the second half they played a lot deeper and we came into the game a bit more and had a few counterattacks, but in the end we didn't make it.