Dinamo hold off Shakhtar to progress

MFK Dinamo Moskva, UEFA Futsal Cup runners-up for the last two seasons, remained on course to go one better this time around after winning Elite round Group B on home soil by surviving a dramatic FC Shakhtar Donetsk comeback in a 4-4 draw.

Deva denied
Before these rivals met today Sporting Clube de Portugal met CIP Deva, with victory for the Romanian surprise package - who beat Shakhtar on Monday - meaning that the Ukrainian champions would have needed to overcome Dinamo by a six-goal margin. And indeed Deva led 3-2 in the final minute having twice gone behind to Davi goals, but in the dying seconds Zézito equalised for Sporting, ensuring Dinamo still needed a point to progress.

Dinamo hold out
However, having defeated Shakhtar in this competition for the last two seasons running, Dinamo looked on course for a third as they stormed into a 4-0 half-time lead. Serhiy Sytin pulled two back early in the second half and Yevgen Yunakov struck with three minutes left before equalising in the final seconds. But that was as near as the 2005/06 semi-finalists came, and Dinamo now play in the final four competition from 26-28 April, while pre-tournament outsiders Deva have the consolation of finishing second in the group ahead of former semi-finalists Shakhtar and Sporting.

Holders win
Spanish champions El Pozo Murcia had already secured their place from Group D on Tuesday, and ensured they had a perfect record though they had to come from 4-2 down to defeat pool hosts Futsal Cup Gödollo 5-2 in Budapest. Kairat Almaty finished second in that groupby beating FC Dorozhnik Minsk 4-2. Holders Boomerang Interviú, meanwhile, made a winning start to Group A with a 3-0 win against Czech champions CC LKW Jistebnik while Italian hosts beat MNK Split 5-3 with a Pinilla Cubillos hat-trick. That group runs until Sunday in Verona, but Group B will be decided on Friday, with Action 21 Charleroi needing a point against hosts Clearex Chorzów, who require victory.