An extra-time goal from Brazilian midfielder Jadson earned Shakhtar Donetsk a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup final here on Wednesday to clinch the Ukrainian side’s first European title.

Jadson’s 15-yard shot slipped through the grasp of Werder goalkeeper Tim Wiese in the 97th minute after the teams had been locked 1-1 at the end of normal time.

The Germans thought they had snatched an equaliser in the last minute of the additional period, only for on-loan Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro’s bundled effort to be ruled out for a foul on Dmytro Chygrynskiy.

Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano had finished coolly to give Shakhtar the lead in the first half, before an error by goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov allowed Werder centre-back Naldo to level.

Shakhtar become the first team from Ukraine to lift a European trophy since the break-up of the Soviet Union, while they will also be the last team to lift the UEFA Cup before its re-launch as the Europa League next season.

“We weren’t able to play our usual football, we didn’t put enough pressure on our opponents,” said Werder coach Thomas Schaaf.

“We gave them too much space and lost too many balls. I congratulate Shakhtar, they were the best team on the night.”

Mircea Lucescu’s side settled first at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium and spurned the game’s first clear opening when Adriano shot wide after being cleverly picked out on the cusp of the Werder area by Jadson.

The Ukrainians, inspired by the inter-play of their five-man Brazilian contingent, then went ahead in the 25th minute when Adriano ran onto a loose pass and delicately lifted the ball over the advancing Wiese.

Werder had overturned deficits against pre-tournament favourites AC Milan and local German rivals Hamburg earlier in the competition, and 10 minutes before half-time they drew level when Naldo’s thumping 30-yard free-kick was tamely palmed into the net by Ukraine international Pyatov.

Wiese proved to be made of sterner stuff when he superbly touched away a stinging drive from Mariusz Lewandowski at full-stretch just before the interval.

The German shot-stopper kept out a Jadson free-kick early in the second period as Shakhtar resumed their occupation of the Werder defensive third, the orange-shirted players zipping passes across the pitch with beguiling ease.

Werder missed the promptings of their suspended Brazilian playmaker Diego, but they were inches away from going in front when Pizarro’s glanced header was repelled by a sprawling Pyatov.

Wiese pushed away a long-range effort from Darijo Srna as Shakhtar began extra-time on the front foot and moments later they took a decisive lead when Jadson met Srna’s centre with a low drive that crept beneath Wiese into the bottom-left corner.

The UEFA Cup final in Istanbul on 20 May will be a Germany v Ukraine affair after Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Dynamo Kyiv set up two domestic last-four ties on 30 April and 7 May.

Dynamo meet Shakhtar
Only one of those four teams, Dynamo, did not win their quarter-final first leg a week ago but in the early kick-off they defeated visitors Paris Saint-Germain FC 3-0. Their opponents this time will be Shakhtar, who followed up a 2-0 home win against PSG’s Ligue 1 rivals Olympique de Marseille with a 2-1 victory in France. Dynamo, who knocked out FC Metalist Kharkiv in the Round of 16, are at home in the first leg against Shakhtar, with a first Ukrainian UEFA Cup finalist assured.

Bremen against Hamburg
Lining up against Shakhtar or Dynamo at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium will be a Bundesliga club. Bremen travelled to Udinese Calcio 3-1 up and although at half-time the tie was level, Werder came back to draw 3-3 and progress 6-4 overall. Hamburg were also defending a 3-1 lead at Manchester City FC and José Paolo Guerrero’s early goal proved crucial, as the English club came back to win 2-1 and fall just short. Martin Jol’s men will aim to follow the example of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who knocked out Bremen in the 1987/88 semi-finals, the first of three times Werder have fallen at that stage. Bremen will be at home in the opening leg before travelling to HSV seven days later, but whatever happens there will be a new name on the UEFA Cup in the final season before the launch of the replacement UEFA Europa League.

On the night Manchester City FC supporters revived their tradition of bringing plastic bananas to the match, the English club’s UEFA Cup hopes were deflated by Hamburger SV in a dramatic quarter-final.

Winning streak
Leading 3-1 from last week’s first leg, the Bundesliga title contenders claimed the breakthrough goal through José Paolo Guerrero, then withstood the intense pressure which followed City’s strikes either side of half-time from Elano and Felipe Caicedo. The 4-3 aggregate victory, rewarded by an all-German semi-final against Werder Bremen, confirmed coach Martin Jol’s winning habit against the hosts – Jol had prevailed in all seven previous encounters with City.

Deadlock broken
Make no mistake: this was a serious test of HSV’s trophy-collecting credentials. The craze for inflatable bananas which City fans had introduced to English football in 1988 returned with a passion. It was accompanied by frenzied City attacking. Pablo Zabaleta played in Micah Richards early on but he lost his footing with only Hamburg keeper Frank Rost to beat. Yet Jol’s men remained composed. Ivica Olić shot across goal, an attempt heralding the opener from Guerrero. The No9 vindicated his inclusion ahead of Mladen Petrić by slotting low beyond keeper Shay Given after Olić had touched on Jonathan Pitroipa’s cross.

Equaliser
By the 15th minute, though, City had a lifeline. The referee awarded a penalty after Elano’s centre had caught Piotr Trochowski, and the Brazilian directed it coolly past Rost. Vincent Kompany’s sliding tackle on former Hamburg team-mate David Jarolím was a barometer of the blue-and-red hot atmosphere being generated on a chilly night.

Nervy Hamburg Hold Off Manchester City Fightback … read more »

FC Shakhtar Donetsk will face compatriots FC Dynamo Kyiv in their first ever European semi-final after withstanding the best that Olympique de Marseille could throw at them at the Stade Véldodrome before running out 2-1 victors, winning 4-1 on aggregate following last week’s home triumph.

Familiar foes
At least one Ukrainian outfit is assured a place in this year’s showpiece game after the French challengers fell short in both their ties, with Ligue 1 leaders Marseille unable to produce the second-leg comeback they required. Shakhtar only once managed to raise their heads above the parapet in the first half, but that resulted in a goal for Fernandinho on the half-hour. Although Hatem Ben Arfa levelled before the break, the Ukrainian titleholders first held out and then sealed another win against their hosts with an added-time Luiz Adriano strike.

Cheyrou shot
Trailing at the halfway stage in the tie, Erik Gerets’s men had little choice but to harry their opponents from the off, and they began almost immediately with Mamadou Niang nearly getting his head to a Mathieu Valbuena free-kick. Shakhtar’s talented Brazilian forward quartet came with a burgeoning reputation, but all the invention was coming from the hosts in the early stages and fit-again midfielder Benoît Cheyrou stirred the vociferous crowd with a powerful strike just over the bar from 20 metres out.

Shakhtar Secure Dynamo Showdown … read more »

Two goals by Diego and a Claudio Pizarro strike guided Werder Bremen through to the UEFA Cup semi-finals after Udinese Calcio had wiped out their 3-1 first-leg deficit before half-time.

Pizarro clincher
Despite Diego cancelling out Gokhan Inler’s 15th-minute strike, the momentum was with Udinese at the break as Fabio Quagiarella struck twice. But Diego’s second of the match, on the hour mark, swung the tie back in favour of the Bundesliga side, who added to their tally through Pizarro on 73 minutes moments after Diego had missed a penalty for his hat-trick.

Exciting half
Thunderstorms were predicted ahead of the match, but though the rain stayed away until half-time, other pyrotechnics were thick on the ground. After Werder had gone close when Naldo’s header was deflected wide by team-mate Petri Pasanen, Inler gave his side hope with a lightning strike on the quarter-hour. Receiving a ball from Kwadwo Asamoah, Inler cut inside from the left and dispatched an unstoppable 30-metre shot into the top corner.

Diego strikes
Udinese’s tails were up, now just a goal from taking the initiative in the tie, but they were almost pegged back moments after taking the lead as Hugo Almeida pounced on Clemens Fritz’s right-wing cross, and skewed it wide. The game had opened up and was swinging from end to end when the equaliser arrived on 28 minutes. Cristián Zapata dallied and Diego, so unsure of playing in the build-up to the match, took the loose ball in a flash before turning inside and shooting past Samir Handanovič.

Relieved Bremen Thwart Udinese Recovery … read more »