Shakhtar Donetsk eased to a 2-0 win against Brest in the Champions League on Wednesday, denting the high-flying French side’s hopes of earning an automatic spot in the last-16.
First-half goals from Brazilian striker Kevin and Georgiy Sudakov made the difference, as the Ukrainian team won on home soil in Germany and kept their knockout hopes alive.
Brest are already confident of at least a position in the round of 16 before kick-off thanks to their total of thirteen points.
However, their defeat in seven European matches this season leaves them in 11th place.
Brest can still qualify for the round of 16 if they make it into the top eight, but they will need to beat reigning champions Real Madrid at home next week to do so.
For Shakhtar, the victory moved them provisionally to within one point of a knock-out play-off spot.
The first big chance of the encounter fell to the Ukrainians as Marlon burst onto a cut-back but saw his attempted backheel flash narrowly wide.
Brest one of the revelations of the tournament for its first season in the Champions League.
Going into the penultimate round of matches, Eric Roy’s side were ahead of powerhouses like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City and compatriots Paris Saint-Germain, but those are their warring sides that pitted others who took the lead.
Brest centre-half Brendan Chardonnet took a strong touch on a field clearance, allowing Kevin to borrow the ball before rushing in and completing the one-on-one with 18 minutes remaining.
Another long ball from deep presented Shakhtar with a golden chance to double their lead on the half-hour, Eguinaldo’s effort beating Marco Bizot but trickling the wrong side of the far post.
Sudakov then obtained a well -deserved moment for Shakhtar seven minutes later thanks to a Panenka penalty, cattle after Bizot knocked Irakli Azarov while running towards the best ball of the Ukrainian game creator.
Brest searched for a way back into the match in the second period but struggled to break down Shakhtar’s rearguard, with goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk swift off his line to deal with any balls into the box.
Coach Roy made a triple replacement, sending the top scorer of the club this season, Abdallah Sima.
However, Shakhtar held on and Oleksandr Zubkov appeared to have scored a third goal in stoppage time, but the goal was disallowed for a previous foul in the build-up.
The victory of the Ukrainian champions of the crusade took them to 27th place in the ranking with seven points.
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