Two Ukrainian sides--Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk--will clash in one of this year’s UEFA Cup semi-finals after they brushed aside French clubs Paris Saint-Germain (3:0) and Marseille (2:1), respectively.
The achievement has boosted the ratings of Ukrainian league players. In the Dynamo Kyiv-PSG fixture, forward Ismael Bangura, after opening the score with a long-range stunning strike, earned almost 20 rating points and now tops the rating in the Ukrainian league with 79.85 points. The author of the third goal for the Ukrainians, Ognjen Vukojevic, is fast closing in on the leaders in the rating of midfielders: he currently has 64.26 points and ranks third behind Darijo Srna (79.25 points) and Brazilian Luis Fernandinho (77.31 points).
Fernandinho opened the score in the Shakhtar-Marseille game after being served in the penalty area, approaching Steve Mandanda, and chipping in the ball under the Frenchman’s shoulder after a ricochet off a defender. Marseille came back at the end of the first half through Hatem Ben Arfa, rekindling their hopes. But those hopes never became anything other than just theory as each passing minute showed the French could not pull it off. Luiz Adriano killed any hope that might have still lingered in the hearts of the most die-hard Marseille fans with the winner for Shakhtar in injury time. The Brazilian earned 23.33 rating points in the game, boosting his overall rating to 74.71 points.
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