Shakhtar go from strength to strength

Benfica 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 1

A first-half strike from Jadson gave Shakhtar Donetsk their first away victory in the Champions League to dent Benfica’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages.

The Brazilian midfielder was not expected to feature at the Estadio da Luz after picking up a ligament strain at the weekend, but his clinical finish made it two Group D victories out of two for the ambitious Ukrainian side.

The defeat was Porto’s first in 28 games in all competitions and leaves them bottom of the group after losing their opening game against AC Milan a fortnight ago.

In contrast, Shakhtar – who have won 10 out of their first 11 games in the Ukrainian Premier League – boast a 100% record after defeating Celtic 2-0 in their first group game.

Backed by the support of a vociferous home support it was Benfica who came close to securing an early lead when Cristian Rodriguez let fly with a crisp left-foot strike that forced Andrei Pyatov into a fine reflex save.

The visitors responded and Cristiano Lucarelli should have put them in front 11 minutes in.

When Benfica failed to clear their lines the ball fell to the summer signing from Livorno, who steadied himself before firing into the side netting at the near post.

Benfica appeared to gain confidence as the half wore on and they almost broke the deadlock after 27 minutes.

Argentinian striker Angel Di Maria showed a sharp turn of pace and good strength to shake off two defenders and produce a powerful left-foot strike from 10 yards out that rattled the crossbar.

Moments later the ball fell to Kostas Katsouranis inside the area but as Pyatov came out to narrow the angle, Benfica’s Greece midfielder shot into the side-netting.

The Ukrainian side had an opportunity to edge in front before half-time but Fernandinho’s free-kick from 25 yards out flashed wide.

But they were in front four minutes before the interval after a clinical counter attack.

Razvan Rat advanced at speed and drew in a defender before slotting the ball into the path of the overlapping Fernandinho and when Quim raced out of his goal the Brazilian cut the ball back for his countryman Jadson whose right-foot finish hit the roof of the net.

Italy international Lucarelli almost made it 2-0 early in the second half but although his free-kick was on target, Quim comfortably tipped it over the bar.

The visitors were dominant after the break which prompted whistles from disgruntled Benfica supporters and Shakhtar should have doubled their advantage with 25 minutes remaining.

Brandao took too much time to get his shot away after being played in by Lucarelli, but he then set up Fernandinho who spooned the ball over the bar.

Benfica pushed forward in the closing stages in a desperate bid to claw something out of the game and they almost grabbed a point in stoppage time when Pyatov missed a ball in from the left and Rodriguez’s header was cleared off the line by a retreating defender.

Shakhtar substitute Nery Castillo should have killed the game off when he went clean through on goal but flashed his shot wide of the far post, but his miss proved to be irrelevant.