Everyone at FC Olimpik Donetsk have their minds set on the second leg against PAOK and that was obvious on Sunday. Roman Sanzhar made no less than 9 changes in his line-up compared to last Thursday’s game, as he wanted to rest his regulars ahead of their upcoming visit to Toumba Stadium.

None of the two sides wanted to risk in the first half and chances to score were scarce, only through long-range shots. Niggling fouls on both sides interrupted the flow of play.

In the second half, Sanzhar introduced some of his regulars on the pitch aiming to finish off the encounter. Moha, Bilenkyi and Bohdanov came off the bench, but the team’s display didn’t improve. On the contrary, the visiting side stepped on the throttle and tried to “steal” the match. The highlight of the encounter came at stoppage time, when Stepanyuk was brought down into the box by Emmerson. He stepped up to take the spot kick but was denied by woodwork. Kotlyar collected the rebound but his shot also struck Kychak’s post.

FC Olimpik Donetsk: Kychak, Lukyanchuk, Lukhtanov, Emmerson, Fedoriv, Brikner, Tsymbalyuk, Postupalenko (58′ Bohdanov), Guttiner, Mihunov (58′ Bilenkyi), Mikhalyov (46′ Moha).