Shaktar Donetsk 2 Werder Bremen 1:SHAKHTAR DONETSK became the last winners of the Uefa Cup by defeating Werder Bremen 2-1 in the final in Istanbul last night.
Mircea Lucescu’s team also became the first Ukrainian side to win a European trophy thanks to Jadson’s winner in extra-time.
The final – the last to be played before the competition is rebranded as the Europa League next season – finished all square on 90 minutes after Naldo had equalised Luiz Adriano’s opener.
Jadson made it a trio of Brazilian scorers when his weak effort trickled past Werder goalkeeper Tim Wiese in the 97th minute to give Shakhtar the trophy.
The Ukrainians should have gone ahead in the fifth minute when Luiz Adriano was allowed the time and space to turn on the edge of the box, but he fired just wide with the goal gaping.
He was almost made to pay for his profligacy a minute later as Shakhtar failed to clear Sebastian Boenisch’s long throw but Frank Baumann miscued his effort and on 24 minutes the Brazilian striker made amends, seizing on a through-ball that had wrong-footed the Bremen defence and lifting a sumptuous chip over the onrushing Wiese.
Moments after his goal Luiz Adriano found himself on the corner of the box again but lashed the ball over the bar, and his compatriot Willian then broke purposefully into the box, only to produce a tame finish straight at Wiese.
But just as Shakhtar were threatening to extend their advantage, Bremen hit back in thunderous fashion through their own Brazilian, Naldo stepping up in the 34th minute to hammer a free-kick at Andrei Pyatov with such ferocity that the goalkeeper could only help it on its way into the net.
At the other end Wiese looked far more assured in denying Mariusz Lewandowski’s powerful strike and the teams went in level at the end of an absorbing first half.
Wiese was back in action soon after the restart, doing well to punch away Darijo Srna’s free-kick from the right and Jadson’s strike from the left.
The lively Luiz Adriano turned in the box again on 65 minutes but his shot was blocked by Naldo and then Claudio Pizarro almost nicked it 13 minutes from time with a glancing header that Pyatov clawed away down to his left.
With the game petering out extra-time looked increasingly likely and once it got under way, it was almost inevitable that it would be an error that would finally settle the issue.
Less predictable was that Wiese would be the culprit, horribly misjudging Jadson’s soft shot from 12 yards and undoing all his good work through the night by letting it bobble past him into the net.
Willian had a chance to seal victory seconds before the extra-time interval only to blaze his effort over the crossbar and Bremen had a late strike ruled out for a Pizzaro foul.
SHAKHTAR DONETSK: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Chigrinsky, Rat, Lewandowski, Fernandinho, Ilsinho (Gai 99), Jadson (Duljaj 112), Willian , Luiz Adriano (Gladkyy 89). Subs not used: Khudzamov, Ischenko, Chyzhov, Moreno. Booked: Srna, Lewandowski, Ilsinho.
WERDER BREMEN: Wiese, Fritz (Pasanen 94), Prodl, Naldo, Boenisch, Niemeyer (Tziolis 103), Frings, Baumann, Ozil, Pizarro, Rosenberg (Hunt 78). Subs not used: Vander, Tosic, Vranjes, Harnik. Booked: Frings, Fritz, Tziolis, Boenisch.
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
