Shakhtar Donetsk won the battle to be Ukraine's first ever UEFA Cup finalists after a tense and extremely close second leg with their fierce rivals, Dynamo Kyiv. Ilsinho struck late to send Mircea Lucescu's side into the Istanbul final with Werder Bremen.

It was not all good news for the country's second team as Tomas Hubschman picked up a booking that will rule him out of the historic UEFA Cup final. The home starting XI held no surprises with Mykola Ischenko coming into defence following his recent suspension. Yuri Semin also opted to stick with virtually the same side as the first leg with only Roman Eremenko replacing Carlos Correa in the centre of midfield.

Dynamo were passing the ball around nicely in the early stages while their hosts were looking nervy and incapable of stringing a few passes together. Their positive start almost produced a goal inside the first four minutes but Ismael Bangoura dragged his effort wide of the far post. The most the home side had to show for their efforts was a series of long throws from Darijo Srna which were easily cleared by the Kyiv defence in a largely dull opening quarter. It was going to take some magic to spark the game into life and inevitably it was a Brazilian who provided it. Betao could only clear the ball into the path of Jadson with the Shakhtar midfielder rifling into the top corner. The visitors were hit hard by the opening goal of the night as they struggled to get forward and get the essential strike of their own. Then with minutes ahead of the interval they thought they had scored when Olexandr Aliyev's free-kick was diverted in by Ognen Vukojevic. However, his strike was rightly ruled out for offside much to the dismay of the visitors. Olexandr Aliyev took his protestations too far and as a consequence received a yellow card that would rule him out of the next European game. Shakhtar were looking comfortable as the half reached its conclusion with Dynamo's Ognen Vukojevic picking up a booking, which like his colleague, Aliyev, would rule him out of the next fixture. 

Kyiv were looking more and more dangerous as the first half progressed and Ismael Bangoura got the vital away goal within two minutes of the restart. The striker ghosted between the centre backs before slotting the ball past the stranded goalkeeper to bring the sides level again. The equaliser opened the game up with both teams going forward with greater purpose with their defences getting deeper and deeper as a consequence. With 20 minutes left to play it was anybody's game. The Dynamo 'keeper almost gifted the hosts the lead with a bit of ball juggling but fortunately, for him, Goran Sabljic smacked the ball away from danger. Only a foolish supporter invading the pitch could slow the match down as both teams looked for a winner in the closing ten minutes. It was time for a hero and it was another Shakhtar Brazilian, Ilsinho who took centre stage. He cut into the box past El Kaddouri to pass the ball into the far corner and put the home side in front again. Dynamo, to their credit, searched for a second equaliser but time run out for them.

A fantastic victory for Shakhtar who will have the opportunity to bring the first bit of European silverware back to the Ukraine later this month. They were without question the better side over the two legs and will go into the final with a realistic chance of victory. Disappointment for Yuri Semin who still has not picked up a win over Donetsk during his tenure in the capital. He will have to console himself with the expectation of league glory while the two teams will meet again in the Ukrainian cup in the near future. Revenge will still be on the cards but the big prize of a UEFA Cup final has now gone.