Shakhtar Donetsk make Ukrainian football history

Shakhtar Donetsk became the first Ukrainian football club in history to win silverware on the European stage on Wednesday night, defeating Werder Bremen 2-1 in the final of the 2009 UEFA Europa League.

The last UEFA Europa League final before the tournament is scrapped to make way for the Europa League produced a thrilling match, which remained evenly poised up until the dying seconds the extra time period. Regulation time ended with the two clubs level on 1-1 following goals from Luiz Adriano for Shakthar and Naldo for Werder Bremen.

The winning goal was scored by Shakhtar’s Brazilian import, Jadson, 7 minutes into extra time, and Bremen came close to levelling again with time running out on the clock only for Claudio Pizarro’s goal to be ruled out due to a foul on Dmytro Chygrynskiy.

The result was ultimately a fair reflection of the strength of both clubs, with a full strength Shakhtar always the favourites to prevail against a Bremen side weakened by suspensions, injury and a densely populated fixture list.

“We weren’t able to play our usual football, we didn’t put enough pressure on our opponents,” Werder coach Thomas Schaaf said after the match. “We gave them too much space and lost too many balls. I congratulate Shakhtar, they were the best team on the night.”