No goals, but a win: “Dynamo” advances in the Europa League
17 July 03:44
Kyiv’s Dynamo advanced to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. In the second leg against Romania’s Universitatea (Cluj-Napoca), the teams were again unable to determine a winner in regulation time, and the Ukrainian club secured its spot in the next round in a penalty shootout. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
Dynamo advanced past Universitatea only after a penalty shootout
The second leg of the second qualifying round ended in a 0–0 draw. The first match between the teams had also ended scoreless, so the outcome had to be decided in a penalty shootout.
The Kyiv club had the upper hand, threatened the opponent’s goal more often, and had more shots on target, but was unable to capitalize on its chances.
In the end, the outcome was decided by penalty kicks.
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Penalty Shootout: Flawless Dynamo
The Dynamo players confidently converted all of their kicks:
- Andriy Yarmolenko;
- Volodymyr Brazhko;
- Matviy Ponomarenko;
- Justin Lonwijk.
In contrast, the “Universitatea” players failed to beat the Ukrainian team’s goalkeeper on two occasions.
The penalty shootout ended 4–2 in favor of the Kyiv team.
Their next opponent is PAOK of Greece
The victory allowed the Ukrainian Cup champion to continue its run in Europe’s second-most prestigious club tournament.
In the second qualifying round of the Europa League, Dynamo will face Greek club PAOK.
The matches are scheduled for:
- July 23 —first leg (nominally a home game for Dynamo);
- July 30 — the second leg.
An important step for Ukrainian soccer
Advancing to the next round is significant not only for the Kyiv club itself but also for Ukraine’s standing in the UEFA coefficient rankings.
Further success in the qualifiers will bring Dynamo closer to the Europa League group stage and earn additional ranking points for Ukrainian soccer.
Over the course of the two matches, Igor Kostyuk’s team demonstrated solid defensive play, not conceding a single goal, although converting scoring opportunities remains one of the main challenges ahead of the matches against a more experienced opponent from Greece.
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