Shakhtar Donetsk were able to come away from the home of Ukrainian rivals Dynamo Kyiv with a valuable away goal, as they drew 1-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final first leg, and coach Mircea Lucescu was left feeling that something positive had been achieved, though the tie is far from over.
"This was a very difficult game for both teams," he told uefa.com.
"We know each other so well. We made too many errors in the first half – my players seemed burdened by the importance of the occasion. Dynamo were the better team in the first half, they used the ball well and had more possession even if their first real dangerous moment brought their goal.
"At half-time I told my players that they hadn't done 20 per cent of what I told them in the team talk. I reminded them that they needn't be afraid, as they were in the first half.
"The second half was very different. We controlled more of the ball, kept our shape and Willian and [Olexandr] Gladkiy made good impressions as substitutes; they brought something extra.
"The result here is fair but it's only the first part and the second leg may be even harder because at home you have to focus on other things. Overall, though, we are satisfied with the result."
Hamburg went some way towards making up for their elimination from the DFB Pokal at the hands of Werder Bremen by taking a first-leg lead in this UEFA Cup semi-final.
Hamburg were the better side in the first 45 minutes and scored through Piotr Trochowski and then had to defend their lead resolutely in the second-half as Werder hunted for an equalizer.
It wasn’t to be though and the Rothosen take a valuable lead and away goal into the second-leg.
First Half
The penalty shoot-out hero from the recent DFB Pokal semi-final, Tim Wiese, had to be very alert in just the second minute after Ivica Olic was played in by Jonathan Pitroipa. The Croatian got a shot off, but was denied by the legs of the Werder keeper, who was off his line in a flash.
A minute later and HSV keeper Frank Rost had to be equally on his toes when Diego cut across the edge of the penalty box before firing in a shot. The opening minutes were incredibly open with neither side showing any signs of nerves at this semi-final stage.
Hamburg were more engaged as an attacking force than they were in their Cup defeat to Werder even if chances were thin on the ground in the opening quarter of an hour.
Tim Wiese then had to pull off a second excellent save in the 22nd minute after Hamburg had engineered a good chance. The visitors worked the ball around the edge of the Werder penalty area before Peruvian Paulo Guerrero fired in a shot from 16 meters out. A fine parry from the Werder keeper however denied HSV the opening goal.
However, shortly before the half hour mark the Werder keeper was powerless to stop the smallest man on the pitch from scoring from a header.
Guy Demel received the ball wide on the right and his finely placed cross beat three Werder defenders to find the diminutive Piotr Trochowski at the far post and he headed the ball back across goal and into the far corner to hand HSV a potentially vital away goal.
Werder looked to hit back quickly but were a little too hesitant in their efforts. Mesut Oezil played in Diego on 37 minutes but the Brazilian decided to cross the ball back into the middle rather than take the ball on himself and the chance went begging.
Hamburg looked to hit their hosts on the counter but Guerrero showed a little too much selfishness and saw his effort on 39 minutes blocked when Trochowski was screaming for a pull-back.
Werder’s playmaker Diego looked to pull the strings for the home side more and more but on two occasions Claudio Pizarro was unable to profit from his delivery.
Second Half
The second-half kicked off with a flair being lit behind the Werder goal by a section of the visiting support which threatened to interrupt the game with thick smoke drifting across the Weser Stadion.
After consulting Tim Wiese referee Howard Webb waved play on and Hamburg very nearly benefited when Dennis Aogo drilled a shot towards the near post of the Werder keeper’s goal.
Soon after Werder were up at the other end causing problems. Frank Rost was only able to palm out a cross from the right and Hugo Almeida sent in a bullet header, but the HSV custodian was on hand to save.
The start of the second 45 minutes saw Werder Bremen taking over the initiative with Hamburg seemingly happier to sit back a little and invite the home side onto them.
The intensity of the game didn’t show any signs of slowing as Werder looked to attack, while Hamburg looked to hit them on the counter. Ivica Olic forced Tim Wiese into making a good parried save on 65 minutes after the Croatian had been played in by Guerrero.
Almost immediately though, Werder were up at the other end on the attack. Claudio Pizarro saw a shot deflected and from the resulting corner Per Mertesacker was rather surprised by the ball that came to him.
It seemed to be one-way traffic towards the Hamburg goal as Werder looked for the equalizer. Mesut Oezil was becoming more and more of a danger and his pass to Pizarro on 71 minutes was cleared for a corner at the last minute. The resulting corner saw Markus Rosenberg fire the ball over the bar.
With f15 minutes remaining Claudio Pizarro was handed a very good chance after a defensive lapse from Michael Gravgaard, but he was unable to keep his cool and he fired his chance wildly over the bar.
Werder continued to turn up the heat as the clock ticked down to full time. Pizarro narrowly missed getting his head to a Boenisch cross on 84 minutes while Naldo forced Frank Rost into a save with a shot on 86 minutes.
In the end it wasn't to be a happy birthday for Werder trainer Thomas Schaaf as Hamburg took the spoils in this first-leg.
Goals
0-1 Trochowski (28)
Werder Bremen: Wiese, Fritz (Proedl 85), Mertesacker, Naldo, Boenisch, Frings, Tziolis, Oezil, Diego, Pizarro, Almeida (Rosenberg 61)
Hamburg: Rost, Demel, Gravgaard, Mathijsen, Aogo (Benjamin 79), Jarolim, Alex Silva (Boateng 75), Pitroipa, Trochowski, Guerrero, Olic (Torun 91)
Dynamo Kyiv 1 - 1 Shakhtar Donetsk And Werder Bremen 0 - 1 Hamburger SV
Shakhtar Donetsk were able to come away from the home of Ukrainian rivals Dynamo Kyiv with a valuable away goal, as they drew 1-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final first leg, and coach Mircea Lucescu was left feeling that something positive had been achieved, though the tie is far from over.
"This was a very difficult game for both teams," he told uefa.com.
"We know each other so well. We made too many errors in the first half – my players seemed burdened by the importance of the occasion. Dynamo were the better team in the first half, they used the ball well and had more possession even if their first real dangerous moment brought their goal.
"At half-time I told my players that they hadn't done 20 per cent of what I told them in the team talk. I reminded them that they needn't be afraid, as they were in the first half.
"The second half was very different. We controlled more of the ball, kept our shape and Willian and [Olexandr] Gladkiy made good impressions as substitutes; they brought something extra.
"The result here is fair but it's only the first part and the second leg may be even harder because at home you have to focus on other things. Overall, though, we are satisfied with the result."
Hamburg went some way towards making up for their elimination from the DFB Pokal at the hands of Werder Bremen by taking a first-leg lead in this UEFA Cup semi-final.
Hamburg were the better side in the first 45 minutes and scored through Piotr Trochowski and then had to defend their lead resolutely in the second-half as Werder hunted for an equalizer.
It wasn’t to be though and the Rothosen take a valuable lead and away goal into the second-leg.
First Half
The penalty shoot-out hero from the recent DFB Pokal semi-final, Tim Wiese, had to be very alert in just the second minute after Ivica Olic was played in by Jonathan Pitroipa. The Croatian got a shot off, but was denied by the legs of the Werder keeper, who was off his line in a flash.
A minute later and HSV keeper Frank Rost had to be equally on his toes when Diego cut across the edge of the penalty box before firing in a shot. The opening minutes were incredibly open with neither side showing any signs of nerves at this semi-final stage.
Hamburg were more engaged as an attacking force than they were in their Cup defeat to Werder even if chances were thin on the ground in the opening quarter of an hour.
Tim Wiese then had to pull off a second excellent save in the 22nd minute after Hamburg had engineered a good chance. The visitors worked the ball around the edge of the Werder penalty area before Peruvian Paulo Guerrero fired in a shot from 16 meters out. A fine parry from the Werder keeper however denied HSV the opening goal.
However, shortly before the half hour mark the Werder keeper was powerless to stop the smallest man on the pitch from scoring from a header.
Guy Demel received the ball wide on the right and his finely placed cross beat three Werder defenders to find the diminutive Piotr Trochowski at the far post and he headed the ball back across goal and into the far corner to hand HSV a potentially vital away goal.
Werder looked to hit back quickly but were a little too hesitant in their efforts. Mesut Oezil played in Diego on 37 minutes but the Brazilian decided to cross the ball back into the middle rather than take the ball on himself and the chance went begging.
Hamburg looked to hit their hosts on the counter but Guerrero showed a little too much selfishness and saw his effort on 39 minutes blocked when Trochowski was screaming for a pull-back.
Werder’s playmaker Diego looked to pull the strings for the home side more and more but on two occasions Claudio Pizarro was unable to profit from his delivery.
Second Half
The second-half kicked off with a flair being lit behind the Werder goal by a section of the visiting support which threatened to interrupt the game with thick smoke drifting across the Weser Stadion.
After consulting Tim Wiese referee Howard Webb waved play on and Hamburg very nearly benefited when Dennis Aogo drilled a shot towards the near post of the Werder keeper’s goal.
Soon after Werder were up at the other end causing problems. Frank Rost was only able to palm out a cross from the right and Hugo Almeida sent in a bullet header, but the HSV custodian was on hand to save.
The start of the second 45 minutes saw Werder Bremen taking over the initiative with Hamburg seemingly happier to sit back a little and invite the home side onto them.
The intensity of the game didn’t show any signs of slowing as Werder looked to attack, while Hamburg looked to hit them on the counter. Ivica Olic forced Tim Wiese into making a good parried save on 65 minutes after the Croatian had been played in by Guerrero.
Almost immediately though, Werder were up at the other end on the attack. Claudio Pizarro saw a shot deflected and from the resulting corner Per Mertesacker was rather surprised by the ball that came to him.
It seemed to be one-way traffic towards the Hamburg goal as Werder looked for the equalizer. Mesut Oezil was becoming more and more of a danger and his pass to Pizarro on 71 minutes was cleared for a corner at the last minute. The resulting corner saw Markus Rosenberg fire the ball over the bar.
With f15 minutes remaining Claudio Pizarro was handed a very good chance after a defensive lapse from Michael Gravgaard, but he was unable to keep his cool and he fired his chance wildly over the bar.
Werder continued to turn up the heat as the clock ticked down to full time. Pizarro narrowly missed getting his head to a Boenisch cross on 84 minutes while Naldo forced Frank Rost into a save with a shot on 86 minutes.
In the end it wasn't to be a happy birthday for Werder trainer Thomas Schaaf as Hamburg took the spoils in this first-leg.
Goals
0-1 Trochowski (28)
Werder Bremen: Wiese, Fritz (Proedl 85), Mertesacker, Naldo, Boenisch, Frings, Tziolis, Oezil, Diego, Pizarro, Almeida (Rosenberg 61)
Hamburg: Rost, Demel, Gravgaard, Mathijsen, Aogo (Benjamin 79), Jarolim, Alex Silva (Boateng 75), Pitroipa, Trochowski, Guerrero, Olic (Torun 91)
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