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| Andriy Shevchenko; photo by AFP |
World Cup hopefuls Ukraine and Greece battled out a scoreless draw in the first leg of their play-off tie on Saturday night at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, setting up an intriguing second leg in Donetsk.
Oleksiy Mykhailychenko’s men controlled most of the game and created several chances, with FC Dnipro midfield player Ruslan Rotan coming the closest to breaking the deadlock midway through the first half when he fired his shot wide of the post from the edge of the box. Dynamo players Andriy Shevchenko, Artem Milevskyy and Taras Mykhalyk also tested the hosts' defence as they searched for the breakthrough. Greece looked dangerous and had some good opportunities too. However, neither the hosts nor the visitors were able to find the back of the net.
After tonight's result, Ukraine have a slight advantage over the Greek opponents as they will be at home next time. The return leg will be played on Wednesday, 18 November at the Donbas Arena in Donetsk.
Greece – Ukraine – 0:0.
Ukraine: Pyatov, Kobin, Kucher, Khacheridi, Rakytskyy, Husyev (Aliyev, 84), Tymoshchuk, Mykhalyk, Rotan (Yarmolenko, 46), Milevskyy, Shevchenko.
Greece: Tzorvas, Papastathopoulos, Moras, Kyrgiakos, Vyntra, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Spiropoulos, Salpingidis (Mitroglou, 71), Gekas (Charisteas, 65), Samaras.
Booked: Papastathopoulos (60).
www.fcdynamo.kiev.ua
