A late first-half goal from Marlos was enough to seal a hard-fought win for Shakhtar Donetsk in their first leg UEFA Champions League play-off tie against Rapid Wien.
Both sides came into the game after dropping points in their weekend encounters. However, a late fight-back saved Rapid from losing - though Shakhtar fell to their first defeat of the season at home to Dnipro. The main men were restored to the respective line-ups, including the Austrians' star striker, Robert Beric.
Exciting and entertaining opening
Yaroslav Rakitskiy was the man who had the first attempt on goal of the evening. The centre-half wandered into shooting range and - much to the surprise of his team-mates - let fly from 35 yards, only to see Jan Novota parry it to safety. The entertaining opening continued and Rapid had an opportunity of their own through their hero from the last leg. Louis Schaub glanced a hander a few yards wide after some stylish build-up play.
Despite all the good build-up, two deflections went closer still to opening the scoring. Rakitskiy deflected a cross-cum-shot from Schaub within inches of the goal and with Andriy Pyatov flat-footed, the Ukrainian stopper was relieved to see it go behind. Then Olexandr Kucher, who had only come back on from a spell of treatment, did just enough to prevent Mario Sonnleitner's header from finding the far corner.
Rapid hadn't learned their lesson from Rakitskiy's powerful effort in the first few minutes and afforded him time and space to have another shot. This time Novota needed to be at his best to turn away the long-range drive. Kucher was in the wars once more and needed to make a stellar block from Florian Kainz's pull-back, which nearly gave Beric the perfect chance to open the scoring.
Two great chances but Marlos makes it count
The tempo was almost unbearable and neither side were letting up, though Shakhtar were slowly beginning to win the possession battle. The visitors were having the better of the chances in the minutes before half-time but Rapid were denied in spectacular fashion by Pyatov with their best effort of the game. Stephan Auer's wing-play set-up Kainz, who saw his volley tipped magnificently over by the Ukraine stopper.
Hearts were to be broken moments later, as Shakhtar shot up the pitch and took the lead themselves. Rakitskiy had been their most dangerous player of the half and he turned provider for the goal, crossing for Marlos who finished well. He controlled with ease before jinking past Auer and he kept cool when faced with the 'keeper to nestle the ball in the bottom corner, kissing the post on its way in.
A slower second half sees Rapid have the better of the play
The second half saw Taras Stepanenko, who was injured in the final seconds of the first, replaced by Maksim Malyshev. It was a much slower start to the latter 45 though Schaub's run and shot were anything but. He glided past the visiting defence before rocketing a defence just wide of the far post, lighting up the home crowd once more.
Taison and Marlos were beginning to have more joy out wide with Auer and Mario Pavelic pushing on in search of an equaliser. Despite their tricks and flicks they couldn't find the vital final ball, allowing Rapid more than one reprieve. The yellow cards were also starting to tally up, with Björn Kuipers having brandished his yellow card no less than eight times just after the hour mark.
Wien became more and more desperate as the half drew on but time was against them. Thanos Pestos had a hopeful long-range drive skid just past Pyatov's post. Beric's isolation in the second period was a real killer for the hosts, who struggled to get their main goal-getter into the game.
Unfortunately for the home fans, they just couldn't find the goal they needed. Shakhtar are now in the driving seat ahead of next week's second leg but a confident Wien side must not be discounted from pulling off an upset.