First victory for Malmö in the Champions League

A goal from Rosenberg in the first half was enough for Malmö to secure their first victory in this Champions League, sink Shakhtar to last place and ruin the anniversary of their coach, Romanian Mircea Lucescu, who on Wednesday celebrated one hundred matches in the competition.

Malmö came out more daring than against Real Madrid, but soon the initial timid pressure gave way to a more conservative tactic.

The Swedish team yielded the initiative to Shakhtar and entrenched themselves in their own half, leaving Djurdjic and Rosenberg up front to counterattack when possible.

However, the goal came from a good combination between Berget and Konate, substitute for the suspended Yotún, who entered the box and passed to the center for Rosenberg to fire past Pyatov, with the passivity of the Ukrainian defense.

Shakhtar intensified their dominance. They monopolized the ball (72% possession at halftime), moved it sensibly, thanks mainly to the mobility of Marlos and Bernard, and attacked with superiority from the wings, but they crashed against the Swedish wall.

Fred had the only clear chance of the first half, with a shot that went close to the post. On the other hand, the home team could have taken a clear lead with two counterattacks, especially one in which Berget's close-range shot was saved by Pyatov.

Berget again had the chance to make it 2-0 in a one-on-one at the start of the second half, in which Shakhtar, throwing themselves forward, had the ball but didn't pose much of a threat to a growing Malmö side.

Djurdjic missed a penalty awarded after a tussle in the small area between Srna and Rosenberg. Bengtsson came centimeters away from pushing a free kick from Rodic into the net. Every counterattack from the Swedish team was a serious threat to a Shakhtar without direction, with Teixeira nowhere to be found.

Despite their dominance, more apparent than real, the Ukrainian team never seemed close to equalizing and ended up with a deserved defeat that forces them to beat Malmö in the next match to at least have a chance to finish third and play in the Europa League.