Shakhtar prevail in fiery final

FC Shakhtar Donetsk secured their sixth Ukrainian Cup by defeating arch-rivals FC Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in Kharkiv – a match which featured five red cards.

Title rivals
Separated by just a point at the top of the Premier League – Shakhtar lead Dynamo with two matches remaining – Mircea Lucescu's side led at the break thanks to Olexandr Gladkiy. But although Olexiy Gai added a second 12 minutes from the time, the match was overshadowed by the five dismissals, three for Shakhtar and two for Dynamo.

Dismissals
Despite enjoying the majority of early possession, Shakhtar could not force Dynamo goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy into significant action and looked like going into the interval on level terms until Gladkiy converted Ilsinho's clever flick at the near post. However, after the break the real drama began when Shakhtar's Brazilian striker Brandão was sent off for tangling with countryman Carlos Corrêa. It was ten against ten a short time later, though, when Pape Diakhate was given a straight red card for a foul on Igor Duljaj.       

Wasted chances
Dynamo then upped the tempo but Miloš Ninković, Corrêa and Artem Kravets all squandered opportunities to level. Gai then punished Dynamo's profligacy when he dispatched another assist from Ilsinho. Ismaël Bangoura was then involved in an altercation with Shakhtar defender Volodymyr Yezerskiy, an incident which earned both players a red card, while Gladkiy became the fifth player to see red a short time later when he picked up his second caution.