Commonwealth Cup: Shakhtar fall at the first

Just a point
After picking up just a point from their first two Group C games, Shakhtar lost 2-1 to Azerbaijan's Under-21 side, Gurban Gurbanov scoring twice, while the stalemate between FC Pakhtakor and FBK Kaunas allowed their counterparts from Uzbekistan and Lithuania to advance from the pool.

Safely through
Russian champions FC Lokomotiv Moskva showed their strength with a 4-0 defeat of SKA PVO in Group A. Nikolay Sokolov and Winston Parks put Lokomotiv ahead before Sergey Ovchinnikov scored twice in the last minute to lift his side to the top of the section. Georgian outfit FC Torpedo Kutaisi progressed along with Russia's finest after beating FC Irtysh Pavlodar 1-0.

Ryndyuk saves BATE
Latvia's FC Skonto and FC BATE Borisov of Belarus were the protagonists in Group B, both winning through to the last eight. Maris Verpakovskis scored twice and captain Mihails Zemlinskis added another from the spot as Skonto accounted for FC Regar-TadAz 3-0, while BATE had Nikolay Ryndyuk to thank for their safe passage after his strike cancelled out Eduard Manucharyan's opener for FC Pyunik.

Favourites progress
The powerhouses also occupied the first two places in Group D. Moldovan side FC Sheriff Tiraspol drew 3-3 with the Russian Under-19s in their final outing, while FC Flora from Estonia proved too strong for FC Shagadam, triumphing 3-1.

Quarter-final pairings
The quarter-final matches will be played tomorrow, with Kaunas getting proceedings under way against Sheriff, to be followed by Flora's meeting with Pakhtakor. Skonto will then tackle Torpedo before Lokomotiv's eagerly awaited clash with BATE completes the day's action.