Milevskiy lavishes praise on Dynamo display

Artem Milevskiy described FC Dynamo Kyiv's 3-0 defeat of Paris Saint-Germain FC in the UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg as the Ukrainian side's "best performance in six to 12 months" and paid tribute to the effect of coach Yuri Semin.

All change
The victory has set up a fascinating all-Ukrainian semi-final against FC Shakhtar Donetsk on 30 April and 7 May, and Milevskiy, who laid the ball off for Ismaël Bangoura's fourth-minute opener, believes Semin has had an immense impact on Dynamo's fortunes following his appointment in January 2008. "Since Semin's arrival everything has changed," he said. "He's a great coach. We have the same team, same players but we play much, much better. That was our best performance in six to 12 months. Everyone of us played at 100 per cent and even more."

Relax
Meanwhile, Olexandr Aliyev has admitted that he only felt assured of Dynamo's place in the last four after they scored the third. Following a goalless first leg, Dynamo were 2-0 ahead by the 16th minute following Bangoura's precise effort from the edge of the penalty area and a miscued punch from PSG goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau. The Ukrainian Premier League leaders then missed several opportunities to extend their lead before Aliyev's free-kick led to Ognjen Vukojević adding the third. "We began the match really well and scored twice," he said. "That was the plan of our coach Yuri Semin. However, I only started to believe in victory after we made the score 3-0."

Raucous crowd
The Valeri Lobanovskiy Stadium was full to capacity and Aliyev admits it was the fans' backing which spurred Dynamo on to victory. "I have to thank our supporters – they're great," he added. "The fans come to the stadium not only for European matches but to our domestic games as well. Their support plays a huge role in our success."