Karpaty and PSG make their point

A point in Ukraine was enough for Paris Saint-Germain FC to finish top of Group J, but FC Karpaty Lviv can take heart at breaking their UEFA Europa League group stage duck.

Péguy Luyindula struck against the run of play to put the visitors ahead, with snow lying deep around the Ukrayina Stadion, but Artem Fedetskiy replied just before the interval to give Oleg Kononov's side the end-of-term celebration their willing performance deserved.

Sure to end their maiden UEFA club competition group stage campaign at the foot of the section, Karpaty could have been excused for not relishing their task, but after Andriy Tlumak made a sharp save to deny Mevlüt Erdinç at his near post early on, the Ukrainian team gave every bit as good as they got.

Tripy Makonda headed a Danilo Avelar effort off the line, Serhiy Kuznetsov nodded another chance just wide and a splendid ball sent Denys Kozhanov haring towards goal, though he shot tamely at Grégory Coupet.

It was somewhat harsh on the hosts when Luyindula put PSG ahead on 39 minutes. The striker was inadvertently played in by Fedetskiy, who chested a dangerous ball into his path, and the French international found the target, though his shot barely crept across the line, Tlumak having done his best to block.

Karpaty did not give up, and after a long Yaroslav Martynyuk shot almost deceived Coupet, Fedetskiy's free-kick moments before the break baffled the 37-year-old goalkeeper, skidding through his legs and into the net.

Their tails up once more, Karpaty stampeded forward again after the break, with Grigoriy Baranets blasting an early shot at Coupet, but their finishing could not match their passion. Fedetskiy curled another free-kick wide on the hour, and Coupet made a routine save to deny substitute Alexander Guruli as the clock ticked down.