Babacar's Fiorentina finish confounds Dynamo

• Fiorentina threaten to overwhelm Dynamo after a nervous start
• Deflected Jeremain Lens shot on 36 minutes stops Viola in their tracks
• Serhiy Rebrov's side sit back and look to hit their guests on the break
• Borja Valero heads against the post for Fiorentina
• Khouma Babacar's acrobatic flick earns his team a draw at the death

Khouma Babacar came off the bench to preserve ACF Fiorentina's long unbeaten record on the road in Europe, his acrobatic flick securing the Viola a deserved UEFA Europa League quarter-final first-leg draw at FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Dynamo failed to effectively clear Matías Fernández's ball in from the right two minutes into added time and were undone as the Senegalese striker – with his back to goal – stretched his leg high to flip the ball into the net. It was just reward for Vincenzo Montella's side, who had shown plenty of endeavour despite conceding on 36 minutes when Nenad Tomović's attempt at a block served only to loop Jeremain Lens's shot in from the edge of the box.

Serhiy Rebrov's team were overwhelmed for much of the first period, left-back Antunes run ragged by Mohamed Salah before being replaced by Domagoj Vida after just 24 minutes. Mario Gomez had an effort rebuffed then got up to fire a second into the side netting, and later Salah fluffed his finish – firing pretty much straight at Olexandr Shovkovskiy when the ball broke to him in the area. Fernández too went close before Lens's stroke of luck changed the complexion of the match.

For a few minutes it appeared Dynamo would make more of their good fortune, the Ukrainian Premier-Liha leaders recovering their attacking fluency, yet they were cagey once more after the interval, inviting the Viola to come at them again. Borja Valero's flicked header thudded into the post whereas the closest Dynamo got to a second was when Andriy Yarmolenko wove his way into the box, Juan Manuel Vargas sliding in to fend away his strike.

Rebrov, though, had reason to be pleased with his side's defensive resolve until Babacar's late intervention, which means Fiorentina are now 12 games unbeaten away from home in UEFA competition.