Shakhtar to face Werder in final

Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine will meet Germany's Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup final in Istanbul on May 20.

Shakhtar got to their first European final and became the first Ukrainian team to reach the UEFA Cup final when they beat visitors Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in the second leg of an all-Ukrainian semi-final tie yesterday for a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Werder, who had lost the first leg of their all-German semi-final 1-0 at home to Hamburg SV, won the second leg 3-2 away to reach the final on the away goals rule.

In Ukraine, Jadson put Shakhtar ahead after 17 minutes with a fine shot into the top corner of the net from the edge of the box but striker Ismael Bangoura equalised two minutes after half-time.

With the match heading towards extra-time, Ilsinho raced on to a long punt out of defence, rounded two defenders and placed a left-foot shot inside the far bottom corner for the winner.

Werder Bremen struck twice in the second half to beat Hamburg SV 3-2.

Werder, who went through on the away goals rule after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate, scored through Claudio Pizarro and Frank Baumann in the final 24 minutes.

Hamburg took the lead in the 12th minute when Croatia striker Olic latched onto a superbly timed pass from Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen which split the defence for Olic to flick his shot over Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese.

Bremen got back on level terms when Peru striker Claudio Pizarro flicked a pass through to midfielder Diego and the Brazilian stabbed his pass over Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost on 29 minutes.

The game turned suddenly on 66 minutes when Brazilian defender Alex Silva passed Pizarro the ball and his shot flew past Rost having taken a deflection.

Werder Bremen sealed their place in the Istanbul final on 83 minutes when Trochowski tried to kick away the danger from a corner, the ball rebounded off the head of Bremen captain Baumann and into the net.

Olic pulled a goal back three minutes from time but that was too little too late as Werder held on till the end to seal their place in the final.