Shakhtar wins convincing victory over Beşiktaş in Istanbul

Shakhtar Donetsk won a convincing victory in the first match of the second qualifying round of the Europa League, beating Turkish Beşiktaş away 4:2. Ukrainian News Agency reports.

The main heroes of the match were the Brazilian players of Shakhtar, who scored all four goals. Alisson opened the scoring after a solo pass and a rebound, and later he provided an assist to Eguinaldo, who doubled Donetsk's advantage.

Before the break, Beşiktaş reduced the deficit - Tammy Abraham converted a penalty awarded for a handball by Konoplia.

In the second half, the Ukrainian team took the initiative again. Alisson provided the second assist of the match, firing a shot to Kevin, who hit an empty net. At the end of the match, the hosts reduced the difference to a minimum through the efforts of Joao Mario, but in the 90+5th minute, Kevin put an end to it, accurately scoring from the penalty area after a pass from Bondarenko.

During the final minutes, the match was suspended due to foreign objects being thrown from the stands at Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk.

The return match will take place in a week. According to the results of the first game, it is the Ukrainian team that is the favorite to advance to the next round.

As previously reported, Shakhtar will play its "home" European Cup matches of the 2025/26 season in Kraków.