Shakhtar on course for semis

Shakhtar Donetsk have one foot in the Uefa Cup semi-finals after they defeated Marseille 2-0.

Hubschman and Jadson earn first-leg advantage

Shakhtar Donetsk have one foot in the Uefa Cup semi-finals after they defeated Marseille 2-0 in Ukraine. Tomas Hubschman and Rodrigues Jadson scored the goals to earn the hosts a deserved first-leg victory. Shakhtar began the brightest as they set about their French opponents but it was the visitors who should have opened the scoring against the run of play. Boudewijn Zenden slipped in Mamadou Niang to go through on goal but the 29-year-old saw his right-footed effort come back off the far post. The home side reacted and took the lead six minutes before the break through Hubschman. Skipper Darijo Srna crossed from the right but the Czech Republic ace could not get a clean strike on goal. However, Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda parried the tame shot and the left-back made no mistake at the second attempt. Shakhtar doubled their lead on 65 minutes when Luiz Adriano, who shot weakly at Mandanda under no pressure inside the first 10 minutes, skipped down the right-hand side and played a one-two with substitute Willian on the edge of the area. Adriano collected the return and rounded Mandanda before squaring to Jadson to tap home.