Joy for Basel, but Lugano taste defeat in the Ukraine
Three goals in the first half gave Basel a convincing 3-0 victory against Lausanne in the first leg of their Intertoto Cup semi-final.
Christian Gimenez opened the scoring for the home team in the 18th minute and the striker grabbed a second just three minutes later.
Lausanne were left with a plenty of work to do in the second leg after Swiss international Hakan Yakin made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time.
The return match will be played on August 1, with the winner going through to one of three finals that will give the victors a place in this season’s UEFA Cup.
Over in the Ukraine, Lugano were left rueing several missed chances after they took on Shakhtar Donetsk in front of 35,000 fans in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round match.
The Ukrainians took the lead in the 20th minute with a goal from former Russian international Alexei Bakharev, but Lugano fought back immediately, dictating the play for the rest of the first half.
Earlier striker Julio Rossi had spurned a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring when he went one-on-one with the Shakhtar goalkeeper, Yuri Virt, but he sent his shot wide.
After the break, the home side put the game out of reach with goals from Anatoly Timoshchyuk and Andriy Vorobei. Virt protected Shakhtar’s 3-0 lead with several spectacular saves late in the match as Lugano desperately sought to reduce the deficit in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The return leg is due to be played on August 1, with the winner of the tie going on to play Borussia Dortmund in the final qualifying round.
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