Luiz Adriano nets hat-trick as Shakhtar tear BATE apart
LVIV November 5 (Reuters) - Shakhtar Donetsk's Luiz Adriano took his tally against BATE Borisov to eight goals in two games as the Ukrainian side took a giant stride towards the Champions League's last 16 by crushing the Group H minnows 5-0 at the Lviv Arena on Wednesday.
The result was largely expected after the Ukrainian champions humiliated BATE 7-0 away in Minsk, with Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano scoring a hat-trick after netting five in their previous encounter.
Shakhtar stay second in Group H with eight points from four games, two behind leaders Porto who qualified for the knockout stages on Wednesday. BATE are third with three points, two clear of bottom side Athletic Bilbao who have one.
Captain Dario Srna fired the home side in front 19 minutes into the game, collecting the ball on the edge of the penalty area and hitting it into the roof of the net via a deflection off Mikhail Gordeychuk.
Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira went close to increasing Shakhtar’s lead several times and his best chance came at the end of the first half when he forced BATE goalkeeper Sergei Chernik to keep out a powerful shot on the goal line.
Luiz Andriano followed up to pressure the keeper which provoked a minor scuffle, where Anri Khagush was booked twice in quick succession, leaving BATE to play the second half with 10 men.
Alex Teixeira was rewarded for persistence two minutes after the break as he dashed onto Srna’s incisive pass and exquisitely curled the ball low into the far corner to double the lead with BATE defenders appealing for offside.
Luiz Adriano, who was involved in all the goals, won a penalty in the 58th minute which he converted, before adding a fourth with a superb finish from close range when he latched on to a low cross from the left flank.
The Brazilian grabbed his hat-trick deep into stoppage time when he fired low into the corner.
(Reporting by Igor Nitsak; editing by Toby Davis)
