Dynamo Kyiv beats Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0 to qualify for Champions League knockout stages

KIEV, Ukraine – A goal from Denys Harmash gave Dynamo Kyiv a 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday and a place in the last 16 of the Champions League for the Ukrainian champion.

Dynamo’s winner came with a slice of luck when Maccabi’s Tal Ben Chaim diverted a free-kick towards his own goal. Maccabi goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic managed to stop the ball going into the net, but could only push it into the path of Harmash, who was left with a simple finish.

That free-kick followed a foul by Maccabi’s Avraham Rikan on Dynamo’s star winger Andriy Yarmolenko, who had to be substituted with an apparent ankle injury.

With Yarmolenko injured and chasing a place in the Champions League last 16 for the first time in 16 years, Dynamo slowed the pace of the game down in a contest which produced few goalscoring chances.

Dynamo qualifies in second place behind Chelsea, which beat Porto 2-0 in the other Group G match played Wednesday.

The game was played in an empty stadium in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as part of Dynamo’s punishment for racist attacks by its fans in October. Dynamo will also have to hold the home leg of its first knockout round tie behind closed doors.