As regrettable as it is, this season the team that for the past two years we had placed considerable hopes on in the UEFA Cup draw is leaving it already at the group stage... Dnipropetrovsk's "Dnipro," having suffered three defeats in its first three matches of this stage of the competition against not particularly (let's be objective) strong teams, "turned" its final match (away against Swiss "Grasshopper") into a virtual farewell to European cups - 2005.

From the very start of the match, the Swiss, although not particularly quickly, noticeably seized the initiative. Consequently, the Dnipropetrovsk players for a long time could not organize any more or less dangerous situation near the hosts' goal. Moreover, there was no shortage of inaccuracies in executing the "final elements": either Kravchenko would pass to Balabanov, and the latter would be prevented from properly striking the ball and delivering an accurate shot, or another pass by the same Kravchenko would be "neutralized" by a Swiss defender, kicking the ball out of play.

Meanwhile, the "Grasshopper" players created a whole series of goal-scoring opportunities in the first half, and genuinely dangerous ones at that. In particular, in the 29th minute Rogerio found Toure with a cross in the penalty area, and the Senegalese player only by a miracle failed to open the scoring with a header... And there was also a decent free kick by Antonio from outside "Dnipro's" penalty area: Kernozenko saved it, and although he could not immediately secure the ball in his gloves, he was first to it after the rebound...

However, while the hosts could not get any "positive" from that set piece, Serhiy Nazarenko had no desire whatsoever to "forgive" the opponent. The Ukrainian executed the awarded free kick (this time near "Grasshopper's" goal) as he had demonstrated many times before: precisely and effortlessly. Goalkeeper Coltorti, although he touched the ball with his hand, could not save his team: crossbar and goal - 1:0!!!

In the final minutes of the first half, Kernozenko again found himself in the spotlight, but this time too the Ukrainian goalkeeper handled his duties, stopping the ball after a shot by Cabanas.

No sooner had the next 45 minutes of the contest begun than the visitors received an excellent opportunity to increase their lead on the scoreboard: Mykhaylenko should have spectacularly connected with Semochko's cross into the Swiss penalty area, but the hosts were saved by Stepanovs's sliding tackle...

A moment later, and Oleh Shelayev could have become the scorer, but his mini-duel "one-on-one" with the "Grasshopper" goalkeeper ended in favor of the latter...

And here it is - the 61st minute: Semochko threads the ball to Balabanov, he immediately to Kravchenko, and Kostyantyn scores - 2:0!!!

The second conceded goal again prompted another surge of activity from the Swiss, but all their efforts were nullified by Vyacheslav Kernozenko: he parried Cabanas's shot, Antonio's long-range strike, pulled out a low ball from Pavlovic...

And in the 83rd, "Dnipro" scored again: a corner kick near the hosts' goal, Nazarenko's cross into the penalty area, Mykhaylenko's header - and 3:0!!!

True, "Dnipro" did not manage to keep a clean sheet: just two minutes after Dmytro Toure's scoring effort, he played more successfully on the anticipation - 1:3, and a few moments later Renggli put the final point in the match... - 2:3.

"Dnipro" earns its first points, rises to fourth place in Group D, but it doesn't help... It has said farewell to this year's European season, but ended it on a major note, defeating away a rather stubborn (as evidenced even by the results of the Swiss championship) "Grasshopper" - 3:2...

We, meanwhile, have hopes that the most important thing will happen: "Dnipro's" game will stabilize and we will again see that team which last season, according to most experts, could have even reached the UEFA Cup final, if not for the unfortunate loss in the final seconds at home against Serbian "Partizan"...

"GRASSHOPPER" (SWITZERLAND) - "DNIPRO" (UKRAINE) – 2:3

Goals: Toure 85 - Nazarenko 39, Kravchenko 61, Mykhaylenko 83

"Grasshopper": Coltorti, Stepanovs, Jaggy, Mitreski, Sutter (Shihab 58), Renggli, Cabanas, Antonio, Salatic (Pavlovic 63), Toure, Rogerio.

"Dnipro": Kernozenko, Hrytsay, Lysytskyi (Mykhaylenko 46), Yezerskyi (Matyukhin 22), Shelayev, Balabanov, Kostyshyn, Rusol, Semochko, Kravchenko (Kornilenko 75), Nazarenko.