On Thursday, July 16, Dynamo Kyiv faced Romanian side Universitatea in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round in Cluj-Napoca.
After a goalless draw in the first leg in Lublin, where the White-Blues enjoyed a clear advantage in play, the teams effectively started from scratch on Romanian soil.
Igor Kostyuk’s side took control from the opening minutes once again and quickly began creating chances in front of the home team's goal.
As early as the sixth minute, Dynamo should have taken the lead from a set piece. Following a cross and a header from Matvii Ponomarenko, goalkeeper Neofytos Michail parried the ball into the danger area, where Bohdan Redushko was first to react. However, with the goal virtually empty, he failed to make proper contact with the ball.
The pressure on Universitatea’s defense continued to mount, and in the 15th minute the ball finally found the net. Oleksandr Pikhalonok delivered a cross from the right byline that sailed over Michail, allowing Redushko to arrive at the far post and head home. However, Dynamo's celebrations were short-lived. Following a VAR review, the referee disallowed the goal for a marginal offside against Pikhalonok.
Just six minutes later, in the 21st minute, Dynamo broke through the Romanian defense again. After Redushko’s cross from the left, Nazar Voloshyn smashed the ball into the net with a first-time volley at the far post, but the assistant referee once again raised the flag for offside.
Three minutes later, Dynamo appealed for a penalty after Voloshyn’s cross found Ponomarenko, whose effort struck the hand of a Romanian defender inside the penalty area. Following a VAR review, the referee awarded only a corner kick.
Late in the first half, Pikhalonok tested Michail with an excellent low shot from distance, but the goalkeeper produced a fine save.
As for the hosts, they rarely ventured forward, spending most of the half defending with all eleven players close to their own penalty area. At every opportunity, Universitatea attempted to slow the game down. Their only real opportunity before the break came in the 32nd minute when experienced captain Kipciu beat Tomasz Kędziora near the byline, but the Dynamo defender recovered brilliantly to block two consecutive crosses.
The White-Blues created another clear chance immediately after the restart. Following Redushko’s perfectly weighted through ball from the left, Voloshyn met it first time from close range, but his effort flashed wide of the post.
Soon afterward, Redushko had another opportunity after a low cross from the right reached him near the six-yard box, but this time his shot flew well off target. Voloshyn also threatened after switching to the left wing following the introduction of Andrii Yarmolenko, but his shot from a tight angle was comfortably saved.
The Romanians became more adventurous midway through the second half as fatigue began to affect Dynamo. Universitatea pushed higher up the pitch and managed to create a few dangerous situations of their own.
Despite the growing tiredness, Dynamo produced several chances in stoppage time. First, Vitalii Buialskii delivered a dangerous low cross from the right that somehow evaded everyone inside the box. Then, from a late set piece, Yarmolenko cleverly rolled the ball into the path of Shola Ogundana, whose shot narrowly missed the target.
The match went into extra time, which began with a setback for Dynamo. Vladyslav Dubinchak was forced off through injury and was replaced by Navin Malysh. Malysh took over at right-back, while Kostiantyn Vivcharenko, who had earlier replaced Kędziora, switched back to his natural position on the left.
Kristian Bilovar also finished the game while struggling with an injury, but by that stage Dynamo had already used all of their substitution opportunities.
Neither side managed to score during the two periods of extra time, meaning the tie had to be decided by a penalty shootout.
Nistor and Yarmolenko converted the opening penalties before Ruslan Neshcheret saved Codrea’s effort. Volodymyr Brazhko then put Dynamo ahead. Kipciu fired over the crossbar and Ponomarenko calmly converted Dynamo’s third kick. Bic reduced the deficit, but Justin Lonwijk scored the decisive penalty to seal a 4:2 shootout victory for Dynamo.
Ihor Kostiuk’s team advanced to the next qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League where they will face PAOK.
UEFA Europa League, first qualifying round, second leg (first leg – 0:0)
Universitatea (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) – Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) – 0:0 (2:4 on penalties)
July 16, 2026, Cluj Arena, Cluj-Napoca
Universitatea: Michail – Stanoev (Chukwu, 112), Cristea, Codrea, Kipciu (c) – Pinho (Simion, 112), Drammeh (Kinteș, 92), Ștefănescu (Aliev, 46), Bic, Mendy (Adams, 77) – Makalou (Nistor, 92).
Dynamo: Neshcheret – Kędziora (Vivcharenko, 76), Bilovar, Mykhavko, Dubinchak (Malysh, 99) – Brazhko, Shaparenko (Lonwijk, 87), Pikhalonok (c) (Buialskii, 63), Redushko (Yarmolenko, 76), Voloshyn (Ogundana, 87) – Ponomarenko.
Bookings: Drammeh (4), Kipciu (45+2), Pinho (70) – Redushko (59), Mykhavko (86), Lonwijk (105+1).
Penalty shootout: 1:0 – Nistor, 1:1 – Yarmolenko, 1:1 – Codrea (goalkeeper), 1:2 – Brazhko, 1:2 – Kipciu (over the bar), 1:3 – Ponomarenko, 2:3 – Bic, 2:4 – Lonwijk
