Europa League: Shakhtar Donetsk 3 Anderlecht 1

Eduardo's late header handed??Shakhtar Donetsk a healthy first-leg advantage as they overcame Anderlecht 3-1 in the last 16 of the Europa??League.

Taison??and??Olexandr??Kucher??hit??Besnik??Hasi's??side with a quick-fire first-half double to put the Ukrainians in control at the Lviv Arena, but??Frank??Acheampong's 68th-minute goal threatened to put a very different complexion on things.

However, under-fire Anderlecht boss??Hasi ?????whose side are enduring an underwhelming domestic campaign ?????saw his team's chances of progressing to the quarter-finals drastically reduced when Eduardo powered a header past Silvio Proto, who was impressive despite conceding three times.

Proto was busy throughout and his saves kept Anderlecht in the tie, though they still have a mountain to climb on home soil next week after seeing a last-gasp goal ruled out for a handball from Kara??Mbodji.

The visitors should have taken an eighth-minute lead when Acheampong??was presented with a chance inside the box at the end of a rapid counter-attack but, after initially??outmuscling??his man, the Ghanaian??dallied and his effort was blocked.

After a solid start, however, the Belgian side conceded twice in three minutes as their??defence??went to pieces.

First a careless piece of play from Andy??Najar??led to??Taison??steering a close-range effort beyond??Proto after the goalkeeper had done well to deny??Vitkor??Kovalenko??in the??21st??minute.

Then??Darijo??Srna's??swinging cross was nodded in by??Kucher???????his first goal??in 76 European outings???????just a few seconds after??Mbodji??had slipped while in possession 20 yards from his own goal.

It was threatening to get ugly for Hasi??and he was grateful to Proto for producing a fine stop from??Facundo??Ferreyra's??powerful drive just before the half-hour mark.

The woodwork was next to come to Anderlecht's rescue as Eduardo took Proto out of the equation, but flashed his shot from a tight angle against the post.

Mircea Lucescu's??men were given a timely reminder they could not afford rest on their laurels early in the second half??as??Andriy Pyatov tipped??Steven Defour's low strike wide.

It was a warning that went unheeded, though, as??Acheampong's close-range header from substitute??Ibrahima Conte's cross reduced the arrears.

That sparked the hosts into life and Eduardo's bullet header from Bernard's 79th-minute??corner ensured Shakhtar??will travel west next Thursday with a two-goal cushion, as Mbodji's blatant handball saw his goal chalked off four??minutes from the end.