Shakhtar beats Brest to stay in Champions League contention. Sporting Lisbon loses at Leipzig

GELSENKIRCHEN – Shakhtar Donetsk stayed in contention to advance in the Champions League with the help of Heorhiy Sudakov’s Panenka-style penalty kick in a 2-0 win against upstart Brest on Wednesday.

Sporting Lisbon faces a tense final round next week after losing 2-1 at already-eliminated Leipzig, which ended a run of six straight losses.

Star strikers Benjamin Šeško of Leipzig and Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres had canceled each other out with goals before substitute Yussuf Poulsen settled the game by bundling the ball over the line in the 78th minute.

Shakhtar would have been eliminated with a loss but a slow rising spot-kick kick by playmaker Sudakov in the 37th showed the Ukrainian champion’s confidence. That doubled the lead created by Brazilian midfielder Kevin’s solo fast-break goal in the 18th.

Brest, in its impressive debut European season, already was sure of a top-24 finish in the new 36-team standings that seals advancing to the knockout rounds.

The French club was 11th at the final whistle with 13 points and could yet qualify direct for the round of 16 with a top-eight finish, though it plays defending champion Real Madrid next Wednesday.

Shakhtar now has seven points from seven games, one below the current tally of Manchester City in 24th place before seven games are played later Wednesday. Those include 26th-place Paris Saint-Germain hosting Man City in a meeting of surprise underachievers despite being two of Europe’s wealthiest clubs.

Sporting’s 10 points was good for 19th place before the later games Wednesday. In Lisbon next Wednesday, Sporting hosts 28th-place Bologna in the final round.

So far, only standings leader Liverpool and Barcelona have guaranteed their places in the round of 16. The teams that finish from ninth to 24th next week will advance to a knockout playoffs round in February. Those two-leg playoff pairings are drawn Jan. 31.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer