Shakhtar play their European home games outside Ukraine because of the war, and this 20:00 BST game was at Chelsea's ground, as EFE's report on Infobae (in Spanish) noted; the club's match report gave the attendance as 29,144. Shakhtar coach Arda Turan had scored at Stamford Bridge as an Atlético Madrid player in the 2014 semi-final, and at his pre-match press conference he thanked Chelsea "for giving us a home", shakhtar.com reported. Both clubs arrived unbeaten: Shakhtar had drawn 1-1 at PSV Eindhoven on matchday 1, and AEK had beaten LASK Linz 1-0 at home.
How Shakhtar came from behind
Shakhtar lined up in a 4-1-4-1 with Dmytro Riznyk in goal, captain Mykola Matviyenko and Valeriy Bondar at center back, and Oleh Ocheretko, Pedrinho and Marlon Gomes in midfield, as the club set it out; Newertton and Alisson Santana played wide with Kauã Elias up front. AEK, coached by Marko Nikolić, played a 4-4-2 with Alberto Brignoli in goal and Luka Jovic and Zini in attack. AEK hit the woodwork first: Harold Moukoudi headed against the post in the third minute, according to Cumhuriyet (in Turkish).
- 28' Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 AEK Athens: Lovro Majer, a left-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom right corner after a fast break, assisted by Stavros Pilios.
- 34' Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 AEK Athens: Pedrinho, a left-footed penalty into the bottom right corner.
- 80' Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 AEK Athens: Vinícius Tobias, a right-footed shot from the right side of the box into the high center of the goal, assisted by Alisson Santana.
- 86' Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 AEK Athens: Gleiker Mendoza, a right-footed shot from the left side of the box into the top right corner, assisted by Isaque.
Majer had been booked in the 18th minute, ten minutes before his goal. The equalizer came six minutes later. Alisson Santana went down under a challenge from Filipe Relvas; referee Chris Kavanagh did not give a penalty on the field but awarded one after a long VAR review, VAVEL reported. According to the club's report, Pedrinho sent Brignoli the wrong way. It was still 1-1 at halftime, and stayed that way until ten minutes from the end.
The substitutes, the VAR penalty and AEK's complaint
The substitutions decided it. In the 63rd minute Turan sent on Isaque for Pedrinho and Mendoza for Newertton, and the two combined for the third goal 23 minutes later. Mendoza, a Venezuelan, had also scored in the draw at PSV, so this was his second goal of the league phase, according to VAVEL and EFE. Vinícius Tobias, who started, had put Shakhtar ahead six minutes earlier from a tight angle near the byline, as the club described it. After the lead, Yehor Nazaryna replaced Marlon Gomes in the 81st minute, and Luca Meirelles and Lucas Ferreira came on for Kauã Elias and Alisson Santana in the 87th.
AEK made five changes: João Mário for Majer and Mijat Gacinovic for Zini in the 71st minute, Kaan Kairinen for Milán Vitális in the 78th, Barnabás Varga for Jovic in the 79th and Oleksandr Zubkov for Razvan Marin in the 83rd. AEK were booked four times: Majer, Moukoudi in the 42nd minute, Marin in the 61st and Varga in the 90th, 11 minutes after coming on. Marlon Gomes, booked in the 54th, was Shakhtar's only yellow card, and Kavanagh sent nobody off. Nikolić called the result very unfair and said he had been given explanations for the penalty but had not understood them, Sport FM reported (in Greek).
Two important decisions by the referee affected the game.
Marko Nikolić, AEK Athens coach, at his post-match press conference (translated from Greek), via Sport FM
Shakhtar vs AEK Athens: shots, interceptions and cards
| Stat | Shakhtar Donetsk | AEK Athens |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 54.5% | 45.5% |
| Shots | 12 | 13 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 3 |
| Corners | 5 | 2 |
| Fouls | 16 | 17 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 4 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Offsides | 4 | 2 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 2 | 1 |
| Passes (completed) | 447 (403) | 368 (314) |
AEK had 13 shots to Shakhtar's 12, but Shakhtar put four on target to AEK's three and won five corners to two. Shakhtar had 54.5% of the ball and completed 90% of their passes to AEK's 85%, with 12 interceptions to six. Riznyk made two saves and Brignoli one. Fouls were close, 17 by AEK and 16 by Shakhtar, but AEK collected four yellow cards to Shakhtar's one. Shakhtar were caught offside four times, AEK twice. Shakhtar were the home side on paper in a game played in London, and they won it; how much playing at home is worth varies from one league to the next, as our study of home advantage across six leagues shows.
Shakhtar 11th, AEK 20th
After two of the eight league-phase games, Shakhtar have four points: one win, one draw, four goals scored and two conceded. That puts them 11th in the 36-team table, level on four points with 10th-placed Bayern Munich, who have the better goal difference (+5 to +2). The nine clubs above Bayern all have six points. VAVEL said it was Shakhtar's first Champions League win since a 2-0 win over Brest in January 2025, and Cumhuriyet noted that it was the first Champions League win of Turan's coaching career. Asked before the game whether a top-24 finish and a place in the knockout play-off round would satisfy him, Turan replied: "That would be a dream for us," shakhtar.com reported.
AEK drop to 20th with three points: one win, one defeat, two goals scored and three conceded. It was their first defeat of the league phase after the 1-0 win over LASK. They are one of 13 clubs on three points, from 12th-placed Como down to Bodo/Glimt in 24th.
Inter for Shakhtar, Manchester City for AEK
Shakhtar play Kolos in the Ukrainian Premier League at Arena Lviv on Saturday 17 October, according to the club. The next Champions League fixtures for each club are:
- Shakhtar Donetsk: away at Inter, Wednesday 21 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
- AEK Athens: away at Manchester City, Tuesday 20 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
Inter are 29th with no points after two defeats, the second a 4-3 home loss to Club Brugge on Tuesday (our Inter v Club Brugge report has the details); their domestic form is in our Serie A table. Manchester City are 17th with three points, and their league position is in the Premier League table. Nikolić said AEK were now focused on the City game, according to Sport FM.
Sourcing: ESPN's match data gives the goals, assists, cards, substitutions, lineups, team stats and the league-phase table, which we computed from ESPN full-time results, three points for a win, ranked by points, goal difference and goals scored. The narrative and quotes come from shakhtar.com, VAVEL, EFE via Infobae, Cumhuriyet and Sport FM; Vertize Sports translated the Spanish, Turkish and Greek sources.