EINDHOVEN, Netherlands :Malik Tillman scored two late goals before substitute Ricardo Pepi netted five minutes into stoppage time to see PSV Eindhoven stage a dramatic comeback against 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk and win 3-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Danylo Sikan and Oleksandr Zubkov had the Ukraine club 2-0 up at halftime but after Pedro Henrique was sent off with 21 minutes remaining, PSV were able to fashion a remarkable recovery that stretched their two-year unbeaten home record to 47 games.
Tillman squeezed home a free kick in the 87th minute and then on 90 minutes thumped home a shot from outside the box to level the scores.
American international Pepi then got the winner as PSV went one better than the heroics of their Dutch counterparts Feyenoord, who came back from 3-0 down to draw at Manchester City on Tuesday.
The victory pushed PSV up to 18th in the standings after five matches and left their opponents bewildered after Shakhtar had helped to ensure an exciting spectacle at the Philips Stadion.
The Ukraine champions proved lightning quick on counter-attacks and caught PSV with an early sucker punch in the eighth minute after quick combination play down the right saw Yukhym Konoplia set up Sikan whose sliding effort squeezed just beyond goalkeeper Walter Benitez.
Zubkov then struck a superb curling effort beyond Benitez’s outstretched arm for the second goal in the 37th minute, again set up by Konoplia who had robbed PSV left back Matteo Dams of the ball near the halfway line.
Despite PSV having numerous efforts on goal, Shakhtar looked comfortably on course for an upset away win until Pedro Henrique was sent off for a dangerous challenge on the ankle of Johan Bakayoko in the 69th minute.
That allowed PSV to pile on the pressure and the Ukrainian defence eventually crumbled after Tillman’s free kick squeezed in at the near post as Dmytro Riznyk failed to hold on to the ball.
Goalkeeper Riznyk had been one of the side’s heroes up to then, dealing with everything the Dutch threw his way, but he had no chance when Tillman cued up a long-range effort on the stroke of fulltime.
The panic-stricken visitors then allowed PSV to slide in the winner as Pepi finished off a series of passes across the face of goal, with an effort that went in off the post, to the delirious delight of the home support.
The Dutch club’s next Champions League assignment is against Brest in France on Dec. 10
Shakhtar host Bayern Munich the same day, forced by the Ukraine crisis to play their home games at Schalke 04’s stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
