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There was a nervous opening to the match, but after about ten minutes we settled into a rhythm and began to bring Laurent Robert more into the game.
Gary Speed deflected a Nobby Solano free-kick narrowly wide in the 14th minute before Shola Ameobi wasted two golden opportunities to give us the lead.
First he missed the target with a header from a superb Robert cross, when it looked easier to score, and then he shot wide after Nobby had played him through.
Sir Bobby was forced to replace Titus Bramble with Nikos Dabizas with less than half an hour gone, and Nikos almost scored immediately but Vitaliy Reva
was able to block his header.
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Olivier Bernard replaced Andy O’Brien at half-time, but obviously this didn’t strengthen the defence as Shatskikh scored in controversial circumstances just after the break.
The referee wrongly awarded Dynamo a throw-in and whilst our defence were still trying to get organised Shatskikh nipped into fire past Steve Harper.
Looking shocked we almost conceded again immediately, but Harper blocked Shatskikh’s shot with his legs when the striker was clean through.
But in the 58th minute Speed put us level with a diving header from eight yards, which rebounded off Reva and into the goal.
This was the signal for us to pour forward, but solid defending from the Ukrainians prevented us creating any clear chances
But in the 69th minute Alan Shearer cleverly won a penalty, by holding off Andriy Husin and drawing a foul from him as they contested an Andy Griffin cross.
Shearer held his nerve, even after having to replace the ball after it had blown off the spot, and stroked the ball into the bottom corner.
Kyiv replied with ten minutes of real pressure but Harper and the defence held firm.
In the last ten minutes of the game and we managed to slow the pace of the game and Shearer and Ameobi were able to win a succession of throw-ins whilst holding the ball in the corners.
We almost made it three in the 89th minute, when substitute Kieron Dyer saw his shot saved by Reva.
The three minutes of added time were pretty unwelcome and with 92 minutes on the clock Kyiv created a good chance, but Cernat headed over from close range.
The final whistle brought a mixture of relief and pride. It may not have been a great performance but the team showed great battling qualities and we’re still in with a chance of reaching the second phase.
The only draw back was Juventus’ victory over Feyenoord that means that the Italians have nothing to play for when they travel to Kyiv on match day six.
All we can do now is win in Rotterdam and hope that the other Black’n’Whites can do us a favour. A point in Holland is now enough for us to qualify for the UEFA Cup though, whatever the outcome of the other match.