Shakhtar Donetsk will fancy their chances of making the Uefa Cup final in Istanbul after a 1-1 draw with Dynamo Kiev in the semi-final first leg.
Dmytro Chigrinsky's own goal gifted Kiev the lead but the hosts retreated into their shell and their surprisingly cautious tactics were undone when Fernandinho claimed a 66th-minute equaliser.
Runaway league leaders Kiev were favourites to make home advantage count but their performance was largely disappointing, particularly in the second half.
After a tedious opening, littered with free kicks, Oleksandr Aliev mustered the first shot in anger after quarter of an hour from a set-piece.
Artem Milevskiy stubbed a shot just wide to Andrei Pyatov's left and the home side opened the scoring soon afterwards, with 22 minutes on the clock.
Another free kick from danger man Aliev flew into the danger zone and flicked off Ismael Bangoura before entering the net via defender Chigrinsky.
Luiz Adriano had a rare sight of goal for Shakhtar but was thwarted by Stanislav Bogush, with most of the sporadic action occuring at the other end.
Aliev and Bangoura were off target with efforts before Carlos Correa's speculative attempt on the stroke of half time clipped a post with Pyatov a spectator.
The fact Adriano and Bangoura were substituted at the break did little to suggest more goalmouth action in the second period but Milevskiy really should have scored when stretching to head off target when left criminally unmarked from an Aliev free kick.
Ognjen Vukojevic was unlucky when diverting an Aliev shot just wide, following good approach work from the impressive Milevskiy, but the introduction of Willian sparked Shakhtar into life.
With Milevskiy limping after a fierce challenge from Olexander Kucher, who was booked and misses the second leg as a consequence, Kiev lost their way.
Milevskiy managed to get his retaliation in late on with a nasty rake down Kucher's Achilles that escaped punishment but Donetsk were the better side late on.
Fernandinho slid in to convert the all-important equaliser with 22 minutes left after Willian capped an incisive move with an inviting centre from the right.
A wonderful ball by Milevskiy should have yielded a winner for Aliev but Pyatov was out smartly to block superbly.
Donetsk will be confident going into the second leg with a vital away goal.
STAR MAN: Artem Milevskiy *8. Some nice stuff, some nasty but at least he was a threat. Click here for our player ratings and Opta stats.