Aberdeen saw their winless run stretch to eight games as Shakhtar Donetsk came from behind to win 3-2 at Pittodrie in their UEFA Conference League opener.
Seeking respite from their wretched domestic form, the Dons were handed the ultimate gift in the opening minutes.
A corner appeared to be drifting harmlessly behind for a goal kick, only for Kaua Elias to help it on its way with his elbow needlessly.
A VAR review was needed to award the spot-kick, and the wind kept blowing the ball off the spot, but Jesper Karlsson kept his cool to squeeze the resultant penalty past Dmytro Riznyk and into the bottom corner.
Despite the setback, the visitors took control of the first half and were dominant in possession, although they failed to create many clear-cut chances.
In the 39th minute, the pressure eventually told, with a recycled corner finding its way to Yehor Nazaryna, and from a narrow angle, he was able to fire the ball past Dimitar Mitov via the far post.
The momentum continued after the break as the Ukrainian side dominated the ball, and they completed the turnaround on 54 minutes.
A slick move saw Marlon Gomes whip a cross towards the far post, and Lucas Ferreira took advantage of the hesitation from Topi Keskinen to nip in and head home from point-blank range.
The home side still looked positive, but they fell further behind on the hour mark. Marlon was the provider again, this time nodding the ball down for Pedro Henrique to thump a sumptuous strike past Mitov.
Aberdeen weren’t finished, however, and they forced their way back into the game with 20 minutes to go.
Riznyk did incredibly well to tip Marko Lazetic’s thunderous volley onto the bar, but Nicky Devlin was on hand to turn the loose ball into the back of the net to make it 3-2.
The Dons threw all they had at finding a leveller in the final 10 minutes, but the visitors managed to stunt any attacking momentum with some gamesmanship to slow things down.
In the end, the Ukrainians extended their unbeaten run to nine games (W7, D2) to get their campaign off to the perfect start.
Flashscore Man of the Match Yehor Nazaryna (Shakhtar Donetsk)
