UEFA Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk 4 Real Sociedad 0

Shakhtar Donetsk moved second in Group A of the UEFA Champions League with a dominant 4-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Wednesday.

Luiz Adriano gave the hosts a first half-lead with a well taken close-range finish, before Alex Teixeira took advantage of a defensive error to thump home a second after the break.

Douglas Costa added a brilliant third as he curled a superb finish from inside the box midway through the second half, before wrapping up the win with a header late on.

It means that Shakhtar travel to group leaders Manchester United on December 4th with a one-point cushion over Bayer Leverkusen, while Sociedad will finish bottom of the pool, ending their involvement in continental competition for the campaign.

Both coaches made four changes from winning sides at the weekend, Andriy Pyatov returning in goal for Shakhtar after missing Saturday’s 4-0 win over Sevastopol.

The hosts came into the game having not tasted a home defeat since December 2012, and they once again set about asserting their authority.

It took just over 10 minutes for Shakhtar to carve out the first clear-cut opportunity, Alex Teixeira being denied by the shins of Sociedad goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

It was a sign of things to come, with the next five minutes seeing Douglas Costa and Bernard both wasting decent opportunities.

Sociedad had chances of their own within the first 15 minutes; their most notable coming after some slick one-touch passing ended with Chori Castro unleashing a tame shot straight at Pyatov.

But it was Shakhtar that did much of the probing in the first half, and they were nearly ahead 10 minutes before the break when Darijo Srna’s free-kick cannoned back off the crossbar.

They had more luck two minutes later, when Douglas Costa’s pinpoint pass found Adriano at the near post, who made no mistake from close range.

Douglas Costa forced Bravo into a fine save late in the half, while Inigo Martinez saw an effort deflected over by team-mate Antoine Griezmann as Sociedad looked for a foothold in the game.

Shakhtar began the second half with a similar degree of urgency and doubled their lead just before the first five minutes of the half.

A mistake by Martinez was pounced on by Teixeira, who burst into the box before powering past Bravo.

Griezmann almost halved the deficit just before the hour mark, but Pyatov tipped his fierce effort onto the post.

However, the win was assured for the hosts 10 minutes later when some neat interplay found Douglas Costa on the left-hand side of the box, who then curled a sublime effort into the top corner.

And Douglas Costa added a fourth in the dying minutes, getting on the end of a teasing cross from substitute Taison to guide a smart header into the net and wrap up a great night for the hosts.