Valery Lobanovsky is unwell (GrahamChadwick/Allsport)

Dynamo seemed to be heading towards a surprise home defeat on the final day of the season before Andriy Nesmachnyi and Olexander Melashchenko rescued them with goals in the 84th and 85th minutes respectively.

With time running out and Dynamo needing a win to finish first, fullback Nesmachnyi beat Dnipro goalkeeper Nykola Medin from an almost impossible angle to level the score at 1-1.

Less than a minute later, Ukraine international striker Melashchenko capitalised on Dnipro's state of shock to hit the winner from close range.

Andriy Spevak put Dnipro, who had already secured third place and had little to play for, ahead in the 49th minute when he raced past two defenders and beat Olexander Shovkovsky with a low shot from the edge of the box.

At the final whistle, hundreds of Kiev fans in the packed 18,000-seat Dynamo Stadium ran onto the pitch to celebrate with the players as thousands of riot police looked on.

However, long-serving Dynamo coach Valery Lobanovsky and his top assistant Anatoly Pusach did not attend the match and the television commentator said both were unwell.

'It was one of the most difficult seasons in the team's history, thus we're very happy with winning the title,' said Dynamo assistant coach and former Soviet international Anatoly Demyanenko. 'Today, our team showed true character and deserved to win.'

Dnipro coach Nykola Fedorenko praised his players in defeat. 'This was our best match in the whole season, and my players did all they could,' he said. 'We just lost to a better team.'

Dynamo ended the season with 64 points from 26 matches, just a point ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk, who beat city neighbours Metalurg 3-1.

Ukraine striker Andriy Vorobei scored twice as Shakhtar raced to a 3-0 lead after the first 23 minutes to finish the league's top scorer with 21 goals.

But it was a small consolation for Vorobei and his team mates as Shakhtar finished second to Dynamo for the fifth consecutive year.