A rather uneventful game had seemed to be heading for a stalemate until Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti summoned Inzaghi from the bench on 64 minutes.
Ninety seconds later Milan were ahead as Inzaghi got onto the end of Andrea Pirlo's through pass to fire past the 'keeper. On 71 minutes Inzaghi turned creator for Kaka's precise finish. The Brazilian then returned the favour again in stoppage time as he setup Inzaghi for the prolific striker's second of the game.
The biggest team news for Milan was the return of Ronaldo, who took his place on the substitutes bench for the first time this season. In the starting XI Nelson Dida returned from his one-game suspension, while Massimo Oddo was dropped for Daniele Bonera. Alberto Gilardino started as the lone frontman.
Shakhtar included four Brazilians in their line-up, which when added to the Milan trio of Dida, Serginho and Kaka, meant there were seven in total on the pitch. Former Livorno hero Cristiano Lucarelli aimed to continue his good goalscoring record against the Rossoneri.
There was a minute silence before the game in respect of former Milan and Roma legend Nils Liedholm, who died yesterday aged 85. The Milan team were also sporting black armbands in Liedholm's honour.
Serginho had the first attempt of the game after two minutes with a long-range shot but it was straight at Andrei Piatov. Dario Srna caused some problems down the other end with a dangerous cross which just eluded Brandao.
On eight minutes Razvan Rat whipped a 30-yard free-kick inches wide of Dida's post as Shakhtar looked to exert some authority.
Andrea Pirlo then chipped a delightful ball through to Alberto Gilardino who had his volley blocked by a superb Voldimir Yezerski challenge. Soon after Gilardino got his head to a Serginho cross but it drifted wide.
The best chance of the half fell to Dimitro Chigrinski on 21 minutes. The captain lost his marker at a Jadson free-kick but could only steer his header straight into Dida's arms.
Milan seemed reasonably comfortable with the slow pace of the match, however they had another lucky escape on 32 minutes. First Alessandro Nesta made a superb tackle to block Lucarelli's goal-bound shot, then Srna's subsequent cross-shot fizzed across the six-yard box.
Shakhtar threatened to increase the pressure and Jadson's fearsome shot from inside the area was charged down by Pirlo.
However the game soon reverted to its slow tempo and there was virtually nothing to note from the remainder of the half. It had been a game to forget for the neutral thus far.
Shakhtar tried to up the pace in the second period and on 50 minutes Fernandinho fired a daisy-cutter centimetres wide of Dida's left-hand post.
Five minutes later Milan went agonizingly close to taking the lead when Massimo Ambrosini rose to head Pirlo's outswinging free-kick, but he was dismayed to see it crash off the post with Piatov completely beaten.
On 64 minutes Carlo Ancelotti decided to replace the ineffective Gilardino with Filippo Inzaghi and what a substitution it was by the Milan Coach.
Inzaghi had been on the field for less than 90 seconds when he broke the deadlock. Pirlo picked out SuperPippo's trademark forward run and the ex-Juventus man buried his finish to rack up his 40th Champions League goal of his career.
Shakhtar had an immediate chance to equalise but Brandao could only head Srna's cross staright at Dida from six yards out.
Soon it was all over as Milan killed off the game on 71 minutes. Once again super-sub Inzaghi was involved as he toepoked a pass to Kaka, who curled a precise shot into the far corner of Piatov's net.
The home side threw everyone forward after Kaka's goal and Jadson fired in a long-range shot but it was easy for Dida. Milan were content to shut-up-shop and brought on an extra defender in the form of Paolo Maldini.
A mistake by Pirlo on the edge of the box then allowed Fernandinho a chance to run and shoot but his effort went wide.
Kaka wasted a glorious chance on the counter-attack when he opted to try and pass to Serginho instead of shoot himself.
With the clock running down Srna fell in the area under pressure from Gennaro Gattuso, however the referee correctly waved away the protests.
In the third minute of stoppage time that man Inzaghi scored again. Pirlo put Kaka clean through and the Brazilian unselfishly squared for Inzaghi to stroke into an empty goal.
Inzaghi's strike-rate in the Champions League is now a quite incredible 41 goals in just 69 appearances!
Shakhtar Donetsk: Piatov, Srna, Chigrinski, Yezerskiy, Rat (William 73), Ilsinho, Hubschman, Fernandinho, Jadson, Lucarelli (Castillo 77), Brandao (Gladkiy 84)
Milan: Dida, Bonera, Nesta, Kaladze, Serginho (Brocchi 84), Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Seedorf (Maldini 79), Kaka, Gilardino (Inzaghi 63)
Ref: Vink (Ned)
Goals: Inzaghi 66, 93 (M), Kaka 72 (M)
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