Vitesse vs Shakhtar: match report

Vitesse (Arnhem, Netherlands) 2-0 (1-0) Shakhtar (Donetsk, Ukraine)

Goals: 1- 0 Zhang (20), 2-0 Van Bergen (57)

Shakhtar: Kanibolotskyi (Sarnavskyi, 66), Danchenko, Kryvtsov, Ordets, Ismaily, Tankovskyi, Malyshev, Marlos (Nem, 66), Taison (Zubkov, 76), Ferreyra (Dentinho, 66), Eduardo (c) (Totovytskyi, 66)

Unused subs: Kudryk, Kobin, Matviienko, Volovyk, Sobol, Korobenko, Fred, Bernard, Petryak, Boriachuk

Head Coach: Paulo Fonseca

Vitesse, 1st half: Room, Leerdam, Rasica, Ota, Zhang, Yeini, Kotte, Foor, Koryan, Baker, Kashia

Vitesse, 2nd half: Hauven, Lucassen, Kruiswijk, van der Werff, Schorea, Osman, Nakamba, Qazaishvili, Van Bergen, Dauda, Nathan de Souza

Head Coach: Henk Fraser

Booked: Lucassen (59)

Referee: Reinold Wiedemeijer (Netherlands)

Before the match

This morning, the Pitmen had a pre-match training session and after lunch they went to the friendly game site, the town of Loenen. The meeting caused a great stir, with the local stadium being packed with fans.

The hosts tried to dominate the game from the off, but the Pitmen quickly seized the initiative and took the game under control. A dangerous situation occurred near the goal of Vitesse as early as on 10 minutes, when Eduardo penetrated the penalty area down the centre and powerfully struck over the bar. Taison also had a great chance to open the scoring. Following a pass from Tankovskyi, the Brazilian fired a shot from close range, only to see the Dutch goalkeeper stop the ball on the goalline. The hosts, having withstood the opening pressure from Shakhtar, prepared the effective response: Rashica sent a high cross from the right while counterattacking, with Vitesse striker Zhang heading it home – 1-0. The charges of Paulo Fonseca could have equalised even before the break. Marlos’ solo run down the right wing resulted in a tough volley into the near corner, with Vitesse goalkeeper parrying it away. Facundo Ferreyra then headed a Marlos delivery just under the crossbar only to see the goalie make another save.

After the break, the Pitmen attempted some all-out attacking moves, but neither Marlos, nor Eduardo and Ferreyra made them successful. Meanwhile, Vitesse orchestrated another counterattack. Van Bergen received a pass from deep, found himself one-on-one with Kanibolotskyi and extended the lead to make it 2-0. Paulo Fonseca refreshed the attacking third with substitutions, fielding Dentinho, Totovytskyi and Nem. The latter were close to scoring a goal. Wellington raced down the wing and fired a cross into the penalty area, with the defenders preventing Taison from taking a shot, and Totovytskyi, with his back to goal, tried to backheel it only to miss the target. The Dutch could have also scored one: after a long-range shot from de Souza, Shakhtar goalkeeper Bohdan Sarnavskyi pulled the ball from the left top corner.

However, neither side managed to change the score. As a result 2-0, with Vitesse beating Shakhtar in a friendly game. The charges of Paulo Fonseca will play their next game on July 6 against the champions of Belgium Brugge.