Shakhtar 2-0 Young Boys

2016/17 UEFA Champions League. Third qualifying round. The first leg.

July 26, 2016. Lviv. Arena Lviv stadium. Att: 7,477. 20 ^oC.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 (1-0) BSC Young Boys

Goals: 1-0 Bernard (27), 2-0 Seleznov (75)

Shakhtar: Pyatov, Srna (c), Ordets, Kryvtsov, Ismaily, Stepanenko, Fred, Marlos, Bernard, Taison (Dentinho, 77), Eduardo (Seleznov, 71)

Unused subs: Kanibolotskyi, Butko, Kucher, Nem, Kovalenko

Head Coach: Paulo Fonseca

Young Boys: Mvogo, Sutter (Hadergjonaj, 81), Vilotić, Rochat, Lesjaks, Bertone, Sanogo, Sulejmani (Wüthrich, 58), Ravet, Gerndt (Kubo, 49), Hoarau (c)

Unused subs: Wölfle, Frey, Gajić, Obexer

Head Coach: Adolf Hütter

Booked: Vilotic (23), Hoarau (70) Bertone (88)

Sent off: Vilotic (55, second yellow card)

Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Netherlands)

Before the match

Paulo Fonseca has fielded the same line-up as he did in the previous two games of the season. Shakhtar used the 4-4-2 formation.

First half

The visitors got off to a more active start and played four corners in the early stages. However, the greatest danger was posed by the move of Alexander Gerndt, who found himself one-on-one with Shakhtar goalkeeper. Andriy Pyatov promptly rushed out and managed to ward off the threat. And about 15 minutes into the first half, the Pitmen took the game under control, with Paulo Fonseca’s side being the only ones to make it dangerous. The Orange-Blacks distinguished themselves pretty quickly: Eduardo scored one. But the team of referees unruled the goal, considering that Shakhtar striker was offside, although it was Taison who actually was offside. Almost immediately afterwards, Marlos could have opened the scoring, but he was a bit unlucky when lobbing it past the only remaining defender. Nevertheless, on 27 minutes the Donetsk side exercised their advantage: Fred played a through pass past four Young Boys players, with Bernard easily beating the goalkeeper by bundling the ball into the back of the unguarded net. Before half-time, the Pitmen had at least four good chances to change the numbers on the scoreboard, but the attempts by Eduardo, Taison, Ivan Ordets and Darijo Srnawere not accurate enough.

Second half

After the break, the situation on the field has not changed: the players of Shakhtar continued to hold the initiative and were active on the opposing half. On 55 minutes, Young Boys were left short-handed. Vilotic stopped Bernard’s run and earned a second yellow card. The Pitmen could take advantage of their numerical advantage on 64 minutes, but the referee caughtTaison offside after an excellent move involving Bernard and Srna. Shortly after that, Eduardo had a great scoring opportunity, but he failed to beat the goalkeeper. On 70 minutes played, Marlos nearly succeeded after making it past several defenders, only to see his attempt shatter the woodwork. And yet, Shakhtar doubled the lead after a goal by the substitution player Evgen Seleznov: Bernard launched an attack on his half of the field, Taison developed it, and Taras Stepanenko timely sent it into his teammate’s path for the latter to flick it home. The numbers on the scoreboard did not change before the final whistle.

Immediately after the match, Shakhtar are flying back to Kyiv, where they will start their preparation for the Ukrainian League game against Chornomorets. The game will be held in Odesa on July 30.