Shakhtar vs Zorya: match report
Sunday, May 15, 2016
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On May 15, in the Ukrainian League closing round, the Pitmen played Zorya
Ukrainian Championship 2015/16. 26th round.
May 15, 2016. Zaporizhya. Slavutych-Arena. 21 oC. Att: 6,751.
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-3 (1-0) Zorya Luhansk
Goals: 1-0 Ferreyra (32), 1-1 Totovytskyi (56), 1-2 Totovytskyi (61), 2-2 Gladkyy (74), 2-3 Totovytskyi (82)
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Kobin (Zubkov, 27), Ordets, Rakits’kyy, Shevchuk (Matvienko, 11), Stepanenko (c), Malyshev, Kovalenko, Nem, Ferreyra (Arabidze, 62), Gladkyy
Unused subs: Kanibolotskyi, Korobenko, Boriachuk
Head coach: Mircea Lucescu
Zorya: Shevchenko, Sukhotskyi, Sivakov, Gordienko (c), Tankovskyi (Tchaikovskyi, 55), Paulinho (Bezborod'ko, 72), Karavayev, Lyubenovich, Grechishkin, Petryak (Totovytskyi, 46), Opanasenko
Unused subs: Levchenko, Yarmash, Tkachuk, Budkovskyy
Head coach: Yuriy Vernydub
Booked: Lyubenovich (47), Nem (52), Rakits’kyy (80)
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Kharkiv)
Before the match
The game had no competitive value for the rivals, but in Zaporizhya it caused great interest among the fans, even despite the rain. It was the teams’ major rehearsal before the Ukrainian Cup meeting on 21 May. The Pitmen underwent rotation again, with the captain's armband going to Taras Stepanenko this time, and with two nominal forwards – Facundo Ferreyra and Oleksandr Gladkyy – taking to the pitch in the opening minutes.
The Pitmen enjoyed more ball control when orchestrating their attacking moves, while Luhansk responding with counterattacks. There were many fouls across the pitch, and midway through the first half, the coaching staff had to make two forced substitutions: the fullbacks Vyacheslav Shevchuk and Vasyl Kobin left the pitch being replaced by Mykola Matvienko and Oleksandr Zubkov. Zubkov had a pretty good chance straight away, but his shot went just over the bar. Shakhtar’s another free kick on 32 minutes resulted in a goal, when Gladkyy won an aerial challenge, but the ball hit the post, with Ferreyra tipping in the deflected ball to make it 1-0. The danger for Luhansk goal occurred after set pieces, however, towards the end of the first half, Zorya stepped it up and forced Shakhtar defensive third work harder along with the goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov. Shakhtar left for the break enjoying a narrow lead.
Shakhtar continued to attack after the break. Ferreyra and Zubkov produced dangerous shots only to see them go just wide. And then, Luhansk promptly boosted it up and scored a brace in a five-minute interval. First, after a Karavayev assist, Totovytskyi headed the ball into the far corner past Pyatov. And after another couple of Zorya’s dangerous attacks, the same Totovytskyi bent it into the top corner from the edge of the box to make it 1-2. The game intensified, the pace increased, and on 62 minutes, Shakhtar coaching staff made the third substitution, fielding Giorgi Arabidze. Donetsk managed to press the opponents against the goal, initially a Zubkov powerful shot hit the defender, with the scores getting even after the corner kick: Gladkyy coolly paused after the ball took deflection and fired it low into the far corner to make it 2-2. It was an end-to-end action then, with Totovytskyi taking his side in front on 82 minutes after finding the back of the net from beyond the penalty area – 3-2. Shakhtar tried to come from behind in the remaining time, but failed to do so.
On May 21, the opponents will play the Ukrainian Cup final game in Lviv.
