Match report
Sunday, December 10, 2017
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In the Ukrainian Premier League round 19, Shakhtar played Zorya away
This is the third head-to-head meeting of the contenders this season, with both previous matches ended in favour of the Miners – 3-1 in the league and 4-3 in the Ukrainian Cup. The Orange-and-Blacks set off for Zaporizhya without two football players - the Brazilians Ismaily and Taison. Azevedo and Kovalenko took their positions in the starting line-up.
One chance for both sides
The opening half of the game turned out to be a tactical clash between Fonseca and Vernydub. Shakhtar enjoyed a territorial advantage and were in better control of possession, as a competent and accurate performance from the hosts did not allow them to create many moments of danger. Two of them came inside the opening fifteen minutes: first Bernard delivered a cross into the penalty area to find Kovalenko, but Lunin was there to revert the danger from Viktor, with Ferreyra switching a well-placed pass to the left hand corner of the goal box moments later, before Bernard tried to send the keeper the wrong way with his volley to hit the post. The best part of the time saw challenges and fighting in the middle of the field, and only shortly before the break, Marlos nearly curled his effort into the far corner from his favourite spot - a bit wide.
Referee in the spotlight
After the interval, the sides started in a more active way, as the score was opened already in the 55th minute: Fred beat Silas in the midfield and found the Bernard in the space on the left, who delivered a cross into the goal box, as Ivan Petriak, who was supporting attack, turned his header home to make it 0-1. A moment later, Bernard fired from nearly 20 meters to see it next to the post. Zorya could not approach the goal of Andriy Pyatov for a long time, with the only opportunity coming Kocherhin’s way, who missed an empty corner of the net. The decisions of the referee Serhii Boiko appeared to be decisive. On 79 minutes, the Miners got short-handed: the Luhansk referee adjudged Petriak’s diving inside the penalty area as feigning and showed him a yellow card, which was second for Ivan. A few minutes later, Shakhtar played were down to ten men: the second yellow card turned into a red one for Fred. However, that's not all: in in injury time, the ball found Bohdan Butko's hand – a spot-kick was awarded to the Donetsk side’s opponents. Yaroslav Rakits’kyy was carded for the second time for his dissent with the referee’s decision, and the Orange-and-Blacks went down to 8 players, as Silas realized a spot-kick to equalize the score. In the dying minutes, Zorya managed to grind out a victory: Pyatov parried a shot from Andriievskyi, with the ball deflecting off the Butko's feet and then into the net – 2-1.
This was the Miners’ final match in 2017. Paulo Fonseca’s team go on vacation topping the Ukrainian Premier League; and tomorrow the Donetsk side will learn their opponents in the Champions League round of 16.
Zorya Luhansk 2-1 (0-0) Shakhtar Donetsk
Zaporizhya, Slavutych Arena, att: 3,758
Goals: 0-1 Petriak (55), 1-1 Silas (90+2, pen.), 2-1 Butko (90+4, o.g.)
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Petriak, Ordets, Rakits’kyy, Azevedo, Stepanenko (c), Fred, Bernard, Marlos (Khocholava, 89), Kovalenko (Dentinho, 73), Ferreyra (Butko, 82)
Find more information about the game, pictures and video in the match centre.
One chance for both sides
The opening half of the game turned out to be a tactical clash between Fonseca and Vernydub. Shakhtar enjoyed a territorial advantage and were in better control of possession, as a competent and accurate performance from the hosts did not allow them to create many moments of danger. Two of them came inside the opening fifteen minutes: first Bernard delivered a cross into the penalty area to find Kovalenko, but Lunin was there to revert the danger from Viktor, with Ferreyra switching a well-placed pass to the left hand corner of the goal box moments later, before Bernard tried to send the keeper the wrong way with his volley to hit the post. The best part of the time saw challenges and fighting in the middle of the field, and only shortly before the break, Marlos nearly curled his effort into the far corner from his favourite spot - a bit wide.
Referee in the spotlight
After the interval, the sides started in a more active way, as the score was opened already in the 55th minute: Fred beat Silas in the midfield and found the Bernard in the space on the left, who delivered a cross into the goal box, as Ivan Petriak, who was supporting attack, turned his header home to make it 0-1. A moment later, Bernard fired from nearly 20 meters to see it next to the post. Zorya could not approach the goal of Andriy Pyatov for a long time, with the only opportunity coming Kocherhin’s way, who missed an empty corner of the net. The decisions of the referee Serhii Boiko appeared to be decisive. On 79 minutes, the Miners got short-handed: the Luhansk referee adjudged Petriak’s diving inside the penalty area as feigning and showed him a yellow card, which was second for Ivan. A few minutes later, Shakhtar played were down to ten men: the second yellow card turned into a red one for Fred. However, that's not all: in in injury time, the ball found Bohdan Butko's hand – a spot-kick was awarded to the Donetsk side’s opponents. Yaroslav Rakits’kyy was carded for the second time for his dissent with the referee’s decision, and the Orange-and-Blacks went down to 8 players, as Silas realized a spot-kick to equalize the score. In the dying minutes, Zorya managed to grind out a victory: Pyatov parried a shot from Andriievskyi, with the ball deflecting off the Butko's feet and then into the net – 2-1.
This was the Miners’ final match in 2017. Paulo Fonseca’s team go on vacation topping the Ukrainian Premier League; and tomorrow the Donetsk side will learn their opponents in the Champions League round of 16.
Zorya Luhansk 2-1 (0-0) Shakhtar Donetsk
Zaporizhya, Slavutych Arena, att: 3,758
Goals: 0-1 Petriak (55), 1-1 Silas (90+2, pen.), 2-1 Butko (90+4, o.g.)
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Petriak, Ordets, Rakits’kyy, Azevedo, Stepanenko (c), Fred, Bernard, Marlos (Khocholava, 89), Kovalenko (Dentinho, 73), Ferreyra (Butko, 82)
Find more information about the game, pictures and video in the match centre.