Shakhtar 3-0 Olhanense

Goals: 1-0 Leschuk (25), 2-0 Leschuk (28), 3-0 Leschuk (51)

Shakhtar: Kudryk (Kanibolotskyi, 68), Kobin (Srna, 68), Kryvtsov (Kucher, 68), Ordets (Rakitskyy, 68), Matviienko, Stepanenko (c) (Tankovskyi, 68), Malyshev (Boriachuk, 46) Bernard (Azevedo, 68), Alan Patrick (Fred, 68), Taison (Marlos, 68), Leschuk

Unused subs: Shevchenko, Pyatov, Dentinho, Ferreyra

Head coach: Paulo Fonseca

Olhanense: Skowron (Rodolfo, 46), Freitas (Coubronne, 46), Duque (c), Kingue (Eira, 46), Kiki (Cabral, 46), Abreu (Mane, 46), Gerevini (Albino, 75) , H'Maidat (Galassi, 46), Aldair (Barros, 78), Mangni (Gonzalez, 46), Cisse (Aguilar, 46)

Unused subs: Ademola, Leo

Head coach: Bruno Baltazar

Referee: Nuno Alvo (Portugal)

Shakhtar’s new opponents in the winter break were Olhanense, the Portuguese Segunda Liga side. In this friendly, Paulo Fonseca gave the opportunity to play to the footballers who had appeared for a short while or had not appeared at all in the previous match against Jablonec, Czech Republic.

The Pitmen did not rush things and gradually build up an advantage. The first dangerous situation happened in the 10th minute, when Bernard found himself within shooting range. The Brazilian bore down on goal at an angle only to see his shot go just wide. In general, the game was held at a low pace, with the players of Olhanense not dropping deep down their box, but trying to launch counterattacking moves instead. One of them might be effective, but Oleh Kudryk rescued the team following an attempt by Cisse. On 25 minutes, the Orange-and-Blacks opened the scoring. Taras Stepanenko, after bursting into the penalty area from the right flank, used his left foot to send the ball towards the goalline, with Gustavo Blanco Leschuk firing a volley home – 1-0. It was not long before the Argentine striker grabbed a brace. This time, he was assisted by Taison, who put his teammate through on goal from his half of the field. Leschuk easily beat the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into the back of the net – 2-0. Shakhtar did not relieve the pressure, with Taison shattering the goalpost towards the end of the first half, and with Bernard hitting the bar.

After the break, Andrii Boriachuk came on for Maksym Malyshev, with the Pitmen deploying two forwards. It was the Ukrainian who on 51 minutes launched an attack that was continued by Taison and rounded off with an immaculate header by Gustavo Blanco Leschuk, who netted a hat-trick in that fashion. The Argentine could have scored the fourth goal shortly afterwards, but missed the target by inches while trying to loft it over the goalkeeper. On 68 minutes, Paulo Fonseca made eight substitutions at once, leaving Mykola Matviienko and Gustavo Blanco Leschuk on the pitch. Marcio Azevedo took a position on the left wing, where he was very active. On 81 minutes, the Brazilian could have scored a goal, but his shot from beyond the penalty area went wide. The end of the meeting saw some end-to-end action, with neither side being successful.

The Pitmen will play their next match on February 3. As part of the Atlantic Cup tournament, the Orange-and-Blacks would play Aalborg, Denmark. The game kicks off at 18:00 Kyiv time (EET). Watch the live broadcast on Futbol 1 channel.