Shakhtar vs Austria: match report

January 27, 2017. Lagos. Portugal. Cascade Resorts Algarve. Att: 50. +14 C.

Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine 2-2 (1-2) FK Austria Wien, Austria

Goals: 0-1 Grünwald (18), 1-1 Leschuk (28), 1-2 Friesenbichler (41), 2-2 Tankovskyi (78)

Shakhtar: Kudryk (Shevchenko, 46), Srna (c) (Kobin, 46), Kucher (Kryvtsov, 46), Rakits'kyy (Ordets, 46), Matviienko (Azevedo, 46), Malyshev (Stepanenko, 46; Alan Patrick, 87), Fred (Tankovskyi, 46), Zubkov (Marlos, 46), Taison (Alan Patrick, 46; Boriachuk, 74), Bernard (Dentinho, 46), Leschuk (Ferreyra, 46)

Unused subs: Pyatov, Kanibolotskyi

Head coach: Paulo Fonseca

Austria: Hadzikic, Larsen (Salamon, 83), Rotpuller (Mohammed, 46), Filipovic, Martschinko (Borkovic, 83), Serbest (Prokop, 83), Holzhauser (Blauensteiner, 83), Pires (De Paula, 78), Grünwald (c) (Gluhakovic, 83), Venuto (Tajouri-Shradi, 46), Friesenbichler (Kvasina, 65)

Unused subs: Vukojevic, Kayode

Head coach: Thorsten Fink

Booked: Holzhauser (64), Stepanenko (72), Grünwald (75), Filipovic (86)

Referee: Tiago Cordeiro (Portugal)

Before the match

The Pitmen started their Portuguese training camp with the friendly match vs Austria Wien. Head coach Paulo Fonseca fielded young players from the opening minutes: goalkeeper Oleh Kudryk, defender Mykola Matviienko and midfielder Oleksandr Zubkov. The new-signing Argentinian striker Gustavo Blanco Leschuk was featured in the starting XI.

First half

The match started at a slow pace. The first danger came in the 14th minute as Darijo Srna sent a pass to Oleksandr Zubkov whose effort appeared to be not accurate enough. On the instant, Gustavo Blanco Leschuk had a clear chance to convert the cross from Fred but dragged his effort wide. At that moment, the Pitmen gained an upper hand, but it was Austria that broke the deadlock. Following one of the counters, Grünwald found himself at the right place to beat Oleh Kudryk. In a short while, Gustavo Blanco Leschuk drew level. In the 28th minute, Bernard passed into the path of Zubkov raсing into the area, before Shakhtar newcomer from Argentina diverted midfielder's cross into Austria’s goal at the second attempt to make it 1-1. At the end of the first half, Austria delivered a rapid counterattack that finished off with Friesenbichler’s strike to take the lead again.

Second half

In the second half, Paulo Fonseca fielded a completely new line-up. On 51 minutes, Dentinho was close to level the scoreline, but the Brazilian missed the target after Facundo Ferreyra’s cross. Shakhtar players continued to be on the front foot. Ferreyra had a clear-cut chance. Into 70 minutes of the game, Shakhtar striker went one-on-one with the goalkeeper but failed to beat him. In the next attacking move, after finding himself on the offensive end, however, he was late in landing a shot and spoilt the chance. 26 minutes from time, Alan Patrick was replaced by Andriy Boriachuk. 

As the Donetsk side's pressure piled on Austria’s goal, through one of the attacking moves Viacheslav Tankovskyi fired to see the ball bouncing off the post and finding the net to make it 2-2. At the game’s closing stage, Boriachuk and Tankоvskyi went close to secure a victory for the Orange-and-Blacks, however, the score remained unchanged.

Tomorrow, the Pitmen are expected to hold another friendly. This time their opponents will be Norrköping, Sweden. The meeting gets underway at 17:30. The match will be broadcast on Futbol 1 TV channel.