U21. Volyn 0-2 Shakhtar

March 04, 2017. Lutsk. Pidshypnyk stadium. Att: 100. +5°C

Goals: 0-1 Bondar (45), 0-2 Bondar (85)

Missed penalty: Pikhalionok (80)

Volyn: Marchuk, Shandruk, Marushka, Trakalo, Mosiyuk, Kotyun, (Sasovskyi, 90+1), Senyk (Melnychuk, 80), Bilich (Babiak, 71), Trykosh, Nykytyuk (c), Dmytrenko (Mykolaichuk, 88)

Unused subs: Hvalytskyi, D. Zinkevych, Morozovych

Head coach: Volodymyr Fihel

Shakhtar: Grytsenko, Kiryukhantsev, Bondar, Kacharaba, Kornienko (Masalov, 87), A. Zinkevych (Yalovenko, 87), Ihnatenko, Pikhalionok (c) (Sahutkin, 90+3), Hlushchuk, Hlahola (Hrachov, 90), Arendaruk

Unused subs: Yefanov, Korobenko, Topalov

Head coach: Valeriy Kryvenstov

Booked: Bilich (49)

Referee: Yaroslav Kozyk (Mukacheve)

Shakhtar, currently ranking second in theU21 premiership (with 42 points), met with one of the league’s underdogs Volyn (11th spot with 14 points). The first round fixture finished with a lopsided victory in favour of Pitmen (6-0). The Orange-and-Blacks set off for Lutsk without their top scores - Giorgi Arabidze and Mykyta Adamenko. Oleksandr Hlahola and Denys Arendaruk replaced them in flanks of the attacking line.

The Donetsk side have been on the front foot throughout the entire match, having forged at least five goal-scoring opportunities in the first half of the game. However, Volyn goalkeeper saved his team every time by denying three successive shots from Zinkevych, Arendaruk and Pikhalionok. The Pitmen manage to break the deadlock shortly before going into the break, as Valerii Bondar tapped a corner by Hlahola home at the far post to make it 1-0.

Shakhtar continued to dominate the game after the interval. Valeriy Kryventsov’s lads enjoyed the ball possession, attacked using width and demonstrated variegated football. They lacked only a pinpoint finish, with the goalie Marchuk forced to produce saves for the hosts in several moments of danger after thwarting the efforts by Ihnatenko, Hlahola and Arendaruk. On 80 minutes, Yurii Hlushchuk won a penalty, but the goalkeeper came victorious in the duel with the Donetsk side’s skipper Oleksandr Pikhalionok. However, five minutes later, the hosts saw the ball inside their net, with a visitor’s corner serving up the goods again. Valerii Bondar raised highest to add a brace to his account and claim the final score with a well-placed header. Shakhtar seal a 2-0 away victory over Volyn and continues to vie for the title.

On March 11, in the 21th round of the U21 premiership the team under Valeriy Kryventsov will face Zaporizhzhya-based Zorya.

- The game turned out tough enough, with the turf quality leaving much to be desired. I believe it would be easier if we had scored at the beginning of the match. Then the result would be different, with us having registered more goals. Overall, the team operated well, displayed combination football creating real opportunities. Regarding our plan for the match, we tried to use long passes and burst into the free spaces. I think we were pretty good at it. We managed to score after set pieces, although there were quite tall players in the opposing side.

- Theoretically, we expected Volyn to park the bus in front of the goal and operate on the counters, trying to use their trump card in the shape of set pieces. We demonstrated our game, using the flanks and carving open the Lutsk side’s defence by long balls. In the first and second periods, we created nice clear-cut opportunities, but  we need to work harder on converting them. Thank you for your congratulations on grabbing a brace. To be honest, I really wanted to make my mark on the scoresheet. Of course, I am happy to have registered two goals. The first one was a bit accidental, but the second moment saw a good assist from Denys Arendaruk and myself beating my opponent to it. Therefore, there are no secrets. I had a chance to poach a hat trick. After launching a counter attack, my teammate swithed a clever pass inside an open space to me, but I failed to convert another effort. In any case, the crucial thing is team's victory.