U19. Dnipro 0-3 Shakhtar

May 20, 2017. Novomoskovsk. Metalurh. Att: 500. 15^oC.

Dnipro U19 (Dnipro) 0-3 (0-1)  Shakhtar U19 (Donetsk)

Goals: 0-1 Yakymets (13), 0-2 Putrya (63, pen.), 0-3 Kulakov (78)

Dnipro: Babychyn, Andrushko, Taraduda, Nechystenko, Skliarenko, Terekhov, Matveiev, (Bessonov, 71), Penchuk, Khuchbarov, (Omelian, 57), Piddubnyi, Sablin (Rudavskyi, 90)

Unused subs: Luhovskyi, Epik

Head coach: Vyacheslav Kernozenko

Shakhtar: Kucherenko, Pavlysh, Chahovets, Mate, Zaporoschenko, (Konoplya, 85), Yakymets (Melichenko, 82), Putrya, Chekh, Kulakov, Khachayev (Apanchuk, 75), Kholod (Kryskiv, 80)

Unused subs: Vertei

Head coach: Serhiy Popov

Booked: Taraduda (12), Khuchbarov (12), Matveiev (49), Zaporoschenko (52), Sablin (64), Yakymets (68), Putrya (75), Piddubnyi (77), Mate (84)

Sent off: Omelian (84)

Referee: Dmytro Kubriak (Odesa)

Three rounds before the league’s finish, the Pitmen stay second in the table, with Olimpik taking the fourth spot. Three previous rivals’ meetings this season ended with Shakhtar's victories: 1-0 in Schaslyve and twice 3-0 in Bila Tserkva. The Orange-and-Blacks captain Oleksandr Pikhalionok missed today's match through his disqualification to be replace by Andrii Korobenko in midfield, as well as Olimpik’s midfielder Vladyslav Sharai.

From the off, Valeriy Kryventsov’s squad offered their own game to the opponents to create several good opportunities in the opening stages of the match. Yurii Hlushchuk cut inside on the left flank to enter the penalty area before moving to the centre and blazing over the bar. Roman Yalovenko lobbed beyond a racing out of the penalty area keeper from 30 meters to see the ball miss the target. Immediately after that, the Pitmen registered a series of dangerous shots from close range, but the same Hlushchuk and Yalovenko failed to beat Olimpik‘s goalkeeper. However, the visitors did not manage to restrain Shakhtar’s pressure for such a long time, as the Orange-and-Blacks managed to break the deadlock towards the end of a quarter of an hour. After Giorgi Arabidze directed a free kick ball over the bar, Stepanenko had difficulties to parry the blow, as running in Roman Yalovenko got onto the rebound to make it 1-0. Being on the front foot Olimpik moved forward more boldly and flicked several shots towards Kudryk's goal, however, with none of them posing a real danger to a goalkeeper. In their turn, the Orange-and-Blacks got more space for quick attacking moves to launch a couple of diversified attacks. Ihor Kiryukhantsev beat two opponents on his flank and flicked a cross into the penalty area, before Yalovenko covered the ball with his body to lay off it to Arabidze, who dragged his shot a bit wide off the far corner. Ihnatenko hammered from 22 meters only to see the White-and-Blues goalkeeper clear the danger. By the way, Danylo, apart from supporting attacking moves regularly, has done a lot of work in midfield. So, in one episode he won back the ball three times inside a minute. Viktor Korniienko could double Shakhtar’s lead: the defender went one on one at a speed, but Stepanenko saved the visitors again.

After the break, the Pitmen began to enjoy more possession and registered an early goal. First, the visitors’ goalkeeper parried Kiryukhantsev's belter from the right corner, before Arabidze hit the post from a free kick. And, on the 58th minute, Olimpik defenders hacked down Yalovenko inside the penalty area, and Giorgi Arabidze realized a penalty beautifully in Panenka’s style – 2-0. For a while, the game calmed down, but the hosts continued to look for new offensive interactions options. At the same time, Shakhtar's defence denied all the rivals’ opportunities to approach their goal. An exception was Tyschuk’s blow from outside the penalty area, but Oleh Kudryk registered a spectacular to clear the danger. On 75 minutes, the Orange-and-Blacks scored the third goal. Roman Yalovenko took the ball on the right edge of the penalty area and curled it inside the far corner from the zero angle! Giorgi Arabidze drew a line under the match in injured time. The Georgian sent a direct free kick from his favourite spot home just to the right of the centre, with the ball bypassing the wall and finding the net close to the near post. Shakhtar midfielder’s 14th goal allowed the team to celebrate a 4-0 lopsided victory over Olimpik, with Arabidze steping up and becoming the leader in the top scorers' race.

In the next round on May 25, the Pitmen are to play Dynamo Kiev in Schaslyve.

- In the first half we had a good control of the ball. In the match we focused on the wings, knowing that the opponents experienced certain issues there. In some episodes it worked, but not as effectively as we would like it. As for Dnipro, the hosts were all in defending and trying to make use of the blistering counterattacks. The only thing that didn’t work out before the break was trying to rip open Dnipro’s defence. In the second half, we slightly adjusted our play and began to operate better. We pierced their defensive third, successfully entered there, quickly won the ball back when losing it, and allowed the opponents to launch almost no counterattacks. All this resulted in netting two goals, although we could score more. It’s true that before the meeting we got certain personnel problems, but I didn’t particularly worry: those guys who appeared on the field, successfully replaced those who’d left.