U19. Shakhtar – Manchester City: match report
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
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Shakhtar met with Man. City in the UEFA Youth League round 3
Both teams approached this game with no points scored, but the Miners sit higher in Group F thanks to a better goal difference figure. Yukhym Konoplia and Oleksii Kaschuk returned to the starting line-up, forming a pairing on the right wing, with Maksym Chekh taking on the holding midfielder role.
Waiting for their chance
Responsibility for the outcome pressed upon the sides from the opening minutes and could not but affect the play development: the sides operated extremely carefully, primarily trying to avoid defensive errors. In the first half, the Miners relied on the counterattacks, completely giving the ball and space away to the visitors. The Englishmen combined for long, looking for open spaces, but they could not overcome Shakhtar’s well-organised defence. Even traditional set pieces (8 corners) turned out to be unsuccessful, and out of 12 shots on goal, the majority went wide or were blocked by defenders, with Anatolii Trubin entering the play only once while parrying away a Nmecha attempt. The Miners responded with quick attacks after interceptions and dispossessions: in one of them Bondarenko raced down the centre and decided to independently send an effort from outside the penalty area just to see his attempt go wide. Mudryk was active, tormenting the City players with his pace and dribbling. In one of the counterattacks, he managed to get one-on-one at tight angle, still lacking space to strike - the goalkeeper threw himself at his feet and won the ball. In injury time, the left winger burst into the penalty area, with his attempt being denied.
Seconds away from winning
No matter how cautious the teams were, neither of them would be happy with a draw, so the second half began at a higher pace and end-to-end attacks. Early in the second half, Trubin’s save prevented Matondo from scoring one, while the hosts created a couple of excellent scoring chances: Maksym Chekh decided to try a long-range shot - the crossbar came to the Citizens’ rescue, and Mudryk brought Kulakov on target with an excellent passing move, but the keeper coped with the striker’s attempt. In the 62nd minute, Man. City got short-handed: the captain Felix Nmecha let down his teammates by earning the second yellow card and being sent off. For some time, the Englishmen managed to move the play away from their goal and even to launch a threatening attack (Trubin saved a Poveda attempt), but Andres Carrasco's lads quickly regained the advantage and finally scored one. In the 73rd minute, Sudakov earned a corner, Kashchuk delivered the ball to the goal area, and Andrii Kulakov superbly flicked the ball into the top corner – 1-0. After that, the City players had nothing to lose, and they deployed all of their forces to attack: Matondo's kick was blocked by Yakuba, Gomes was stopped while shooting from outside the goal area, with another effort by Matondo being parried away by Trubin. Due to numerous substitution breaks and stops, the ref added 5 minutes, with the visitors equalizing just seconds away from the final whistle - Harwood-Bellis successfully finished it off.
1-1 - Shakhtar and Manchester City shared points, they are to meet again in England on November 7. This coming Sunday, the Miners will face a league clash with Olimpik Donetsk.
Shakhtar Donetsk U19 1-1 (0-0) Manchester City U19
Goals: 1-0 Kulakov (73'), 1-1 Harwood-Bellis (90+5')
Shakhtar U19: Trubin, Konoplia (Romanyuk, 90+4'), Muravskyi, Yakuba, Rudavskyi, Chekh (c), Kryskiv (Sudakov, 68'), Bondarenko, Kaschuk (Holod, 82'), Mudryk (Biblyk, 90+3'), Kulakov
Find more information in the match centre.
Waiting for their chance
Responsibility for the outcome pressed upon the sides from the opening minutes and could not but affect the play development: the sides operated extremely carefully, primarily trying to avoid defensive errors. In the first half, the Miners relied on the counterattacks, completely giving the ball and space away to the visitors. The Englishmen combined for long, looking for open spaces, but they could not overcome Shakhtar’s well-organised defence. Even traditional set pieces (8 corners) turned out to be unsuccessful, and out of 12 shots on goal, the majority went wide or were blocked by defenders, with Anatolii Trubin entering the play only once while parrying away a Nmecha attempt. The Miners responded with quick attacks after interceptions and dispossessions: in one of them Bondarenko raced down the centre and decided to independently send an effort from outside the penalty area just to see his attempt go wide. Mudryk was active, tormenting the City players with his pace and dribbling. In one of the counterattacks, he managed to get one-on-one at tight angle, still lacking space to strike - the goalkeeper threw himself at his feet and won the ball. In injury time, the left winger burst into the penalty area, with his attempt being denied.
Seconds away from winning
No matter how cautious the teams were, neither of them would be happy with a draw, so the second half began at a higher pace and end-to-end attacks. Early in the second half, Trubin’s save prevented Matondo from scoring one, while the hosts created a couple of excellent scoring chances: Maksym Chekh decided to try a long-range shot - the crossbar came to the Citizens’ rescue, and Mudryk brought Kulakov on target with an excellent passing move, but the keeper coped with the striker’s attempt. In the 62nd minute, Man. City got short-handed: the captain Felix Nmecha let down his teammates by earning the second yellow card and being sent off. For some time, the Englishmen managed to move the play away from their goal and even to launch a threatening attack (Trubin saved a Poveda attempt), but Andres Carrasco's lads quickly regained the advantage and finally scored one. In the 73rd minute, Sudakov earned a corner, Kashchuk delivered the ball to the goal area, and Andrii Kulakov superbly flicked the ball into the top corner – 1-0. After that, the City players had nothing to lose, and they deployed all of their forces to attack: Matondo's kick was blocked by Yakuba, Gomes was stopped while shooting from outside the goal area, with another effort by Matondo being parried away by Trubin. Due to numerous substitution breaks and stops, the ref added 5 minutes, with the visitors equalizing just seconds away from the final whistle - Harwood-Bellis successfully finished it off.
1-1 - Shakhtar and Manchester City shared points, they are to meet again in England on November 7. This coming Sunday, the Miners will face a league clash with Olimpik Donetsk.
Shakhtar Donetsk U19 1-1 (0-0) Manchester City U19
Goals: 1-0 Kulakov (73'), 1-1 Harwood-Bellis (90+5')
Shakhtar U19: Trubin, Konoplia (Romanyuk, 90+4'), Muravskyi, Yakuba, Rudavskyi, Chekh (c), Kryskiv (Sudakov, 68'), Bondarenko, Kaschuk (Holod, 82'), Mudryk (Biblyk, 90+3'), Kulakov
Find more information in the match centre.