Match report
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
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Shakhtar hosted Atalanta on the Champions League MD6
Before the final match in the group stage, it was Group C that saw the most complicated situation develop: Man City had reached the next stage, with Shakhtar (6 points), Dinamo Zagreb (5) and Atalanta (4) competing for the second knockout-stage berth. Unlike the previous match, Luis Castro could count on all of his strongest players: Taison returned to the starting line-up, with Marlos remaining on the bench for now. The Bergamaschi arrived in Kharkiv without their major striker Duvan Zapata, with the Ukrainian Ruslan Malinovskyi remaining in reserve.
Incredible tension
Realizing the importance of the game, the teams relied on careful football from the off, although the players’ actions were pretty nervous. Early in the game, the visitors created a danger near Pyatov’s goal, but Pasalic’s tight-angle attempt ended up right in the hands of the goalkeeper. The Miners not only responded shortly but scored one, with the referee unruling the goal by Kovalenko due to the assist-provider Tete being offside. The young Brazilian immediately corrected himself, bringing Taison through on goal only to see the opponent stop the captain's attempt. Late in the first half, Shakhtar put the opponents under pressure and created two pretty good chances: Moraes headed Tete’s delivery towards the roof of the net, with Gollini coming to Atalanta’s rescue before Stepanenko got on the end of a right cross only to see his finish hit the top of the net outside.
Key decisions
The second half started with a dangerous free-kick by Muriel - Pyatov parried the ball away just in front of the crossbar. A few minutes later, the same Muriel brought Dodo down and might well earn his second yellow card, but the referee Felix Zwayer did not show it to the striker. And in the 66th minute, Atalanta opened the scoring: a linesman initially flagged the assist-provider Gomez offside, but after viewing a VAR replay for quite a while, they finally confirmed Castagne's goal. Ten minutes later, Dodo was sent off for just waving his arm past his opponent, with the Miners remaining short-handed. Immediately after that, the opponents doubled their lead thanks to Pasalic who sent a free-kick just home. The Orange-and-Blacks rushed to attack the opposing goal, with Ismaily’s powerful but deflected attempt hitting the crossbar, and with Gollini reaching for Alan Patrick’s attempt. In the dying seconds, Gosens sealed the win. 0-3 - Shakhtar gave the second spot away to Atalanta and went to the Europa League.
On December 14, the Miners will play the final match this year against Zorya Luhansk in Zaporizhia. It kicks off at 17:00.
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 (0-0) Atalanta
Kharkiv, OSK Metalist, att: 26,536
Goals: 0-1 Castagne (66’), 0-2 Pasalic (80’), 0-3 Gosens (90+4’)
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Ismaily, Matviienko, Kryvtsov, Dodo, Stepanenko, Alan Patrick, Taison (c), Kovalenko (Solomon, 71’), Tete (Marlos, 59’), Moraes
Sent off: Dodo (77’)
Further details are available in the match centre.
Incredible tension
Realizing the importance of the game, the teams relied on careful football from the off, although the players’ actions were pretty nervous. Early in the game, the visitors created a danger near Pyatov’s goal, but Pasalic’s tight-angle attempt ended up right in the hands of the goalkeeper. The Miners not only responded shortly but scored one, with the referee unruling the goal by Kovalenko due to the assist-provider Tete being offside. The young Brazilian immediately corrected himself, bringing Taison through on goal only to see the opponent stop the captain's attempt. Late in the first half, Shakhtar put the opponents under pressure and created two pretty good chances: Moraes headed Tete’s delivery towards the roof of the net, with Gollini coming to Atalanta’s rescue before Stepanenko got on the end of a right cross only to see his finish hit the top of the net outside.
Key decisions
The second half started with a dangerous free-kick by Muriel - Pyatov parried the ball away just in front of the crossbar. A few minutes later, the same Muriel brought Dodo down and might well earn his second yellow card, but the referee Felix Zwayer did not show it to the striker. And in the 66th minute, Atalanta opened the scoring: a linesman initially flagged the assist-provider Gomez offside, but after viewing a VAR replay for quite a while, they finally confirmed Castagne's goal. Ten minutes later, Dodo was sent off for just waving his arm past his opponent, with the Miners remaining short-handed. Immediately after that, the opponents doubled their lead thanks to Pasalic who sent a free-kick just home. The Orange-and-Blacks rushed to attack the opposing goal, with Ismaily’s powerful but deflected attempt hitting the crossbar, and with Gollini reaching for Alan Patrick’s attempt. In the dying seconds, Gosens sealed the win. 0-3 - Shakhtar gave the second spot away to Atalanta and went to the Europa League.
On December 14, the Miners will play the final match this year against Zorya Luhansk in Zaporizhia. It kicks off at 17:00.
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 (0-0) Atalanta
Kharkiv, OSK Metalist, att: 26,536
Goals: 0-1 Castagne (66’), 0-2 Pasalic (80’), 0-3 Gosens (90+4’)
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Ismaily, Matviienko, Kryvtsov, Dodo, Stepanenko, Alan Patrick, Taison (c), Kovalenko (Solomon, 71’), Tete (Marlos, 59’), Moraes
Sent off: Dodo (77’)
Further details are available in the match centre.