Incredible grit!
Friday, February 28, 2020
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In the Europa League Round of 32 return leg, Shakhtar met with Benfica away
The first leg in Kharkiv ended in the Miners’ 2-1 win. The Orange-and-Blacks set off for Portugal with the maximum combat strength, although the participation of Alan Patrick and Viktor Kovalenko in the game was in question. As a result, the Brazilian appeared in the starting XI, with Marcos Antonio replacing the Ukrainian on the pitch. Luis Castro entrusted the right-back role to Dodo.
Productive start
The teams’ incredible attitude to the game got clear immediately. Benfica got off to a powerful start and quickly opened the scoring: in the 9th minute Pizzi dragged the ball down the left wing and, barely entering the penalty area, carefully sent it inside the far post. Less than three minutes later, the Orange-and-Blacks scored in response: Dodo skillfully handled Marcos' long ball and crossed it into the centre of the penalty area, with Moraes forcing two defenders to challenge him, with the ball flying into the back of the net off Dias’ foot – 1-1. Soon, Shakhtar could well go in front, but Taison’s tight-angle attempt just hit the post. The game calmed down for a while which was interrupted in the 36th minute by the hosts’ second goal: Dias headed home a corner delivery from the right.
Great comeback
The second half started with an even faster exchange of goals. Rafa Silva took advantage of a defender's mistake to beat Pyatov, but just a couple of minutes later Taison played a corner from the left flank, with Taras Stepanenko heading it right home past Vlachodimos, making it 3-2. The end-to-end action continued, seeing Marcos volleying it from the edge of the goal area only to see it miss the target, and then Kryvtsov directed the ball into the corner with his head only to see the keeper make a save. The Miners had a great chance to equalize midway through the second half when Tete and Taison ripped open the opponents’ defence just to see Vlachodimos come to his side’s rescue again. However, he was also unable to do anything in the 71st minute: Taison cut the defence with a splitting pass to Ismaily, with the latter’s cross being stopped by a host defender, but the onrushing Alan Patrick just planted the ball into the back of the net off the pitch surface, making it 3-3! The Lisbon outfit who now had to score at least twice more, continued to charge forward, but the Orange-Blacks easily coped with their attacks.
3-3 - Shakhtar drew with Benfica and, based on the aggregate score of 5-4, advanced to the Europa League Round of 16! The Miners will know their opponents at this stage tomorrow, February 28th. The draw kicks off at 14:00 Kyiv time (EET).
Benfica 3-3 (2-1) Shakhtar Donetsk
Lisbon, Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, att: 48,302 viewers
Goals: 1-0 Pizzi (9’), 1-1 Dias (12’, og), 2-1 Dias (36’), 3-1 Silva (47’), 3-2 Stepanenko (49’), 3-3 Alan Patrick (71’)
Shakhtar: Pyatov (c), Ismaily, Matviienko, Kryvtsov, Dodo, Stepanenko, Alan Patrick (Khocholava, 90+2’), Marcos Antonio, Taison (Konoplyanka, 86’), Marlos (Tete, 62’), Moraes
Further details are available in the match centre.
Productive start
The teams’ incredible attitude to the game got clear immediately. Benfica got off to a powerful start and quickly opened the scoring: in the 9th minute Pizzi dragged the ball down the left wing and, barely entering the penalty area, carefully sent it inside the far post. Less than three minutes later, the Orange-and-Blacks scored in response: Dodo skillfully handled Marcos' long ball and crossed it into the centre of the penalty area, with Moraes forcing two defenders to challenge him, with the ball flying into the back of the net off Dias’ foot – 1-1. Soon, Shakhtar could well go in front, but Taison’s tight-angle attempt just hit the post. The game calmed down for a while which was interrupted in the 36th minute by the hosts’ second goal: Dias headed home a corner delivery from the right.
Great comeback
The second half started with an even faster exchange of goals. Rafa Silva took advantage of a defender's mistake to beat Pyatov, but just a couple of minutes later Taison played a corner from the left flank, with Taras Stepanenko heading it right home past Vlachodimos, making it 3-2. The end-to-end action continued, seeing Marcos volleying it from the edge of the goal area only to see it miss the target, and then Kryvtsov directed the ball into the corner with his head only to see the keeper make a save. The Miners had a great chance to equalize midway through the second half when Tete and Taison ripped open the opponents’ defence just to see Vlachodimos come to his side’s rescue again. However, he was also unable to do anything in the 71st minute: Taison cut the defence with a splitting pass to Ismaily, with the latter’s cross being stopped by a host defender, but the onrushing Alan Patrick just planted the ball into the back of the net off the pitch surface, making it 3-3! The Lisbon outfit who now had to score at least twice more, continued to charge forward, but the Orange-Blacks easily coped with their attacks.
3-3 - Shakhtar drew with Benfica and, based on the aggregate score of 5-4, advanced to the Europa League Round of 16! The Miners will know their opponents at this stage tomorrow, February 28th. The draw kicks off at 14:00 Kyiv time (EET).
Benfica 3-3 (2-1) Shakhtar Donetsk
Lisbon, Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, att: 48,302 viewers
Goals: 1-0 Pizzi (9’), 1-1 Dias (12’, og), 2-1 Dias (36’), 3-1 Silva (47’), 3-2 Stepanenko (49’), 3-3 Alan Patrick (71’)
Shakhtar: Pyatov (c), Ismaily, Matviienko, Kryvtsov, Dodo, Stepanenko, Alan Patrick (Khocholava, 90+2’), Marcos Antonio, Taison (Konoplyanka, 86’), Marlos (Tete, 62’), Moraes
Further details are available in the match centre.