Winning start to the year

Roberto De Zerbi involved virtually every player in this friendly game by fielding different lineups in each half. At the start, Trubin took his place between the sticks; Matviienko and Marlon made up a pairing of central defenders; Dodo and Ismaily appeared as fullbacks; Stepanenko and Maycon were in the holding area; while Patrick, Mudryk, Pedrinho and David Neres were responsible for attacking, with the latter making his first appearance in a Shakhtar shirt.

In search of the match pace

The beginning of the match saw the Orange-and-Blacks’ minor lead. The first effort in the match following a joint move with Patrick was made by Mykhailo Mudryk, but the Austrian goalkeeper played safely. The opponents responded with their chance – Trubin parried away Taferner's cross from the corner of the goal area. The Miners had some pretty good chances midway through the first half: in the first episode, Lochoshvili’s sliding tackle prevented Patrick from making an attempt. And in the second situation, Mudryk beat the defender and the keeper, but failed to hit the target. But the Wolfsberger players converted their chance – in the 37th minute, after a series of crosses into the box, Lochoshvili opened the scoring after after applying a great finish. Shortly before the break, Mudryk made it dangerous on two occasions by his slaloming runs down the wing only to see the defenders deny his crosses to Pedrinho on both occasions.

Come-from-behind win

In the second half, De Zerbi fully changed the lineup by fielding many young players, along with the experienced Pyatov and Moraes. We want to mention the appearance of the newcomer Vinicius Tobias down the right wing. Shakhtar continued operating in their usual style – with long-lasting ball control and multiple passes. One of them almost brought the result in the opening minutes: Sudakov launched an attack, Fernando extended it forward, and Moraes finished rounded it off by hitting the near corner, with the goalkeeper turning the ball for a corner. Another chance for Junior was created by Tete, but Schofl came to the Austrians’ rescue again. Still, the Miners managed to convert their advantage into a goal. First, the goalkeeper made another save by stopping Marcos Antonio’s cannon shot, but in the 76th minute the stopper failed to do it again when Moraes drew a defender away, Vinicius Tobias rolled it to the centre of the penalty area, and Heorhii Sudakov scored Shakhtar's first goal this new year! Less than five minutes later, the Orange-and-Blacks cam in front. And again, the goal came from Tobias’s right flank: Vinicius sent in a high ball for Fernando to feed Junior Moraes who fired it right home – 2-1. The Miners managed to extend the lead in the 87th minute: Tete scored after Marcos's pass. The win was sealed by Moraes who backheeled Korniienko's corner-kick insdie the far corner.

4-1 - Shakhtar started the training camp friendlies in Turkey with a victory over Wolfsberger. Roberto De Zerbi’s men are going to have a day off and two training days now. They will play the next friendly on Friday January 28 against the Belarusian Shakhtyor Soligorsk.

Shakhtar Donetsk 4-1 (0-1) Wolfsberger

Belek, Regnum Sport Center

Goals: 0-1 Lochoshvili (37’), 1-1 Sudakov (76’), 2-1 Moraes (80’), 3-1 Tete (87’), 4-1 Moraes (89’)

Shakhtar, 1st half: Trubin, Dodo, Marlon, Matviienko, Ismaily, Stepanenko (c), Maycon, Neres, Patrick, Mudryk, Pedrinho

Shakhtar, 2nd half: Pyatov (c), Vinicius Tobias, Vitao, Bondar, Korniienko, Marcos Antonio, Bondarenko, Tete, Sudakov, Fernando, Moraes