Impressive victory by Ukraine

This is the Blue-and-Yellows' second friendly as part of their preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Scotland. The starting lineup of the Ukraine national team included four Shakhtar players: captain and goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov, defender Mykola Matviienko, midfielders Taras Stepanenko and Mykhailo Mudryk.
 
The encounter began with a threat near the Ukrainians' goal, but Pyatov coped with the opponents’ tough attempt. The Blue-and-Yellows responded with Pikhalyonok's shot into the goalkeeper's palms. Mudryk who was constantly looking for opportunities to threaten the game, and Yaremchuk who still managed to open the scoring after several missed chances, were active offensively – in the 26th minute, the forward received the ball from the right in the penalty area and fired it right inside the near corner to make it 0-1. Yaremchuk (hit the post) and Tsyhankov (didn’t convert a one-on-one situation) could have increased the scoring advantage but for the Empoli players who managed to convert their chance in the last minute of the first half: La Mantia failed to lob it over Pyatov on the first try, but still applied a finishing touch and hit the back of the unguarded net.

Immediately after the break, the Ukraine national team scored two quick goals: first, Karavaev successfully finished off Yaremchuk's delivery before Pikhalyonok fired Matviienko's pass into the far corner and extended the Blue-and-Yellows’ lead. In the second half, Oleksandr Petrakov's men had enough chances to score more goals: Mudryk created great opportunities for Yaremchuk and Tsyhankov, but finishing let down both of them. In the 78th minute, the Miner Valerii Bondar took the field, played safely and helped the teammates to secure the win. 3-1 – the Ukraine team won the friendly against Empoli.

On Wednesday May 18, the Blue-Yellows will have another test game vs Croatia’s Rijeka. The kickoff time is 19:00.

This is a reminder that SCM businesses, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and FC Shakhtar have already donated about UAH 2.1 billion to Ukraine and Ukrainian people. The total amount of support including taxes paid upfront exceeds UAH 3 billion.