First victory of the year
Monday, January 22, 2024
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On January 22, Shakhtar played a test match against Armenian Pyunik
Head coach of the Orange-and-Blacks Marino Pusic chose the following starting line-up for the first friendly game of the winter training camp: Riznyk played in the goal, Konoplia and Azarov were full-backs, Matviienko and Bondar formed a pair of centre-backs, Stepanenko, Bondarenko and Sudakov acted in the centre of the field, Kevin made his debut on the left attacking wing, Zubkov played on the right, and Sikan was at the helm.
Kevin created a goal for Zubkov
The newcomer of the Miners Kevin was active from the beginning of the game. First, he showed himself in pressing: entering the free space near the opponent’s penalty area, he helped to return the ball to his team. In a few minutes, the Brazilian tried to find Zubkov in the penalty area with a cool splitting pass, but the defender beat him. Eventually, in the 14th minute, Kevin organized the team’s first goal of 2024: he challenged for the ball near the left corner, beat the opponent in dribbling, entered the penalty area and passed accurately to Oleksandr Zubkov, who opened the scoring with a one-touch shot – 1-0. Immediately after that, Sikan had a good chance, but his shot went in centimetres from the post. Marino Pusic’s team continued to control the events on the field confidently, but in the middle of the half, Yerevan team strengthened the attack a bit, making several sharp charges, however, it did not lead to the scoring chances near Riznyk’s goal. And Shakhtar combined a lot in the opponent’s half of the field, but could not beat the saturated defence of the opponents. Shortly before the break, Kevin was in the spotlight again: the Brazilian ran towards the goal of the Armenians three times after his teammates’ passes from the back, but the referee registered offside twice, and in another episode, the winger let the ball go beyond the front line.
Playing time for almost everyone and Tsukanov’s first goal
In the second half, the coaching staff of the Orange-and-Blacks changed the line-up, releasing Rudko, Gocholeishvili, Lemkin, Rakitskyi (with the captain’s armband), Pedrinho, Nazaryna, Kryskiv, Ocheretko, Newerton, Shved and Eguinaldo. Fresh performers actively got into the game and immediately created a dangerous moment: Newerton rushed through the left wing and shot into the far corner, but the ball narrowly missed the target. Marian Shved had a great chance when he intercepted the opponent’s pass in their penalty area, but instead of scoring from a few meters, he made an inaccurate pass. Pyunik players responded with a sharp moment – Rudko played reliably, turning Hendriks’ shot over the crossbar. Yaroslav Rakitskyi, the author of Shakhtar’s best goal in 2023, could have scored in an incredible way: seeing the poor position of the goalkeeper, Shakhtar defender kicked the ball from his half of the field, but the goalkeeper of Yerevan team saved the shot with great difficulty. The champions of Ukraine tried to move forward until the end of the match and scored the second goal in the 82nd minute: the Armenians failed to kick-off from goal again, and 17-year-old Viktor Tsukanov, who appeared on the field in the middle of the half, intercepted the goalkeeper’s pass and hit an unguarded net – 2-0. In the last minutes, the opponents could have scored, but Gocholeishvili stopped Caraballo’s shot on the line, and Rudko saved the follow-up.
2-0 – Shakhtar defeated Pyunik in the first friendly match of the year: Kevin made his debut for the Miners with an assist, and Tsukanov scored for the main team.
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 (1-0) Pyunik Yerevan
Antalya, Mardan Stadium, 200 spectators
Goals: 1-0 Zubkov (14′), 2-0 Tsukanov (82′)
Shakhtar: Riznyk (Rudko, 46′), Konoplia (Gocholeishvili, 46′), Bondar (Lemkin, 46′; Latsabidze, 69′), Matviienko (Rakitskyi, 46′), Azarov (Pedrinho, 46′), Stepanenko (c) (Nazaryna, 46′), Bondarenko (Ocheretko, 46′; Tsukanov, 69′), Sudakov (Kryskiv, 46′), Zubkov (Shved, 46′), Kevin (Newerton, 46′), Sikan (Eguinaldo, 46′)
Kevin created a goal for Zubkov
The newcomer of the Miners Kevin was active from the beginning of the game. First, he showed himself in pressing: entering the free space near the opponent’s penalty area, he helped to return the ball to his team. In a few minutes, the Brazilian tried to find Zubkov in the penalty area with a cool splitting pass, but the defender beat him. Eventually, in the 14th minute, Kevin organized the team’s first goal of 2024: he challenged for the ball near the left corner, beat the opponent in dribbling, entered the penalty area and passed accurately to Oleksandr Zubkov, who opened the scoring with a one-touch shot – 1-0. Immediately after that, Sikan had a good chance, but his shot went in centimetres from the post. Marino Pusic’s team continued to control the events on the field confidently, but in the middle of the half, Yerevan team strengthened the attack a bit, making several sharp charges, however, it did not lead to the scoring chances near Riznyk’s goal. And Shakhtar combined a lot in the opponent’s half of the field, but could not beat the saturated defence of the opponents. Shortly before the break, Kevin was in the spotlight again: the Brazilian ran towards the goal of the Armenians three times after his teammates’ passes from the back, but the referee registered offside twice, and in another episode, the winger let the ball go beyond the front line.
Playing time for almost everyone and Tsukanov’s first goal
In the second half, the coaching staff of the Orange-and-Blacks changed the line-up, releasing Rudko, Gocholeishvili, Lemkin, Rakitskyi (with the captain’s armband), Pedrinho, Nazaryna, Kryskiv, Ocheretko, Newerton, Shved and Eguinaldo. Fresh performers actively got into the game and immediately created a dangerous moment: Newerton rushed through the left wing and shot into the far corner, but the ball narrowly missed the target. Marian Shved had a great chance when he intercepted the opponent’s pass in their penalty area, but instead of scoring from a few meters, he made an inaccurate pass. Pyunik players responded with a sharp moment – Rudko played reliably, turning Hendriks’ shot over the crossbar. Yaroslav Rakitskyi, the author of Shakhtar’s best goal in 2023, could have scored in an incredible way: seeing the poor position of the goalkeeper, Shakhtar defender kicked the ball from his half of the field, but the goalkeeper of Yerevan team saved the shot with great difficulty. The champions of Ukraine tried to move forward until the end of the match and scored the second goal in the 82nd minute: the Armenians failed to kick-off from goal again, and 17-year-old Viktor Tsukanov, who appeared on the field in the middle of the half, intercepted the goalkeeper’s pass and hit an unguarded net – 2-0. In the last minutes, the opponents could have scored, but Gocholeishvili stopped Caraballo’s shot on the line, and Rudko saved the follow-up.
2-0 – Shakhtar defeated Pyunik in the first friendly match of the year: Kevin made his debut for the Miners with an assist, and Tsukanov scored for the main team.
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 (1-0) Pyunik Yerevan
Antalya, Mardan Stadium, 200 spectators
Goals: 1-0 Zubkov (14′), 2-0 Tsukanov (82′)
Shakhtar: Riznyk (Rudko, 46′), Konoplia (Gocholeishvili, 46′), Bondar (Lemkin, 46′; Latsabidze, 69′), Matviienko (Rakitskyi, 46′), Azarov (Pedrinho, 46′), Stepanenko (c) (Nazaryna, 46′), Bondarenko (Ocheretko, 46′; Tsukanov, 69′), Sudakov (Kryskiv, 46′), Zubkov (Shved, 46′), Kevin (Newerton, 46′), Sikan (Eguinaldo, 46′)
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