10-man Shakhtar see off Blaugrana

21-04-11 19:22:34

Text SizePrintSend

Today, April 21, Shakhtar U-19 played a quarterfinal match in the international youth tournament Sardinia Cup, which takes place in Italy. 

Barcelona U-19 vs Shakhtar U-19 - 2:3

Shakhtar-19: Galchuk, Dyakiv, Rusanov, Glushitskyy, Sartina, Steblovskyy (Bolbat, 42), Vakulenko, Karp (Bezborodko, 63), Zagorulko (Lutsenko, 70), Totovitsky, Kravchenko (Antoniv, 47)
Head coach: Oleksandr Funderat
Coach: Sergiy Kovalyov

Goals for Shakhtar: Zagorulko (19), Vakulenko (27), Karp (43)

Bookings (in the Shakhtar squad): Dyakiv (24), Karp (43), Glushitskyy (50), Zagorulko (67)

Sending-off: Dyakiv (69, second yellow card)

The starting minutes of the match saw an even game. The Catalans enjoyed possession, with trying to initiate attacking moves but our players responded with sharp counterattacks. The Pitmen’s strategy finally paid off when Kravchenko’s cross from the left flank was met by Zagorulko, who slotted in the opener. It took a few more minutes for Shakhtar to extend their lead to two goals courtesy of Vakulenko’s curling drive from the free-kick. Right before the break Barca managed to pull one goal back.

The second period started with Shakhtar netting their third goal. Vakulenko floated the ball into the box for Karp to make it 3:1! Barcelona went forward in numbers but our boys played solid in defense as well as in the final third. However, shortly before the final whistle The Catalans reduced the deficit to one goal after converting a penalty. Following that episode Dyakiv was sent off after being shown a second yellow card. The referee added 5 minutes of stoppage time although in fact the teams played 7 minutes. During this time Barcelona took a lot of set-pieces but the Pitmen, despite being down to ten men, managed to hold onto a deserved victory.

Shakhtar U-19 head coach Oleksandr Funderat summed up the game:

We tried to play deep as we are aware of Barca’s strong points. The task was to show a quality performance sticking to pre-match tactical instructions as well as attempting to hit the opponent on the breaks. Our players succeeded in all of those aspects. As for the teamwork, we were not surpassed by Barcelona. Since Shakhtar have made it through to the Champions League quarter-finals we are not intimidated by ‘big names’ any longer as we are becoming a ’big name’ ourselves.

FC Shakhtar
Press office