Mircea Lucescu: The result is far too emphatic

30-10-15 22:05:37

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Press conference by the head coach of Shakhtar after defeating Zorya.

- The game ended with a big score. But I do not think it reflects the events on the football field. Probably Zorya played the first half even better than we did it. The opponents have created several scoring chances and could have scored. It’s good that Anton Kanibolotskyi has played very successfully today. We made a lot of mistakes in central defence. And it was very difficult for us to get into the area where attacks are rounded off: good organization of Zorya’s performance and the ambition they took to the pitch with, didn’t alow us to do that. In the first half, we very rarely appeared in the opposition penalty area. On our part we felt nervous, there were mistakes in midfield. In the second half everything changed: Zorya turned in a careless performance defensively - and we immediately scored the second goal. Then we enjoyed full dominance, although Zorya had a scoring chance at 2-0. But at the same time, perhaps, today was a day when we were lucky. That said, I want to highlight Zorya: they are a very strong team. And the result is, frankly speaking, far too emphatic. I don’t think Luhansk deserved that score - they are much stronger. It’s clear that they had four players missing. But even those who replaced them in the first half, looked very good on the pitch.
 
- The question concerns the performance of your team on right wing. It seemed that the young Petryak challenged your captain quite seriously. What do you make of Darijo’s current form?
- I am concerned about this point. Darijo must realize that now it’s impossible to play the way he used to in previous years. Sometimes players lose pace and mobility with age. All this can be offset by the experience, as well as a good selection of positions on the pitch. Currently, Darijo changes his game, just that process is underway. I think it will help him spend many more years at Shakhtar. As for his attacking performance, it has always been good. He should seriously work on challenges for the ball and, of course, step up this component. We knew that Petryak is a very fast, explosive and technical footballer. I drew their attention to the fact that such a player mustn’t be allowed to get the ball, because he can easily beat you in a 1v1 situation. It happened just so. There were moments when Petryak was allowed to take the ball, with him beating his opponent and making threatening deliveries into the box. Hopefully, Darijo will play quite differently against Berget of Malmo and all will be well.