The opponents were not cautious and immediately began to create dangerous chances. Already in the 5th minute, Junior Moraes could have put his name on the scoresheet, but his attempt from outside the box whizzed just inches off the far post. The hosts carried out another dangerous attack immediately after that, but the defenders blocked both Marlos's shot and the finish by Nem. The Poltavans responded with their chance – in this case Andriy Pyatov showcased his superb reflexes by saving Careca’s header. Meanwhile, the former Shakhtar goalkeeper Bohdan Shust prevented Ismaily from scoring a goal. Slightly calming the game midway through the first half, the visitors managed to fulfil a couple of sharp attacks: on the first occasion Pyatov stopped Rebenok’s attempt, but Sharpar managed to head a corner home from about a 10-metre range and to bring his side in front. Affected by the emotions, the opponents nearly scored the second one, but the Shakhtar goalkeeper won a challenge vs Perduta. Paulo Fonseca’s men immediately got the ball under their control, locking the Vorskla in their half and managing to equalise shortly before the break: Moraes got on the end of Ismaily’s cross while tacking a defender, with the ball bouncing off the goalpost.
Four goals in return
The second half began with the powerful attacks by Shakhtar. Already in the 50th minute, Marlos technically beat two opponents and bent the ball into the far corner – 1-1. The hosts did not loosen the grip: Taison sent a powerful free-kick into the corner - Shust did not take risks and turned it for a corner; Moraes was close to finding himself one-on-one with the keeper, and already in the 59th minute the Miners were in front. Marlos pulled the ball down the middle and fed Junior, who rolled the ball into the penalty area, with Taras Stepanenko hammering the ball into the back of the unguarded net, making it 2-1. Vorskla could not stand that kind of a double strike and immediately conceded the third goal: after playing a corner, Alan Patrick found David Khocholava in the penalty area, who rolled the ball into the near corner – 3-1. But even after that, the Orange-Blacks continued to charge forward. Midway through the half, Wellington Nem also distinguished himself (in the box, the Brazilian blocked the defender with his body and hit the far corner), but the referee registered a foul and unruled the goal. And then came the five-minute performance of Moraes. Junior tried to send home a left-hand cross - Shust rescued his team, with the self-sacrificing sliding tackle by Martynenko immediately stopping the Brazilian’s attempt, though in the 74th minute the Shakhtar forward achieved his aim: Taison raced past the defenders and fed Moraes, who sealed a 4-1 win. Then the Brazilian was replaced by Andrii Totovytskyi, with Maycon and Fernando coming on earlier. The latter, by the way, also scored one (after finding himself in a one-on-one situation, he sent the ball into the roof of the net), but he did it being offside. The match ended with a chance created by one of the meeting’s best players: Taison, after an excellent move, struck powerfully, but a little inaccurately.
4-1 - Shakhtar showed character and defeated Vorskla by four goals in the second half. On August 18, the Miners will play Lviv away in the UPL round 5.
Shakhtar Donetsk 4-1 (0-1) Vorskla Poltava
Kharkiv, OSC Metalist, att: 6,438
Goals: 0-1 Sharpar (25), 1-1 Marlos (50), 2-1 Stepanenko (59), 3-1 Khocholava (62), 4-1 Moraes (74)
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Danchenko, Khocholava, Rakits’kyy, Ismaily, Patrick (Maycon, 75), Stepanenko, Marlos, Nem (Fernando, 69), Taison (c), Moraes (Totovytskyi, 82).
FC Shakhtar press-office
