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Football.ua remembers memorable goals in the career of the legend of the Pitmen.
01 October 2020, 16:20
On the first day of October, he surprised the Ukrainian football community with tragic news: Sergei Atelkin was gone. He was only 48 years old. In memory of the outstanding Ukrainian forward, Football.ua made a selection of seven memorable goals in Atelkin’s career.
04/25/1997 Shakhtar – Dnipro 1: 0 (total score 1: 0), Ukrainian Cup final
It was the second Ukrainian Cup final in the history of the Miner and in Atelkin’s career. Two years earlier, the Pitmen defeated Dnipro in the decisive game on penalties. Now fate has reunited the Donetsk team with the Dnipro team. This time they got the victory in regulation time. The only goal, in the 36th minute, was scored by Sergei Atelkin, taking advantage of the cut off by Dnipro’s defenders.
03/22/1998. Napoli – Lecce 2: 4 (total score 2: 4), Serie A
In the summer of 1997, Lecce entered Serie A and, as part of strengthening the elite division, signed 25-year-old Sergei Atelkin. However, the team failed to establish a foothold in Serie A: from the first rounds, Lecce entered the relegation zone and throughout the tournament tried to get out of there. On March 22, the team visited Naples, and this meeting was a battle of outsiders: Napoli desperately took last place. In a spectacular match, the guests managed to score three important points, and Sergey Atelkin put a brilliant point in the match,
08/22/2000 Slavia – Shakhtar 0: 2 (total score 0: 2), 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League
One of the most memorable matches in the history of the Miner. The Pitmen fought for their first access to the Champions League group stage and the last obstacle on the way to this goal was Slavia Prague. In Donetsk, Prokopenko’s pupils were minimally beaten, in Prague, until a tense zero draw was maintained in the last minutes of the match. Already in injury time, Atelkin made a “parachute” on Cerny’s back with his head. However, the Czech goalkeeper managed to hit the ball, right at the foot of Andrei Voroby, who scored such an important goal in Shakhtar’s history. In extra time, Sparrow acted as an assistant, making a wonderful cross from the right flank. Atelkin, well ahead of the defender, fired near point-blank range – Cherny struggled, but the Ukrainian forward immediately finished it off – 0: 2 and this was, without exaggeration, a historic victory for Shakhtar.
11/07/2000 Shakhtar – Arsenal 1: 0 (total score 3: 0), Champions League first group round
The last round of the UCL first group round was supposed to determine who will make it to the UEFA Cup: Shakhtar or Sparta Prague? Arsenal had already secured first place in the group at the time, while Lazio was guaranteed to remain second. In the event of the defeat of Lazio Sparta, “Goryanka” would even be satisfied with the defeat, however, of course, Prokopenko’s charges did not want to depend on the result of a parallel match. As a result, the Shakhtar footballers managed to organize a real holiday for the Donetsk fans, sensationally defeating Wenger’s formidable Arsenal with a score of 3: 0. The start of the defeat was put by Sergey Atelkin, who perfectly realized the one-on-one exit.
May 27, 2001 Shakhtar – CSKA 1: 1, 2: 1 (total score 2: 1), Ukraine Cup final
This match can be called without exaggeration “the final named after Atelkin.” It was Sergei who became the main character in that fight. Already at the start of the match, CSKA took the lead and for most of the match the Pitmen were unable to level the playing field. Atelkin started the game on the bench, entering the field only in the 67th minute. And already 11 minutes later, the striker took Okoronkvo’s transfer, went around the 11-meter mark and tied the score with a whip, moving the game into extra time.
In the 119th minute, one minute before the end of the second extra half, Atelkin, with the help of Konyushenko, shot hard from flying to the near corner – 2: 1 and Shakhtar, along with Atelkin, took the third Cup of Ukraine.
May 26, 2002 Dynamo – Shakhtar 2: 2 (total score 2: 3), Ukraine Cup final
Atelkin made a mark in the history of the “Classic Derby”. The 2002 final is rightfully considered one of the most brilliant and interesting in the entire existence of the Ukrainian Cup. At the beginning of the fight, Sergei Popov opened the scoring, but after 20 minutes Valentin Belkevich played the status quo, and at the beginning of the second half, Maxim Shatskikh led the Kiev team ahead. As in the previous final, Atelkin entered the field closer to the end of the match, 72 minutes after the match started. And already nine minutes after entering the field, Sergey closed the parapet with his head from the right flank, leveling the score in the match. In extra time, Andriy Vorobei scored another goal for Shakhtar, bringing the fourth Ukrainian Cup and the history of the Miner and Atelkin’s career.
Unfortunately, four participants of that meeting are no longer alive: Assan N’Diaye, Valentin Belkevich, Andrey Gusin and Sergey Atelkin left this world.
Sergei Atelkin made a great contribution to the history of Ukrainian football in the late 90s and early 2000s. His name will be forever inscribed in the history of the Ukrainian Cup, in the history of the Donetsk Miner and what is more importantly, in the hearts of the fans, to whom he gave many unforgettable football emotions.
Thanks for everything, Legend! Eternal memory, Sergey Atelkin!
Alexander Shevchenko, Football.ua
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