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The international break has come to an end and next time viewers will be able to watch the matches of the national teams only in March 2021. Provided, of course, COVID-19, or some new COVID-21, does not interrupt the plans. Anyway, the match between Shakhtar and Alexandria went according to today’s schedule, and no weekend quarantine did not interfere with football.
Both sides approached the match not without losses. Even before the match, it was known that the defending champion of Ukraine lost two Viktorovs: Kovalenko fell ill with coronavirus and Kornienko retired before the end of the year. Additionally, Marlos, Bondar, and Trubin (self-isolation due to contact with patients), as well as Tyson (minor damage) flew past the app. Yuri Pankiv, who had a fever, and Valeriy Bonadrenko were unable to start in Alexandria. Centerback cannot play due to the lease.
We have already raised the topic of learning to play with Shakhtar Donetsk several times. As soon as Castro’s team encounters a tight defense, it is immediately lost and creates a minimal number of opportunities. Vladimir Sharan understood this too, choosing the right game plan. The guests spent the beginning of the fight actively, holding the ball more than the opponent, thus creating several, although not the most dangerous, but moments. After that, Alexandria moved deeper into defense, leaving no room for the Pitmen.
Shakhtar had practically nothing to offer in attack. Of the dangerous one in the first half, we remember Stepanenko’s distant shot, as well as Tete’s shot from the right wing after Moraes’ pass. The second point occurred after the Alexandria cut, so it cannot be called a sensible combination. Moraes complicated the task for Shakhtar, who entered an unwarranted tackle against Banada, probably forgetting that the VAR system was working during the match. First, he saw a yellow card in front of him, but after that, Monzul, the first female referee in the history of the Nations League, saw the replay and decided to eliminate the top ten hosts. Everyone remembers that for two weeks in a similar episode, Yekaterina Vladimirovna sent Sidorchuk to rest, allowing Shakhtar to play in the majority.
After having spent a good first half, immediately after the break, the “townspeople” conceded an unexpected goal. Dodo stepped away from his guardian and hit his head on a good pass from Patrick from the opposite flank. This is how the right-back celebrated his anniversary today in a surprising way: the 50th match in the “orange-black” jersey.
Taking the lead, it seemed that the Shakhtar would cede the initiative to Alexandria, and himself would punish them with swift counterattacks. But the owners decided to continue playing the first number, for which they were punished. At first, Matvienko fumbled the ball in a foreign half of the field, then did not stop Kovalets from giving an assist to Banada in his own penalty area: Evgeny shot perfectly. Interestingly, before this, Stepanenko broke the rules, and if the midfielder hadn’t been forgotten in the episode, “Alexandria” would have every chance of being entitled to a penalty kick.
Seeing the torment of his charges, Castro had no choice but to release new players and refresh the game. The Portuguese mentor surprised the decision by replacing left-back Cipriano (yes, yes, he played today, and again disappointed rather than impressed) by leaving Fernando in his place. Tete nominally fell to the lateral position, but spent much more time in attack than in defense. It was Fernando who was able to overtake the hosts, finishing the ball after hitting Dentinho, but hit the defender, not the goal. Alexandria’s response was no less interesting: Tretyakov tested the strength of the crossbar, having received a good pass from Luchkevich.
The nervous ending of the match brought no goals, and the teams shared the points as a result. In general, the result can be described as fair, since “Alexandria” did not look worse than a rival with more status and confirmed its condition of strong team. But there are still questions about Shakhtar’s game, especially given the imminent departure to Germany. We remind you that on Wednesday Castro’s team will try to take revenge on Borussia for the defeat of Kiev, but it is not yet clear how the Pitmen will win. The Portuguese mentor is expected to be able to surprise fans and embarrass critics. Otherwise, the pressure on him will increase.
Favbet League. Round 10
Kiev. NSC “Olympic”
Chief Referee: Ekaterina Monzul (Kharkov)
Assistants: Serhiy Pristupa (Kiev), Evgeny Petrakov (Kiev)
Shakhtar – FC Alexandria 1: 1
Goals: Dodo 47 – Eugene Banada 53
Miner: Andrei Pyatov, Dodo, Sergei Krivtsov, Taras Stepanenko, Marcos Antonio (Dentinho 43), Junior Moraes, Tete, Manor Solomon, Alan Patrick (Fernando dos Santos Pedro 69), Nikolai Matvienko, Marquinhos Cipriano (Maicon de Andrade)
FC Alexandria: Oleg Bilyk, Alexander Melnik, Vladislav Baboglo, Kirill Kovalets, Maxim Tretyakov, Valery Luchkevich, Artyom Sitalo (Denis Ustimenko 72), Pavel Pashaev, Dmitry Grechishkin, Evgeny Banada, Roman Vantukh
Warnings: Marquinhos Cipriano 6, Nikolay Matvienko 83 – Maxim Tretyakov 45, Kirill Kovalets 76
Elimination: Junior Moraes 31
