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Luis Castro’s team has secured an important reserve for the second leg.
February 18, 2021, 11:57 PM
From the tense clashes at the UEFA Champions League debut for 2021, the focus of viewers’ attention has traditionally shifted to the Europa League, where two Ukrainian clubs represented our country at the same time in the 1/16 finals. . Dynamo Kiev sadly failed to please us with the maximum result in the home game against Belgian Brugge (1: 1), which became the first on this game day, so Donetsk Shakhtar had a double burden : Points on the UEFA coefficient table are now worth their weight in gold …
The current champions of Israel, Maccabi of Tel Aviv, who in the group stage of this tournament managed to come out with the second indicator in terms of points scored in the group where Spanish Villarreal, Turkish Sivasspor and Azeri Karabakh were present, sent the tie. oppose the Pitmen. Compared to the rivals of Luis Castro’s players in the Champions League, the quartet is not a match at all, although this was dictated by the very status of this tournament. We all remember how tough it was for Donetsk in the group with Inter, Real Madrid and Borussia Mönchengladbach, so their entry into the Europa League playoffs was already a good result, but not enough.
The Ukrainian team had the status of clear favorite in this pair. This was obvious to everyone, even the most ardent antagonists of the Kashtra collective, and the Israeli side was not particularly opposed to such a prescribed balance of power in the couple. One way or another, but from the position of a “loser” it is much easier to play – the level of responsibility for the result is slightly lower. That’s why the owners of Bloomfield Stadium weren’t particularly concerned about the opponents’ absolutely dominant position in ball control throughout the match.
Another question is how the Donetsk team used this advantage. The miner encountered no resistance when crossing the center line, so the main part of the performance regularly took place directly in front of other people’s possessions. And here the question of the author of the decisive pass against the defense of the opponents was already on the brink. The Pitmen in their lullaby attacks until the 22nd minute simply could not create a moment for a shot on goal, but from the first attempt Moraes sharpened the chances of scoring immediately: he hit the goalkeeper, completing a cross from the left side. of the penalty. Alan Patrick area.
After this episode, Shakhtar realized that the opposing team was not doing well with the right flank of the defense, so Marlos’s launch in the 31st minute went to that area. Matvienko’s connection to the attack predetermined the outcome of the situation: an instant discount on Patrick, which ended with a low kick to touch the near corner. Goalkeeper Daniel tried to save, but the ball bounced off his gloves and into the net.
Maccabi in the first half was followed by many mid- and long-range passes, after which it was only possible to get through an offside trap for forward Pesic, who clearly struggled with finishing in the reporting game – all shots of any caliber were not on target for Trubin. By the way, the Shakhtar goalkeeper stood up until the break, not knowing the chances of saving his team. This is not to say that he was disappointed by this fact.
After the break, the game continued along a similar line, but the Israeli club slightly increased the pace in their attacks. There were questions about the Shakhtar’s defense, in particular for the defenders on the flanks, who did not always manage to balance aggravation and containment. However, the rivals were notably nervous at the end, so the only time Trubin really had to save the gate was only in the 87th minute: a header from Hernandez, after a corner kick from the left wing, had every chance to level scoring, but Ukraine’s gate guard coped with it.
Castro felt that his players were playing with fire, allowing his opponents freedom in attack, in the context of an impressive advantage in ball control. The Portuguese specialist had to make substitutions, and most of them were really successful. Linnet was aggravated from the moment he entered the field, but was too selfish in the end, Antonio and Maicon reliably backed the center of the field, and Tete and Fernando staged a hurricane on the flanks.
Only between a pair of attacking Brazilians, the second goal was played already in injury time. Fernando simply flew away from the tired guard down the left flank, after which he passed the oncoming teammate, and Tete, with a grandmaster pause, fired at the goalkeeper. It was a controversial game for Shakhtar: Castro’s team showed integrity, which it lacked so much this season, but something must be done decisively in attack.
The second leg between Shakhtar Donetsk and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv will be played at the NSC Olimpiyskiy field in one week, on February 25.
Maccabi Tel Aviv – Miner 0: 2
Goals: Alan Patrick, 31, Tete, 90 + 2
Maccabi Tel Aviv: Daniel – Geraldesh, Hernández, Tibi, Saborit – Glazer, Rikan (Golasa, 64), Pepper – Biton (Hosez, 46), Pesic (Guerrero, 84), Ben-Haim II (Blackman, 63).
Miner: Trubin – Dodo, Krivtsov, Vitao, Matvienko – Stepanenko – Solomon (Tete, 73), Marlos (Maicon, 77), Alan Patrick (Marcos Antonio, 88), Tyson (Konoplyanka, 78) – Moraes (Fernando, 89).
Warnings: Glazer, Pepper – Marlos, Tyson.
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