central game analysis – football.ua

Viktor Skripnik returned Vitaly Vernidub to the starting lineup, instead of who Lovro Tsvek played in the last round. On the left on defense, Andrejs Tsyganiks took the place of Maxim Grechkin and Yegor Nazarin replaced Dmitry Khomchenovsky. Dawn came out in the usual 4-4-2 combination with a diamond in midfield.

Luis Castro entrusted the place of the door to Anatoly Trubin. The Portuguese is still looking for a replacement for Ismaily on the left flank of the defense. This time young Viktor Kornienko came out. Otherwise, everything is familiar: the top three offensive midfielders were Manor Solomon, Tyson and Marlos, who constantly changed positions on the field. 4-2-3-1 by Luis Castro.

Last season, Zarya’s high pressure structure with personal orientations was extremely inconvenient for Shakhtar. So perhaps the main question before the game is whether Zorya, in the new player mix, will also be able to successfully cover the Pitmen in their own penalty area. As I watched live, everything seemed to work. It’s not perfect, but it works. Having already reviewed the match, you can focus more on the details.

Example №1

Example №2

How many times did Zorya steal the ball from Shakhtar outside the penalty area due to high pressure?

Zero. Shakhtar only lost the ball once near the 16-meter zone due to an individual error by Dodo. As a result, Zarya evened the score with a kick from Kochergin. However, recalling this episode, we are not talking about the coordinated actions of Zarya’s team, but rather Kabaev’s timely approach.

Another thing is that Luis Castro, knowing the problems of his team, seems to have asked to combine short plays from the goal with transitions from the initial phase of the attack to the next through a long pass. In this case, Zarya tried to aggressively cover the opponent in the second third. And here Viktor Skripnik’s team looked very good.

Zarya’s high pressure did not allow Shakhtar to think carefully about how to exit the initial stage of the attack. As a result, there are many forward passes in the fight, which earned Skripnik’s charges. In the central zone, in the positions of Nazarina and Kochergin, Zarya was superior to Shakhtar in terms of selections and rebounds.

The miner also used pressure. Successful enough every now and then. It was the Pitmen’s first goal that was the result of well-coordinated team actions. Take a look at the still images below.

In several episodes, the trigger for the release of the Shakhtar’s pressure mechanism was the transmission to Vernidub. At that moment, which led to the goal, Moraes starts his movement as the ball reaches Vitali. Then everything followed the chain.

Solomon quickly covers Favorov and the defender makes a one-touch error with the pass.

Shakhtar players withdrew the ball in the opponent’s half of the field, pushed it into their own penalty area and played a combination of goals. However, there were few such episodes. Most often, the Pitmen gave a lot of space between the lines, where the opponent’s vertical passes penetrated.

“We were very stretched in the first half. They wanted to push high, it didn’t work, because the team didn’t play compact enough, there was a very big distance between the midfield lines and the defense. Zarya sent his two attackers there and thus opened our defense: the ball passed very often both from serve and after midfielder passes.”, – Castro explained after the game.

Zarya is great in transition phases: counterattacks, counter pressures. Shakhtar is excellent in positional attack. In the reporting match there was a segment (from roughly 35 to 60 minutes), when Shakhtar overcame the opponent’s pressure and made Zarya defend positionally. Zarya’s Pressure Intensity Index (PPDA) started to drop from about 30 minutes. If at the beginning of the game Zorya allowed Shakhtar to make about five assists per possession, from the 30th minute this figure was reduced to 8.5.

In moments when Zorya fell back with a low block, Skripnik’s team couldn’t keep up with the Pitmen’s individual movements and actions. It was after such attacks that Shakhtar scored their first goal, which we have already remembered, and also created three dangerous moments at the end of the first 45 minutes:

– Minute 39: Alan Patrick gathered several players on himself, but managed to deliver a penetrating pass to Tyson at the back of the penalty area. The Brazilian hit the tip, but passed.

– 42 minutes: Moraes throws Patrick and he hits hard from the penalty line with his right foot, Shevchenko deflects the blow.

– 42 minutes: Patrick was brought back to shock position, the Brazilian shot with his left foot, but hit the post.

It is true that of these three moments, WyScout estimated only Tyson’s kick at 0.29 (that is, every third of those moments is a goal). Patrick picked up three times fewer punches from a distance. However, the Pitmen had no more such moments in this match. The miner gave up a murderous segment from minute 35 until the second goal scored. Then Kashtru’s team inertia attacked and repeatedly moved into the last third, forcing Zorya to defend positionally, but without chances.

Instead of a total. Zarya was lucky that Shakhtar did not score in their best time slot in this match. Skripnik’s team struggled when they had to defend positionally with a low block. Here the Shakhtar has no equal. Really no luck.

But. We again state that Miner has problems with build-up under pressure. Fortunately, the coaching staff understands this and is trying to help their players, but it is too early to talk about the positives.

Zarya was good at pushing for 70 minutes, but then she didn’t have enough strength. Well we noticed a quick transition from early to later phases with penetrating vertical gears. Zorya was not inferior to Shakhtar in the number of successful passes (!) In the last third, passes with a promotion, passes with a promotion, successful entries to the penalty area. She did not give in to the blows. WyScout believes that Skripnik’s team has outscored the Pitmen by xG: 2.34 versus 1.86. However, we take into account the goal from the penalty spot, which shot by 0.76. Therefore, here, crossing out the penalty, there is also equality in the created moments.