Serhiy Chuichenko: "After the defeat by Polesya and the accidental victory over Left Bank, I expected Shakhtar's failure with Ol

Ex-striker "Alexandria" Sergiy Chuichenko commented on the victory of his former team over Shakhtar Donetsk (4:3) in yesterday's match of the 4th round of the Ukrainian championship.

- To be honest, I expected the Pitmen to fail. They have been too unconvincing of late. Although, of course, I did not think that the plot of the clash would be so twisted. I don't even know if there have been any other cases when Shakhtar, winning 2-0, conceded four goals in a row.

- How can you explain that in August the Pitmen slowed down?

- Shakhtar's creativity disappeared somewhere, their game became predictable. This was evident in the lost game with Polesie and the fortuitous win over the elite debutant Left Bank. Perhaps, somewhere we overestimated our strength. And when the opponents started to resist stubbornly, they had problems finishing attacks.

- But the Pitmen scored three times in Oleksandriya.

- Yes, however, you must agree that the visitors rarely threatened the Citizens' possession. Shakhtar took the lead through Shabanov's own goal, while Pedrinho reduced the deficit to a minimum just seconds before the final whistle. "Oleksandriya should be praised for showing character, unlike their opponents. Well done.

- This is the third win in a row for Ruslan Rotan's wards. Will they lead for a long time?

- It is hard to say, but they made a strong bid for a successful performance, because they defeated the teams that will definitely be in the main group. Now we must try not to lose, as they say, their points. The townspeople, first of all, added confidence. This can be explained by the increased competition for a place in the starting lineup. This greatly stimulates each player to act from behind. They also made a good guess with the newcomers, in particular, Oleksandr Filippov scored a hat-trick.

- And what about Shakhtar?

- They have a serious showdown ahead. We can agree with coach Marino Pusic that they played unacceptably. Still, the Donetsk team has a quality selection of performers against the background of other Ukrainian teams, and they will make up for lost time. The winner of the gold medals will again be determined in the struggle between Shakhtar and Dynamo.

Andriy Pisarenko