Sergey Yashchenko: "If it weren't for luck, Shakhtar could have been losing 0:3 by the middle of the first half"

Former Donetsk Shakhtar footballer Sergey Yashchenko shared his impressions of the match of his former team against London Arsenal (0:1) in yesterday\'s match of the 3rd round of the group stage of the Champions League.

— The beginning of the match was disappointing because the miners played cautiously and made significant mistakes, — noted Yashchenko. − During this period of the game, Shakhtar could have conceded many goals. They could have already been losing 0:3 by the middle of the first half. Fortunately, luck was on our side, and Riznyk defended the goal very well.

— However, in general, it seemed that Pushich’s team played the most high-quality match in this Champions League so far…

— Yes, I agree. But this impression is exclusively due to Shakhtar’s defense, which managed to make minimal mistakes against such a serious opponent. However, the miners' attack was disappointing. Due to individual mistakes, they failed to create anything at all…

As for Arsenal, I saw everything I expected from them. The Gunners were stronger than the guests both as a team and individually.

— And if Shakhtar had not conceded in the 29th minute, could everything have ended in a goalless draw?

— I’m not sure. I think that if Shakhtar hadn’t conceded, Arsenal would have increased the tempo and would have pressed until the final whistle. It would have been very difficult for Shakhtar not to concede in that situation. However, it turned out differently. Arsenal significantly slowed down after the break, firstly, fearing counterattacks from the miners, and secondly, simply preserving the winning score and their strength for upcoming matches.

— What do you say about the goal conceded by Shakhtar?

— I will immediately note that Riznyk is not to blame for it. The ball came at high speed, and after ricocheting off a defender, it hit the post and then hit our goalkeeper. Everything happened quickly, and it was difficult to react. It was simply bad luck.

— Was there a penalty for the guests?

— In this episode, there can be no complaints against the referees. The ball simply hit the outstretched hand, and that’s it… It didn’t come from the foot and didn’t come from the body. A penalty — one hundred percent. Riznyk, of course, did well — he played well in saving the penalty and in other episodes, simply wonderfully. It seems that this saved penalty, unfortunately, only inspired Riznyk… The field players of Shakhtar were afraid of the opponent until the very end.

— Special attention is now focused on Sudakov’s game. How do you assess his performance in this match?

— He couldn’t show himself. He didn’t stand out in any way. Against weaker opponents in the UPL, Sudakov performs successfully, but against an EPL team — not so much… I do not rule out that it might be a matter of psychology. We will see what happens next. There will still be a chance for both Sudakov and Shakhtar to prove themselves. For now, it’s important that in London, in a match against a European top club, they didn’t concede many goals.

— But Shakhtar still can’t score in this Champions League…

— Shakhtar doesn’t have an attack at the Champions League level, and as far as I understand, there is currently no opportunity to strengthen this line. The current tournament achievement of the miners is, of course, not inspiring — only one point from three matches. But in the 4th round, we will expect more, because our champion will play against Young Boys. I really hope that in the match against the Swiss team, Shakhtar will not only open their scoring in the current Champions League but also achieve their first victory.

Oleg Semenchenko