The head coach of Donetsk "Shakhtar" Marino Pusych commented on his team’s victory over "Oleksandriia" (3:0) in yesterday’s match of the 19th round of the Ukrainian championship.
Marino Pusych“The opponents came here to play for a draw — this was evident right away. They had no intention of attacking, they aimed to press but not attack, they did not play openly. Therefore, it was very important for us not to play too openly to avoid counterattacks, which they were hoping for.
I think we did not create many chances, both teams tactically played against each other in the first half, it was a very difficult tactical confrontation, preventing each other from creating a large number of chances, neutralizing attacks, although I believe we had the better chances in the first half, but they were not enough. I agree, that was not enough. But it was very important to remain stable and not concede, because that's what they were hoping for, as they could then wait and counterattack again and again — it's always the same story. I won't allow this anymore.
So only one team really wanted to play and win — that’s us.
In the second half I made some changes, brought in other players — footballers who can better penetrate to the opponent's last line and somewhat change the game on the left and right flanks. And they did very well. In my opinion, we also controlled the second half, created many more chances. When the game is going that way, it is very important to maintain stability in defense, organization, and discipline, and we did that excellently today against a very difficult opponent.
This is really a good opponent, we all know that: it is not easy to confront them, but we worked fantastically this evening. And the guys who came on in the second half showed an example of what I expect from my players, — to change the course of the game when they come on the field, and they did that. So, compliments to all my players, of course, including those who came on in the second half, because it’s not easy to come on and influence the game. And I believe that all of them influenced the game.
Sometimes it’s about tactics — hindering each other in creating chances. I know this wasn't the best game, but it was a very tough and interesting game. Sometimes there is a difference between a beautiful and an interesting game: in my opinion, this match wasn’t very beautiful, but it was very interesting. Ultimately, I believe we deserved this victory because we created many more chances in the second half, had better opportunities and deserved to win,” — said Pusych.
