Former Ukraine national team forward and author of its first goal Ivan Hetsko shared his impressions of the match of the 1st round of the main stage of the Conference League between Scottish “Aberdeen” and Donetsk “Shakhtar” (2:3).
Ivan Hetsko"Honestly, “Shakhtar” surprised me a lot, in a bad way. Because the first goal they conceded immediately made its “statement” in the game. Elias had no right to jump like that and play with his hand in the penalty area. It’s a circus altogether. For me, this was an absolutely incomprehensible situation.
But then the “miners” found the strength to turn the course of the match around. At the same time, they were playing against a team that occupies the last place in the Scottish championship, which is certainly not the strongest at the moment. I expected much more from “Shakhtar” than what they showed.
Yes, in the first half the “miners” equalized, and in the second half, they scored twice quickly — it became 3:1. But in the end, they made us nervous. They allowed the striker to take a shot from the turn: he received the ball, turned around, and no one blocked him, no one put their body in front, no one defended. The goalkeeper played well, but if he had tipped the ball over the crossbar — it would have been better. At least he reacted at all.
And then they missed a moment, just like the “Dynamo” players against “Crystal Palace.” “Aberdeen” played for the rebound, while “Shakhtar” players just stood and watched the football. And then the nervous game began. Everything was not as confident as one would like, but we held on, thank God. Although I was not very satisfied with this game of “Shakhtar.”
Why did the “miners” sit back near their goal after the third goal? Honestly, that surprised me too. I thought they would, on the contrary, take control of the ball. “Aberdeen” had nothing to lose — they rushed forward. I expected the miners to catch them on a counterattack and increase their lead. But that didn’t happen. Some of them “drifted,” perhaps physically they were a bit worn out,” said Hetsko.
