Former Shakhtar defender Artem Fedetskyi shared his thoughts on the Shakhtar vs Dynamo match (3:1) in the framework of the 11th round of the Ukrainian championship.
— What are your overall impressions of the Classic? Does the score reflect the game?
— In my opinion, the Classic was a success. Emotions, goals — everything was on the football field, which is something Ukrainian football is currently missing. It worked out in the Cup and the championship — it’s always a separate story when Dynamo and Shakhtar play, regardless of the situation in the league standings.
Globally, the score does reflect the game. Shakhtar won, they dominated particularly in the first half. But there are nuances regarding the score of 2:1 with the supposed penalty incident when Konoplia tackled Shola.
— In your opinion, should it have been awarded?
— We now have VAR, and it assists the referees. On one hand, Konoplia seemingly played the body. But when we look from the goal’s side — there was a foul, as Shola was first on the ball, received it on the move, it was a good pass, and Konoplia crashed into him. In my opinion, that was a penalty. And a penalty at 2:1, whether they scored, didn’t score... If they had scored — it would have been a very different game, serious action would have begun. The third goal conceded — naturally, Dynamo went on attack and conceded. That’s just how it is.
But overall — a fantastic match, emotions, the spectators enjoyed it, the fans who were at the stadium. Everything was great.
Popov’s statements? No matter how you look at it, one should be more careful with such statements. I understand, Popov was emotional after the match. But if Arda Turan took it as motivation before the game as a quote from Popov and passed it on to the Brazilians — especially since they took photos in the locker room after the match. I think they answered Popov’s question.
Of course, it touched the pride of each of Shakhtar’s Brazilians, as we saw how they played. These Brazilians are mood players, if they want — they play and show great football, like yesterday, if they don’t — you know, mood players. But they showed they are good young footballers, capable of playing, and we know there’s instability at a young age, which comes with time. With the right attitude, they will become good players of the level during Lucescu’s time at Shakhtar.
— There was also an incident at the end of the match when Yarmolenko grabbed Bondar by the throat. Some fans believe the referee unfairly didn’t react in any way, Shakhtar fans talk about a red card. What is your opinion?
— I’ll say this: it’s good that our referee didn’t have any tantrums. Because earlier, with every clash, red cards would immediately fly, and the main character was the referee.
I’ve known Andriy for quite a while, he’s a normal, adequate person. Perhaps it was just a natural instinct of self-defense since he’s had injuries lately, hence his reaction. Andriy is an absolutely non-confrontational person, and regarding the red card — this shouldn’t be turned into a circus. Yes, the referee might have given a warning, even a verbal one. Although there wasn’t anything criminal: they grabbed each other, talked it out.
Valeriy made a hard tackle, Yarmolenko reacted — Valeriy didn’t support this 'dialogue', and it ended there. Therefore, such moments should not get much attention. Yes, there should be order on the field, but the referee should not be the main character, throwing yellow and red cards from the first minute and breaking the game. But if there’s supposed to be a red card for a violation — then it should be.
There were incidents yesterday, of course, and the Brazilians jumped very hard on Popov. With today’s interpretation of violations, referees have plenty of options. It was a tough job for the referee, but if he’s officiating such a match, he needs to handle these moments.