The teams started quite dynamically. The excitement and desire of both teams to get a ticket to the finals of the national cup was immediately visible.
The first moment in the meeting came from Eginaldus. The Brazilian aimed at the far corner of the “sailors” goal, and if he had hit, it is unlikely that Varakuta would have pulled this shot. From the first minutes, Marino Pushych’s wards, as expected, took possession of the ball and clamped down on their opponent. A few shots, and “Shakhtar” got their way.
Sudakov spun around several opponents, broke into the Odessa penalty area and shot perfectly at Sikan. The forward of “miners” had no choice but to simply put his foot in – 1:0.
There was a feeling that the missed ball would complicate the task for Roman Hryhorchuk’s team as much as possible. Odesa residents will need to open up, which will create zones behind them for Shakhtar’s speedy wingers.
However, credit should be given to the guests. “Chornomorets” was able to establish parity on the scoreboard very quickly. Despite the numerical advantage, the people of Odessa managed to get the ball to the final addressee, and Stogrin had no chance to miss. The intrigue is alive!
Then the game returned to its original course. The Odesa team once again got stuck in their half, and the Donetsk team met high in pressing and acted as the number one. “Chornomorets” did not have any more good chances, but the Odessans held on. But Shakhtar was very close to taking the lead again at the end of the first 45 minutes. “Mariners” from conceding a goal after a header by Bondarenko was saved by the post.
However, Shakhtar scored their second goal in the first half. Hryhorchuk’s wards could not withstand the pressure. Saluk scored a penalty in his own goal, playing in the leg of Eginalda. The centerback understood everything and did not even argue. As a result, Bondarenko took the 11-meter shot. Varakuta guessed the direction of the ball’s flight, but did not reach it.
The teams barely had time to leave the locker room when Sudakov doubled his team’s lead. Pure individual skill. Giorgi turned on the Messi mode, dribbled the ball across the half-field and from outside the penalty area hit a billiard ball into the far lower corner of the goal. Undoubtedly, this is a contender for the goal of the entire campaign. Bravo!
It seemed that this was frankly all. Yes, there was still a good 40 minutes left to play. However, the “miners” outperformed their opponent in all game components and statistical parameters. A certain doom was felt in the actions and faces of the players of “Chronomorets”. The third missed ball should have agitated the “sailors”. There was nothing to lose.
Boychik had a good opportunity. Reznyk made a mistake on the way out, but the forward of the guests got confused in his own feet and released the ball beyond the front line. Roman Hryhorchuk’s wards did revive and for a short period began to act more actively in attack. In particular, the Odesa team tried to turn on high pressing as much as they could.
However, if it didn’t sound unfortunate for the general intrigue of the confrontation, “Shakhtar” was much closer to its next goal than “Chornomorets” to reduce the gap. But let’s be honest – the intrigue was killed.
The apotheosis of this semi-final was another individual performance by Sudakov. The 10th number of the hosts elegantly sent two defenders of “Chornomorets” for coffee on the fly and calmly passed Varakuta. Without a doubt, George is the MVP of this duel. The double and the assist speak for themselves.
The coach of the “sailors” frankly delayed the substitutions. Roman Yosypovych made the first rotations in the last 10 minutes, when in fact the game was closed… The substitution of four players had absolutely no effect on anything, and considering the amount of time, it could not have had an effect.
That’s how it ended – 4:1. Good old “miners”. An extremely confident victory in the class from the wards of the Dutch specialist of Bosnian origin. Well, we thank Roman Hryhorchuk’s team for the long journey to the cup, and for their character.
“Shakhtar” is the first finalist of the Cup of Ukraine for the 2023/24 season. In the decisive match, the Donetsk club will meet the winner of the “Polyssia” – “Vorskla” match.
The semi-finals of the Cup of Ukraine for the 2023/24 season
04/03/2024. Lviv, Arena Lviv
Shakhtar – Chornomorets 4:1
Naked: Sikan 12, Bondarenko 44 (penalty), Sudakov 52, 79 – Stogrin 18
“Miner”: Riznyk (c) — Azarov (Pedrinho 46), Matvienko (k), Bondar, Konoplia — Bondarenko — Kevin (Zubkov 67), Sudakov (Marlon 82), Kryskiv, Eginaldu (Stepanenko 67) — Sikan (Traore 67).
Spares: Rudko, Gocholeishvili, Pedrinho, Miroshi, Stepanenko, Zubkov, Nazarina, Marlon, Traore.
Head coach: Marino Pushych.
“Chornomorets”: Varakuta — Ermakov, Guchek (Ogirya 85), Saluk, Putria (k) — Vasiliev — Stogrin, Bragaru (Shapoval 85), Avaghimyan, Badibanga (Alvarenga 85) — Boychuk (Iede 85).
Spares: Bilyk, Vichyny, Sytnikov, Prysiazhnyuk, Iede, Ogirya, Ze Gomez, Shapoval, Alvarenga.
Head coach: Roman Hryhorchuk.
Warning: Bragaru 16.
Referee: Kopievsky Viktor
