Shakhtar break duck in sweeping aside Malmö
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
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Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0 Malmö
Olexandr Gladkiy scored Shakhtar's first Group A goal, a strike added to by Darijo Srna's penalty and headers from Eduardo and Alex Teixeira.
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- Shakhtar Donetsk join Malmö on three points in Group A after a dominant display
- Olexandr Gladkiy scores Shakhtar's first European goal in 333 minutes
- Darijo Srna doubles the lead from the spot; substitute Eduardo makes it 3-0
- Alex Teixeira heads in the fourth before Malmö's Kári Árnason is sent off
- Srna and Olexandr Kucher, both booked, are ruled out of matchday four
- Next games: Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid, Malmö v Paris (25 November)
Previously point-less Shakhtar Donetsk scored their first goals in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage as they made light work of Malmö.
The portents for such a resounding Group A victory – sealed by goals from Olexandr Gladkiy, Darijo Srna, Eduardo and Alex Teixeira – were positive as Shakhtar flew out of the blocks, fashioning a chance inside two minutes.
Fred was the architect, clipping a ball over the Malmö defence that Bernard was alive to. Johan Wiland, racing off his line, blocked the Brazilian international's shot.
Malmö's plans were disrupted by a serious injury to Oscar Lewicki, who was driven off the pitch with his neck in a brace. Still, the deposed Swedish champions regrouped and threatened to silence the vocal crowd when Nikola Djurdjić pressed Anton Kanibolotskiy into service.
That was the limit of the Blues' menace, however, as Shakhtar continued to press, their intensity, pace and trickery too much for their guests. They deservedly took the lead after 29 minutes as Gladkiy atoned for an earlier miss.
On that occasion he turned wide the rebound after Wiland had parried a Srna volley from outside the box – moments later he followed up to break the Pitmen's scoring duck, Wiland having repelled his initial header from a Márcio Azevedo cross that stemmed from the visitors ceding possession midway inside their half.
Shakhtar did not let up after the interval, putting the game to bed with two goals in eight minutes before the hour mark. Srna got the second, driving a penalty down the middle after Alex Teixeira had bamboozled Kári Árnason into hauling him down.
Eduardo made the points safe, turning in Bernard's wayward volley following a partially cleared free-kick. Alex Teixeira rounded things off by heading in the fourth, Srna having got to the byline and teed up Taison, whose shot was pushed into the path of Shaktar's leading scorer. A sorry night for Malmö was compounded by the late dismissal of Árnason.
Reaction
Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach
I think Malmö should be glad to concede only four goals. We had more than 20 attempts and could have scored many more. We have shown that football based on combinations and skills – as opposed to Malmö's long balls – can be effective.
The only disappointment is that two important players, Srna and Kucher, received yellow cards and will miss the game against Madrid. I'm pleased our goalkeeper Anton Kanibolotskiy made his debut in the Champions League. He saved us in the first half and has deserved to play in this tournament.
Åge Hareide, Malmö coach
We had a similar plan [as for the home game] but we were not aggressive enough and gave Shakhtar too much space. Shakhtar raised the tempo and played much better than us. We couldn't get close enough to them so they kept the ball and made us commit mistakes. You always have to be at your top level in the Champions League. We can promise that we will try 100% in our matches against Madrid and Paris.