Lucescu can find no fault with Shakhtar

FC Shakhtar Donetsk were the last UEFA Cup winners and they have began their bid to secure victory in the inaugural UEFA Europa League in stunning style.

Five-point lead
Their opening Group J encounters at Clube Brugge KV and against FK Partizan resulted in 4-1 triumphs and on Thursday night they defeated Toulouse FC 4-0 to open up a five-point lead in the section. Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu did not hold back in his praise for his side, who were 3-0 up before the break through Fernandinho's seventh-minute penalty and further goals from Luiz Adriano – who also struck in the second half – and Tomáš Hübschman.

'Beautiful match'
"It was a very beautiful match," Lucescu said. "I am very happy and completely satisfied with my players' performance. I want to emphasise again that Toulouse are a high-level team. They have many internationals in their squad. It wasn't easy to achieve victory. I made three substitutions after the 60th minute, because I wanted to give a rest to Tomáš Hübschman, Fernandinho and Willian. It's very tough for me to compliment any one individual. Every Shakhtar player did his best tonight."

New stadium
Shakhtar have now won all four games at their new 50,000-capacity Donbass Arena, scoring a total of 17 goals, and winger Darijo Srna said: "We should continue this way. All my team-mates were completely focused tonight and we also played very calmly. We haven't completed our task in the group stage, because our goal is to secure first place in this group."

Casanova confounded
Toulouse are now third in the group, five points behind Shakhtar – who they welcome on 5 November – and trailing Club Brugge KV on goal difference. Coach Alain Casanova opted to leave out two key players and explained: "I decided to rest André-Pierre Gignac and Moussa Sissoko, because they had played two matches every week for a long period. This was my decision. I couldn't recognise my team tonight. I have never seen Toulouse play like this. I don't understand what happened. The early goal completely ruined our game plan. Maybe it was the effect of the new Shakhtar stadium. Our opponents were faster and smarter. I think Shakhtar are a Champions League-level team".