Shelaev: From the outside it seemed that neither Zarya nor Breidablik had a midfield, they played “5 on 5”

Lugansk Zarya won a match in the group stage of the Conference League for the first time in two years. In Icelandic Reykjavik, Valery Kriventsov’s team minimally defeated Breidablik – 1:0. We talked about the match of the Ukrainian team on a distant island with a native of Lugansk, ex-football player of the national team of Ukraine Oleg Shelaev.

— Recently, it’s not often that our teams please us with victories in group tournaments of European Cups. But this week was positive – Zarya beat the Icelandic champion Breidablik away. What impression did you have after finishing this meeting?

— After the final whistle, I can say that I had good emotions from watching this fight. The most important thing is that the match was interesting to watch. Previously, the famous coach Eduard Malofeev spoke about sincere football, which one should strive to play. So in Reykjavik I saw something similar. As for the opponent, we saw that in the European Cup qualifications and in the first round game in Tel Aviv, Breidablik concedes quite a lot of goals. The Icelanders have such a reckless game. We often saw 3v3 or 3v2 play in this match. It’s always nice to watch attacking football, so Zarya got involved in this game.

— As it turned out, in this match everything was decided by Igor Gorbach’s goal in the 35th minute after a corner kick…

— Yes, our guys did everything in this episode masterfully. Antyukh sent it to the far post, and already there Gorbach hung in the opponent’s air. Igor Gorbach is only 19 years old, he is a graduate of Dynamo Kyiv. Let’s not immediately evaluate the play of this young football player; we’ll give him time. Only after consistently good performances, over 5-10 matches, will it be possible to draw certain conclusions. In Reykjavik, at will, he was noticeable. I saw that when Gorbach has space, he acts quite well.

— Due to what qualities did Gorbach score this goal?

— The home team’s right-back played very poorly throughout the match, he didn’t keep the offside line and made positional mistakes. It was he who was outwitted by Gorbach. At a corner kick in the 35th minute, Gorbach was able to jump out in time and direct the ball into the corner of the goal. Igor already has the skill.

In general, before the 80th minute of the meeting, the Lugansk team created a lot of dangerous moments at the enemy’s goal. The statistics show this. Zarya made 16 shots on goal, disturbing Einarsson 5 times. Often our team’s players ran 50 meters before striking the opponent’s goal. From the outside it seemed that neither Zarya nor the hosts had a midfield. We played “5 on 5”. I’m exaggerating, of course, but this was often exactly the case. The Zarya players failed to manage the ball correctly in the attacking phase.

– But at the beginning of the second half, Guerrero had three clear chances to score goals into the opponent’s goal and calm the game. Why didn’t he use them?

— Guerrero is a good striker, forward of the Panama national team. He played selfishly in this match. It was very dangerous near the hosts’ goal, but Guerrero was unable to make the most of these situations. When completing attacks, the Panamanian forward either took one extra touch or did not execute the shots accurately. But he is the clear leader of the team in attack.

— For the first time in the current European Cup season, Zarya kept a clean sheet. Is this the merit of Jordan and Turbaevsky?

— Brazilian central defender Jordan is a textured guy. He is 24 years old and immediately became a pillar of the defense of Luhansk Zarya. He forces the fight on his opponent and almost always wins it. Tackles and interceptions are his bread and butter. He performed well with the Icelanders, but that’s how it should be. Plus, let’s add that the Breidablik players struck the first shot on target for our team only in the 58th minute of the match. This is a good indicator for Zarya.

As for Nikita Turbaevsky, the Zarya goalkeeper began to write his history in the team with a match in Prague against Slavia. There he simply shone. Gradually, he gained the trust of the coaching staff and is now the team’s main goalkeeper. Nikita plays great on the goal line, he often helps out, and this is the main thing for a goalkeeper.

— For Valery Kriventsov, this is his first victory as the team’s head coach in a month. Will it be easier for him to work after this success?

– Without a doubt. In the Ukrainian Championship, Zorya under his leadership lost to Metalist 1925 and Dnepr-1, and then tied with Chernomorets. We also remember the important draw with the Belgian Ghent. And now the victory in Iceland.

After Patrick van Leeuwen left, Nenad Lalatovic worked in the team, now Valery Sergeevich works. We remember the team’s training camp in Poland, where it failed to play against strong opponents in test matches, personnel changes, and the departure of many leaders. Now the Zarya players need to understand the requirements of the coaching staff and adhere to the principles of the game that Valery Kriventsov preaches. And if in defense, as we see, the game of the Lugansk team is more or less structured, then in attack we need to score more. The attacking potential is quite good, let’s remember Antyukha here.

— On October 26, in the next Conference League match, Zorya will play in Tel Aviv with Maccabi. What can Lugansk residents count on in a confrontation with a serious opponent?

— Remembering Zarya’s current European Cup journey, I can note that only Slavia Prague was clearly stronger than the Lugansk team. Zarya’s current rivals are all about the same level. Perhaps only the Belgian Ghent is a little more powerful. And so everyone is on an equal footing. Who will be stronger in Israel? I can’t answer this question yet.

— Zarya has already earned almost 4 million euros playing in the Conference League group. This is practically the club’s annual budget. The victory in Reykjavik alone brought Kriventsov’s team 500 thousand euros…

— For the owner of the club this is very important, especially during the war. And the players understand that they can be calm about the financial component of the club. It remains to win in the near future. And this is a good example for other Ukrainian teams.

— This week has given Ukrainian fans a little optimism. Can both Shakhtar and Zarya expect to qualify from the group?

— As a result, everything turned out great. The miners achieved a strong-willed victory, and Zarya was also pleased. Now everything is in the hands and feet of our players. Our teams have a chance to successfully continue their fight in the group tournament.