Sican’s goal brought Shakhtar a narrow victory over Barcelona

The Miners did a great job in the match against a serious opponent, getting a well-deserved three points.

On Tuesday, November 7, Shakhtar and Barcelona met in Hamburg as part of the fourth round of the Champions League group stage.

Despite the advantage in possession of the ball at the end of the first half, the Catalan team could not boast of truly dangerous moments.

But the “orange-and-blacks” not only created a threat near Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s goal, but also scored a goal: in the 40th minute, Giorgi Gocholeishivli crossed from the right side, and won Daniil Sikan in the challenge and scored a precise header.a far corner that the goalkeeper didn’t touch.

Another hour has begun! Go ahead, team!#ShakhtarBarcelona (1:0) #Shakhtar #UCL pic.twitter.com/8KDerzmRY2

— ⚒FC SHAKHTAR DONETSK (@FCShakhtar) November 7, 2023

After the break, the situation quite expectedly changed its vector. The Catalans began to attack more often, and soon Xavi Hernandez made four substitutions at the same time to add pressure to Shakhtar’s goal. But the Ukrainians didn’t forget to trouble Ter Stegen either.

Gocholeishvili could have scored a goal, but he shot straight at the goalkeeper from an acute angle. Then Sikan found himself in the same situation, repeating the “success” of his teammate.

But even before that, Daniil, with the “help” of Andreas Christensen, suffered a shoulder injury when the Dane tripped the forward and then fell on him. In the 62nd minute, Marino Pusic was forced to replace his player.

And ten minutes later, Pitmen captain Taras Stepanenko also left the field with a leg injury. But despite this, Shakhtar continued to play as usual. And Neverton even managed to score, but the goal was disallowed because the Brazilian was slightly offside.

Barcelona tried to make a final attack, but it did not create any insurmountable problems for the Ukrainian team, which won a deserved and important victory, the third in the history of confrontations with the Catalans .

Shakhtar now have six points, as does Porto, who will play in Antwerp. Barcelona continue to lead Group H with nine points.

Statistics of the match Shakhtar – Barcelona fourth round of the Champions League

Miner – Barcelona 1:0
Purpose: Sikan, 40.

Expected Goals (xG): 0.82 – 0.95
Ball possession: 36% – 64%
Beats: 9 – 12
Shots on target: 4 – 1
Fouls: 10 – 9

Miner: Riznyk – Gocholeishvili, Bondar, Rakitsky, Matvienko – Stepanenko (Stepanenko, 73), Zubkov, Kryskiv, Sudakov, Neverton (Swede, 90+7) – Sikan (Kelsey, 62).

Barcelona: ter Stegen – Cancelo, Araujo, Christensen, Alonso (Balde, 59) – Gundogan, Romeu (Pedri, 59), Gavi (Lopez, 81) – Rafinha (Yamal, 59), Lewandowski, Torres (Felix, 59).

Warnings: Neverton – Araujo.