Donetsk "Shakhtar" secured its place in the next round of the Europa League, though not without problems. After three thrashings at the start of the group stage, many expected a fairly easy victory in the south of France. However, the "miners" came out for the match completely relaxed, clearly overestimating their own strength or underestimating the opponent's.
"Toulouse", which played with a half-reserve squad due to prioritizing the national championship over European competitions, was able to hold its own on equal terms, and in some aspects even outplay the vice-champions of Ukraine. The victory was effectively secured by the superior individual skill of the Donetsk side.
The French withstood the first 5 minutes of the "miners'" initial onslaught and immediately nearly scored. After a gross mistake by Srna in his own half, Pankot went one-on-one with Pyatov, but shot past the post. This episode did not unsettle "Shakhtar" at all. Just four minutes later, Sirieix shot from a tight angle — the ball went slightly over the goal.
Only in the 13th minute did Hubschman take the first shot toward (but not on target of) Pele's goal. It's hard to believe, but until the 30th minute there was practically only one team on the field, and it was not the Donetsk club. Only in the 33rd minute did "Shakhtar", through the efforts of Srna, who delivered a cross into the center of the penalty area, and thanks to a defender's mistake, manage to create a goalscoring opportunity. Jadson took the final shot — Pele managed to pull the ball out of the bottom corner.
A minute later, Rat could have been sent off for denying Machado a one-on-one opportunity. But Spanish referee César Muñiz Fernández limited himself to a yellow card.
After that, the game opened up with end-to-end play. In the 35th minute, Fernandinho broke through on the right edge of the penalty area and crossed to Adriano, who struck with his heel and missed the goal. "Toulouse" responded with a sharp counterattack in which Pankot once again nearly broke through on the left flank.
A couple of minutes later, the central defender of the Ukrainian national team, Oleksandr Kucher (and soon-very soon there are matches against the Greeks), began his "star" extravaganza in this match. Sashko wanted to head the ball back to Pyatov, but instead gave a perfect pass to Pankot. The latter once again failed to convert. At that same moment, for some reason Rakytskyy fell, though he also should have played the episode to the end.
In the final minutes of the nearly 49-minute half, the "miners" could have scored twice. First, Willian played a diagonal to the right flank to Srna, Dario delivered into the center of the penalty area to the unmarked Jadson. The Brazilian failed to hit the target. Then Adriano continued to squander chances. Jadson's compatriot received the ball at the corner of the six-yard box after a throw-in, but hit the post!
After the break, "Shakhtar" came out clearly "charged up". Already in the 47th minute, Adriano missed an empty goal from a few meters after a cross from the left by Willian. And two minutes later the Brazilian did manage to open the scoring — Hubschman went down the right flank, passed to Jadson, who lobbed it over to Adriano. He received it, turned, and calmly beat Pele.
"Shakhtar" achieved a minimal advantage and for ten minutes surrendered the initiative to the hosts. However, Casanova's charges could not create anything substantial.
The next surge of activity from both teams came closer to the 60th minute. In the 57th minute, M'Bengue cleared the ball from under the feet of the slightly relaxed Adriano and Jadson at the last moment, who could have gone into the challenge against the defender more aggressively.
A minute later, Srna struck powerfully from outside the penalty area — the ball went over the crossbar. "Toulouse" responded with a shot from Machado — Pyatov smothered the ball on the second attempt. Then the "miners'" defenders continued to surprise. Razvan Rat disappeared to an unknown location during a positional attack by "Toulouse", and it was precisely from his zone that Luan shot unimpeded — over the goal. Next, Ebonde wanted to test Pyatov's reflexes, but his powerful shot from the left went over the crossbar.
The Donetsk side responded with a goal in the very next attack. Willian beat his opponent on the right flank and passed to the unmarked Gai, who feinted past the goalkeeper and shot into the near corner.
That could have been the end of it, since one of the teams no longer aspired to more and the other could not do more. Could not, if not for the miracles of "Shakhtar's" defense.
In the 70th minute, Kucher gave a wonder-pass to the same hapless Pankot. In this one-on-one with the keeper, Andriy Pyatov saved the Donetsk side at the cost of an injured elbow. Nine minutes later, he also pulled off a save from Luan's shot, who was once again left unmarked by the defenders.
The match ended with a chance for Willian in the 90th minute. The Brazilian, entirely in Pankot's style, failed to convert a one-on-one.
Toulouse - Shakhtar - 0:2 (0:0)
Goals: 0:1 - Adriano (50), 0:2 - Gai (64)
Toulouse: Pele, Ebonde, Nunk eu, Congre, M'Bengue, Berson (Sissoko, 84), Sirieix, Didot, Luan, Paulo Machado (Braaten, 66), Pankot.
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Srna (Kobin, 74), Rakytskyy, Kucher, Rat, Fernandinho, Hubschman, Gai, Willian, Jadson (Lewandowski, 79), Luis Adriano (Gladkyy, 84).
Yellow cards: Rat (34), Sirieix (45), M'Bengue (48), Berson (72).