Shakhtar's trip to London for the Round of 32 Europa League match against Fulham turned out to be unpleasant.

On the eve of the match, a group wearing Shakhtar's striped jerseys was not allowed into London's coolest department store "Harrods," citing security reasons. Either the British are so intimidated by stories about "Donetsk people," or the group of Shakhtar players looked too much like dark-skinned teenagers...

The main troubles for Shakhtar awaited the next day. The holder of the last UEFA Cup lost to Fulham 1:2 in the first match of the Round of 32 Europa League.

The "Miners" had been preparing for this game in England since Monday, and everything looked quite serious. Even Rinat Akhmetov came to the team's training session, managing to criticize his main football enemy - Hryhoriy Surkis - and even talk about the fairness of the Ukrainian Presidential election results. But Akhmetov's verbal and visual support proved powerless.

And although Shakhtar prepared diligently for the duel with Fulham, the British had also studied the opponent's game well.

Roy Hodgson's team played their powerful and productive football, scoring twice from four chances. Already in the third minute, Gera scored, taking advantage of a great pass from Zamora, an equally unpredictable positional error by Kucher, and shooting between Pyatov's hands.

Shakhtar, who per Lucescu's plan played with a proven lineup and without newcomers, quickly recovered from the start and the English goalkeeper had to frequently get involved in the game.

In the 32nd minute, Shakhtar equalized. Once again Lucescu's Brazilian connection worked. Ilsinho delivered a pass into the path of Adriano, who entered the penalty area, put the goalkeeper on the ground, and shot into the empty net.

If in the first half Shakhtar was better, then the final 45 minutes did not go well for the visitors. Shakhtar became a victim of an old football habit - playing to protect the score.

The passivity in attack and in combination football by the "Miners" allowed Fulham to once again feel like masters of the field. Several times Hodgson's charges dangerously headed the ball toward Pyatov's goal.

In the 63rd minute, Zamora forced Pyatov to retrieve the ball from the net for the second time. The Fulham forward fired from 20 meters under the crossbar, scoring the last goal in this encounter.

Lucescu failed to turn the tide of the game in the time that remained, and newcomer Costa, who played the last 15 minutes, did not help either.

Fulham held on and preserved the precarious 2:1 score, which in Donetsk will give absolutely no advantage to the team from London.

Shakhtar's players did not look particularly upset after the game, understanding that they can score a goal in Donetsk, but not conceding is another question.

Fulham (England) - Shakhtar (Ukraine) - 2:1 (1:1)

Goals: 1:0 - Gera (3), 1:1 - Luis Adriano (32), 2:1 - Zamora (63).

Fulham: Schwarzer, Baird, Kelly, Hangeland, A. Hughes, Syme. Davies, Den. Murphy, Gera (Elm, 89), Etuhu, D. Duff, Zamora. 8 8Shakhtar: Pyatov, Srna, Rakytskyy, Kucher, Rat, Hubschman (Kravchenko, 79), Fernandinho, Ilsinho, Jadson (Costa, 75), Willian, Luis Adriano.

Yellow cards: Luis Adriano (21), Srna (45), Den. Murphy (53).