Tuesday 06 October 2015


Shakhtar Donetsk v Manchester United: live

Follow minute-by-minute commentary of the Uefa Champions League Group A game between Shakhtar Donetsk and Manchester United at the Donbass Arena on Wednesday Oct 2, 2013, kick-off 19.45 (BST).

Danny Wellbeck - Shakhtar Donetsk v Manchester United: live
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Danny Wellbeck (third left) is congratulted by his Manchester United team-mates after scoring in Ukraine Photo: AFP
David Moyes - Shakhtar Donetsk v Manchester United: live
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In the spotlight: David Moyes, the Manchester United manager, will be hoping his side gets back to winning ways in the Champions League Photo: AFP

Lets pretend David Moyes is no more. Manchester United have three options to appoint in his place: Paolo Di Canio, Tony Adams or Kenny Dalglish? Who should they choose and why? Email with your answer and reason why.


Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 Manchester United

Full time That's a good point in the end for David Moyes' and his Manchester United side. Losing Rooney to injury before the match, United were without one of their main attacking players but took the lead through Welbeck and were forced to dig deep with chances at a premium. In fact there were just three shots on target in the entire match. Shakhtar deserved their point and maintain their record of never losing to an English side at home in the Champions League. It wasn't a classic by any means but I suspect both managers will just be relieved not to have lost. Below is a shot of how Group A looks with Manchester United remaining top after Bayer Leverkusen beat Real Sociedad 2-1 tonight. Next up for Moyes and co. is managerless Sunderland on Saturday. Thank you for joining me. Cheerio.

90 min+1 Two minutes of added time to be played and it looks as though the scoreline may remain as is unless Shakhtar can lump a final long-ball forward.

90 min Do United have a late killer blow in them? Van Persie manages to win the corner and he will take it himself. No Pyatov punches clear.

89 min Shakhtar are about to throw another striker into the mix in the form of Argentinian Facundo Ferreyra. And Bernard is also coming on. Time to get men behind the ball for United but still the hosts try to thread the ball through. Eventually they go long but Evra heads clear.

87 min Consecutive corners for the home side as they pile the pressure on United. The ball drops inside the middle of the penalty area but Smalling just about manages to hack it away. This is a big test of Manchester United's resolve.

85 min Negredo has pulled one back for Manchester City, who are now 3-1 down against Bayern Munich. Brazilian Ilsinho is on for Fernando. Costa tries to work his magic again, popping up on the right this time. He's full of tricks is the winger but is fairly easy to defend against because he is always looking to get the ball onto his left foot. Shakhtar retain possession well though and Teixeira's shot deflects goalwards off Smalling, forcing De Gea into a late save.

82 min Welbeck may not have had much to work with in front of goal tonight but he keeps showing his dedication to the cause with a number of lung-busting runs to track back. A Mexican wave is making its way around the stadium as the atmosphere reaches new heights. Can United hold out?

79 min Boy is it noisy in Donetsk. The crowd are chanting at the top of their voice as they sense a late victory. Forward come the home side again but Welbeck races back to fulfil his defensive duties. I suspect this may be one-way traffic now.

Goal GOAL! Taison Why didn't I just say something like that earlier if it was that easy to jinx it?? Rakitskiy is the key here, playing a cute one-two as he surges powerfully into the box. The Shakhtar centre-back's shot is blocked by Vidic, but the ball bounces straight out to Taison who thumps it high into the roof of De Gea's net.

75 min There have only been nine shots during this match, with just two of them finding the target.

74 min Different class from Carrick who, in the words of Alan Smith, used all his experience. Chaos was reigning around him and the play had become a bit messy outside the Manchester United box, but the England midfielder drew a foul and relieved the pressure in perfect fashion.

Spot the comedy glasses:

71 min So close to a second for United! Chances have been a rarity for the visitors but Van Persie almost adds to the tally. The Dutchman touches the ball neatly off to Rafael down the right who cuts inside to find Van Persie again. His shot may just have been creeping in the bottom corner only for Rakitskiy to keep it out.

68 min Srna appears to be in agony after an innocuous coming together with Welbeck. Then again, Neymar appeared to be in agony after he was barely touched against Celtic last night so I'm not sure I quite believe the Shakhtar skipper here. And indeed after much writhing on the ground, he is up and running a few seconds later.

66 min Off goes Fellaini and on comes Giggs.

65 min That is mightily cycnical from Vidic. Costa just wriggles away from the United captain outside the United penalty area and Vidic hauls him to the ground. The commentator says Vidic is unlucky. I'm not sure what is unlucky about grabbing someone from behind and tugging them down. Srna will strike the ball from a very dangerous position but hits it straight into the wall.

62 min Make that 3-0 to Bayern. Wow. Back to Donetsk and United are knocking the ball around the edge of the Shakhtar penalty area but they can't break through. Ryan Giggs is in fact about to come on. Contrary to the tweet at the start of this blog, Giggs will not become the leading appearance maker in Champions League football because the powers that be do not count qualifiers. Fellaini is the first man to go in the book for a tackle made by Valencia. It was a case of mistaken identity for the big Belgian. I suppose the referee didn't see the giveaway that is Fellaini's MASSIVE HAIR.

59 min Oh it's 2-0 to Bayern against Manchester City thanks to a Muller goal.

58 min I do love it when a goalkeeper is replaced during a match and I can tell you that Lindegaard is warming up with De Gea seemingly taking a knock when diving out a few minutes ago. I think the Spaniard has just given the signal that he will carry on though. Shakhtar are dominating all over the pitch since the interval and breaking forward with so many numbers.

55 min Last ditch from United as Adriano attempts weave his way through the defence in the penalty area. The ball gets slightly stuck under his feet though and Vidic does well to stand strong and dispossess him.

E-mailShane O'Leary says he likes my style. Well I prefer his:

I like your style, the tragedy of the Moyes demise followed by the comedy of the appointment. Okay, lets play...

Di Canio? No, no, no good. Man Utd have just emerged from that abusive relationship thing.

Daglish? No, no and no friggin' way, a man very much in touch with his inner miserable bugger and less fun than Mcfly reading to children.

Adams? Yessir, he da man. Some people talk about a car crash in waiting, but Tony has surely had all of his and what with being tall, shouty and confused he is at least taller than Moyes, eh?

53 min United are up against it now. They are struggling to retain possession and full-back Shevchuk bombs down the left before pinging a low cross across the six-yard box. De Gea is brave though and dives out to expertly hold onto the ball. That was scintillating from the Shakhtar defender.

51 min I remember him, it's former Arsenal man Eduardo warming up. Meanwhile Shakhtar have a free-kick a full 35-40 yards out and centre-back Rakitskiy decides to have a dig in the Alex, Kaboul, Mihajlovic mould. He strikes it fairly sweetly but the ball flies wide of De Gea's left-hand post. That would have to have been the greatest strike in history to go in.

48 min Football is back. I'm afraid I can't confirm what the players consumed during their break. I suspect it was an energy drink or two. I, on the other hand, have got myself a green tea and a two-finger Kit Kat. Enough of the nonsense though, that is some lovely play from Shakhtar as Adriano produces a lovely pull-back flick thing (it's another bit of Brazilian flair but I'll stop counting them now) and Costa's shot is halted by Vidic. More of that could be very damaging.

20.38 E-mailLet's catch up with some emails. Dave responds to the question above with this gag:

How about all three. after all I've always wanted to live in a Marks brothers film. Why I ougta! nuk nuk nuk!

Enock Mapuranga says:

It would be Di Canio merely because he has passion and he's a free spirit. That's all that is lacking at the moment

While Africa Moyo adds:

None of the three guys has capacity to manage Utd. They are more of comedians than soccer coaches, di Canio in particular. Moyes is slowly but surely becoming a comedian too

I do love every email I receive but I urge someone to explain why this match kicked off at 7.45pm whereas matches in Moscow start at 5pm. Scroll down to my post at 19.15, have read and then please, please someone enlighten me.

Half time Guess what. There was no injury time. Not even one minute. That pleases me. David Moyes will undoubtedly be the happier of the two sides so far but Shakhtar are by no means out of this game. They have looked the more dangerous side since conceding and United's defence is having to work extremely hard to prevent Shakhtar's Brazilian contingent working some magic around the edge of the penalty area. One thing Shakhtar manager Mircea Lucescu will no doubt want to see more of in the second half (other than goals, duh) are shots. David De Gea has been very quiet in the opening 45 minutes. How long until Dwight Yorke says "stand up and be counted" again? I'm not going to listen.

44 min Nearly time for a cup of tea and slice of cake, or whatever the players have during their 15-minute break. This match is teetering on a knife edge. Costa charges off again and raises the Brazilian flair count to 2 with a no-look pass.

41 min Shakhtar have enjoyed 52% possession thus far but have only managed to get three shots away. Costa looks to be the most threatening of their players although United's defenders are standing strong. So strong you can count them. Dwight Yorke will be happy.

Here is Welbeck scoring the opener:

38 min Skinned! Van Persie is different class when given a bit of time. The United striker picks the ball up outside the Shakhtar penalty area, leaves the defender for dead and sends an effort towards goal which deflects away for a corner. Moyes' side need to get their main man more involved.

35 min Naughty from Srna who is extremely fortunate not to receive the first yellow card of the match. The Shakhtar captain flicks a boot out at Welbeck with no intention of playing the ball and brings down the England forward. He's been involved a lot so far has Srna. Apparently his nickname is RoboCop. That isn't a gag. It's true.

32 min I don't want to take attention away from this match but Manchester City are being taught a lesson in how to play football by Bayern Munich at the Etihad. One-way traffic doesn't do it justice. I'm not sure City have even had 10% possession. Time for another Srna free-kick near the halfway line.... sensible short pass.

30 min Great work from Costa who has pace and tricks galore. Desperate to keep the Brazilian off his left foot, Evra allows Costa to thread in Srna who - inspired by his pathetic free-kick a few moments ago - fluffs an even worse shot miles over the bar. Someone tell the Shakhtar captain to stick to defending.

27 min Free kick for Shakhtar on the right side about 25 yards out. This will be whipped in by Srna. Oh but he got that wrong. The ball simply rolled along the ground and was cut out almost instantly for a corner. The home side's delivery from set pieces has been woeful so far.

25 min Everything is going well for United at the moment. A lead away from home against tricky opponents in Ukraine and their big rivals at home Manchester City are being utterly dominated in every department by Bayern Munich.

23 min It's all suddenly rather manic in Donetsk. Fellaini's headed clearance from a corner finds its way to Srna whose long-range strike is halted on its path towards goal. When Shakhtar attack the crowd go wild. All very enjoyable.

21 min Brazilian flair counter: 1. Adriano with the unnecessary backheel.

Goal GOAL! Danny Welbeck It's simple really. Fellaini picks up the ball on the right flank, turns his man and pops the ball inside. No defender can clear it and Welbeck, who has hardly had a touch in the opening 18 minutes, pokes it at full stretch past Pyatov in the Shakhtar goal.

17 min Fresh from not giving a penalty away, Cleverley decides not to deliver a decent cross and instead kicks the ball straight out of play.

15 min Wowzer this has turned quickly. Douglas Costa hares down the left flank and causes Rafael plenty of trouble before Adriano whips a very dangerous ball straight across the six yard box. Luckily for United there is no one to tap it in. And is this a HUGE let off? Oh it is. Cleverley dives in on Teixeira in the United penalty area, connects with the Brazilian's foot and misses the ball but the referee waves away the penalty claims. It wasn't a big connection but that probably should have been a spotkick.

12 min The first signs of noise in Donetsk as Shakhtar find themselves in the final third for the first time but Fernandinho cannot get a shot away. They look to be able to break quickly do the Ukrainians (and Brazilians).

This man is cold because he isn't doing football.

9 min First chance of the match claxon alert! Cleverley scoops a lovely ball over the defence, who think Van Persie is offside. He isn't though and is able to turn and attempt to bend it into the top corner. He doesn't find the top corner though and the ball sails over the bar.

7 min While nothing happens over in Ukraine, I can tell you that Bayern Munich have scored against Manchester City back in England, Ribery with the goal. United are enjoying the bulk of possession without finding a route through to Van Persie.

5 min Fellaini, eager to "stand up and be counted", squashes his opposite number and concedes a free-kick on the halfway line.

3 min Nowt much happening in the early stages as both sides feel each other out. I do hope United show some ambition tonight. They've got players who can provide a spark on the bench. But not too many on the pitch.

1 min Off we go and United have plumped for a 4-3-3 formation with Welbeck and Valencia either side of Van Persie up top. De Gea has his first touch with a Shakhtar hoof long-ball rolling its way through to the keeper.

19.43 Here come the teams, there is the music, now it's the handshakes and we are ready.

19.41 Mark Ogden is our man in Donetsk and it sounds like he's proper largin' it

19.36 Four minutes into hearing from Dwight Yorke and he has just been asked the question: "who needs to stand up and be counted Dwight?"

19.34 Two minutes into hearing from Dwight Yorke and he has already said: "stand up and be counted". Keep them coming Dwight.

19.30 Now this interesting. It seems the initial news about Rooney was incorrect and the England striker in fact has a shin injury that he picked up in training. HOWEVER, Moyes says he wasn't planning on starting him anyway. I wonder if there is more to this story?

E-mail Meanwhile I've had this from Martin Ives:

I'm rather stumped by the line up from Mr Moyes. With Rooney out it would be a great opportunity to play Kagawa in his native "Number 10" role, so its disappointing to see him on the bench. I think Valencia's lacklustre displays, and Wellbecks disappointing goal/assist ratio have earnt them places on the bench, not the starting 11. Looks like it'll be a damp squib tonight. Shame

19.15 E-mailK Lohse has been in touch regarding the question above. I think Mr Lohse is being slightly more serious than the question warrants:

None of the above would even register on the candidates list at Utd. If those are the options, it would be better to promote the boot-boy. Just remember that SAF's first season was one to forget. Moyes has got an enormous re-building job to do and True Mancs realise that.

I have another question for you: Why is this match being played at 7.45pm? I shall explain myself. This match, which will begin at the normal time Champions League kick-off time, is being played in Donetsk, whereas Moscow's home game against Viktoria Plzen began at 5pm. Let us compare the two cities.

Latitude: Donetsk 37.8 degrees east. Moscow 37.6 degrees east.
Time: Donetsk GMT + 3hours. Moscow GMT + 4 hours.
Temperature: Donetsk 5 degrees. Moscow 3 degrees.

So can someone please inform me why there is a gap of two hours and 45 minutes between kick-off times in Russia and Ukraine despite the two cities have almost identical characteristics. And don't tell me it's because of TV, because this isn't the Europa League we're talking about. There must be a reason. There must.

19.04 I can bring you the results of the Shakhtar Brazil sweepstake: We have five starters in Fernando, Taison, Teixeira, Douglas, Adriano and two on the bench with Bernard and Ilsino. I was one short. Can I count Eduardo? I guess not.

Undoubtedly the big news for Manchester United is the absence of Rooney. He's been in very good form recently so will be a big loss. Summer signing Fellaini is given a starting role while 39-year-old Ryan Giggs is on the bench. Check out this stat. Mightily impressive.

Let's remind ourselves of how we looked back in the day with big hair and an even bigger training top.

18.52 I have some teams for you and the big news is that Wayne Rooney is not in the squad because he is feeling poorly.

Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakitsky, Shevchuk, Hubschmann, Fernando, Taison, Teixeira, Douglas, Adriano. Subs: Kanibolotskiy, Krivtsov, Stepanenko, Bernard, Ilsino, Eduardo, Ferreyra.

Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Fellaini, Cleverley, Valencia, Van Persie, Welbeck. Subs: Lindegaard, Jones, Giggs, Nani, Young, Kagawa, Hernandez.

18.40 So what do we know about Shakhtar Donetsk? Winners of the last four Ukrainian Premier League titles, Shakhtar made their first impact on the European stage when winning the last ever edition of the Uefa Cup in 2009. They then sprang something of a surprise beating Chelsea 2-1 at home in last season's Champions League group stage, ensuring they qualified for the last-16, where they lost to eventual runners up Borussia Dortmund.

However - and this is a big however - they aren't the team they were. The team of 2012-13 was built around the attacking trio of Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Brazilians Willian and Fernandinho. Alas all three of them are no longer at the club, with Shakhtar generating a whopping great £90million in transfer fees. So with those three gone, what can United expect to face? Brazilians.

Shakhtar have no fewer than 10 Samba Boys in their squad and that doesn't include Brazilian-cum-Croatian, former Arsenal man Eduardo. The Ukrainians spent £35m on two more 20-year-old Brazilians in the summer in the form of winger Bernard and playmaker Fred, but manager Mircea Lucescu has resisted the temptation to throw them in at the deep end and has thus far been easing them into the first team. As such, we could see both, either or none of the big-money duo, while fellow Brazilian summer signings Lucas Fernando and Wellington Nem have also been used sparingly. But there are plenty more to fill the South American quota.

Brazilian Luiz Adriano will almost certainly start upfront, with Brazilian Alex Teixeira operating behind him. Brazilian Taison and Brazilian Douglas Costa are then the most likely candidates to play out wide. So get your Brazil sweepstake kit out. I'm going to guess we'll see five of them in the starting line-up with three more on the bench. Expect the changing room to look like this:

18.30 "When I grow up I want to manage the best football team in the world," thinks David. It's early 2013 and he is getting itchy feet. In all honesty he has had itchy feet for a while. The kids have sprung the nest, home life is as good as ever but professionally there is something lacking. Finishing 6th, 5th, 5th, 8th, 7th, 7th and 6th in the Barclays (forget the sponsor at your peril) Premier League is all well and good for many people, but not for David. He wants more. Admittedly he could have shown the tiniest bit of ambition and decided to prove himself overseas. Maybe a two-year spell in a cultural hotspot such as Amsterdam or Berlin. Or perhaps a nice seaside sojourn in Malaga or Lisbon. But David likes his home comforts. And he is happy to keep the faith that one day his time will come. At that very moment the phone rings. "Hello," said David. "Ah Sir Alex. I've been expecting you my whole life..."

Fast-forward to October 2013 and things haven't quite turned out as the now Manchester United manager David Moyes would have hoped. The "Chosen One" has guided United to their worst Premier League start in history and is feeling the heat a touch. A domestic tally of seven points from a possible 18 isn't what anyone expected of last season's champions and Moyes' one big-name signing of the summer, Marouane Fellaini, is rarely making the starting XI. The dream has turned into a nightmare.

Let's turned our attention to tonight. Manchester United take on Shakhtar Donetsk and either way one of the two sides is about to lose an unbeaten record of sorts. United have never played Shakhtar but are unbeaten against Ukrainian opposition in the Champions League. However, Shakhtar have won all of their matches against English teams at the Donbass Arena. Both sides won their opening match in Group A with United seeing off Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 and Shakhtar beating Real Sociedad 2-0 despite managing just six shots all game. A full scouting report on United's opponents will follow shortly so for now all that remains is for me to come up with a wild prediction (United to win 3-1) and welcome you to the blog. Welcome.

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