"the goal is very close," dmytro chygrynskiy told uefa.com as he underlined fc shakhtar donetsk's hunger to book their place in the last 16 at fk partizan on tuesday.
dmytro chygrynskiy returned to fc shakhtar donetsk from fc barcelona in the summer with the goal of helping the pitmen reach the uefa champions league knockout stage for the first time in their history.
although the ukraine defender missed the first half of the group stage with a hamstring injury sustained in late august, he helped shakhtar take a step towards that goal on his first appearance in group h against arsenal fc on matchday 4, heading the equaliser in a 2-1 comeback victory in donetsk.
that success left shakhtar, the 2009 uefa cup winners, level with arsenal at the top of the group and raised the possibility of their securing qualification with a game to spare, should they win at fk partizan on tuesday and fc braga fail to beat arsenal in the section's other game. chygrynskiy is determined that they fulfil at least their side of the bargain. "we are going [to belgrade] ready for battle," he told uefa.com. "we want to settle our place in the knockout stage as soon as possible."
last december, shakhtar lost 1-0 at partizan in their last game of the uefa europa league group stage thanks to a lamine diarra goal. that was a match, however, where only pride was at stake given shakhtar were already assured progress from their group and partizan were eliminated. chygrynskiy said it would be different this time with the ukrainian side seeking to progress for the first time after five failed attempts. "we need to win on tuesday. with the target we've got, there will be no problem with motivation.
"we understand that there are no easy games in the champions league," added the 24-year-old. "the very name of the tournament is a source of motivation. obviously, partizan want to give their supporters something to cheer. it was a very tough match against them on matchday 1. they proved their quality."
partizan went down 1-0 in donetsk to a 71st-minute darijo srna free-kick and are still seeking their first points in the section, having already been consigned to the wooden spoon. chygrynskiy continued: "there are no doubts that they will do their best, but we have prepared seriously for this game and i think that our motivation is bigger. for years shakhtar have been trying to get through the champions league group stage and now this goal is very close."
perhaps because the target is so close, chygrynskiy declines to discuss shakhtar's prospects should they advance. his coach, mircea lucescu, has repeated several times that "nothing is clear" in group h and so chygrynskiy refuses to answer how far they might go. "i think it's too early to discuss this matter. we still have a match to win."
yardımcı hakemler: peter hermans (bel), walter vromans (bel)
4. hakem: jérome efong nzolo (bel)
çizgi hakemleri: christof virant (bel), peter vervecken (bel)
partizan: vladimir stojković (gk), ivan stevanović, radosav petrović (dk. 64 medo), cléo, almami moreira (dk. 73 aleksandar davidov), marko jovanović, aleksandar lazevski, mladen krstajić (c), saša ilić (dk. 84 ivica iliev), stefan babović, milan smiljanić
yedekler: Živko Živković (gk), aleksandar miljković, pierre boya, stefan savić
teknik direktör: aleksandar stanojević (srb)
shakhtar donetsk: andriy pyatov (gk), jadson (dk. 75 alex teixeira), luiz adriano, willian, taras stepanenko, olexiy gai (dk. 74 vitaliy vitsenets), douglas costa (dk. 62 eduardo), răzvan raţ, dmytro chygrynskiy, darijo srna (c), yaroslav rakitskiy
shakhtar moved three points clear at the top of group h and all but made sure of reaching the knockout phase for the first time.
fc shakhtar donetsk climbed to the top of the uefa champions league group h table after dismantling fk partizan and are now within touching distance of a place in the knockout rounds for the first time.
taras stepanenko, making his competition debut a week after his first senior cap for ukraine, opened the scoring seven minutes after half-time and further goals followed from jadson and substitute eduardo. it put shakhtar on 12 points, three ahead of arsenal fc and sc braga who they welcome on 8 december. as long as they do not lose by a three-goal margin or more, shakhtar will be through after falling in the group stage or qualifying every year since 2000/01.
heavy rain had fallen in belgrade throughout the day and partizan set about making life even more uncomfortable for their visitors with a purposeful start, passing with accuracy across the sodden turf. they had two attempts on goal in the opening 60 seconds and managed another two before shakhtar had caught their breath, the best falling to cléo who clipped his drive too high.
the visitors could not find their feet at this stage, but gradually began to knit some passes together of their own. it had the dual benefit of dampening partizan's fire and frustrating the home crowd though it was a rarity when their possession led to a shot on goal.
one such move, with willian squaring the ball across, led to olexiy gai taking aim and partizan were relieved that vladimir stojković pulled off a fine save to his left. at the other end cléo and almami moreira were linking well but the next time partizan threatened it was from the boot of captain mladen krstajić, who let rip with a fierce free-kick that andriy pyatov did well to push away.
stepanenko could not take advantage of a difficult chance as the half ended with shakhtar well on top. they clearly had the measure of their opponents now and it was no surprise when they struck two early goals in the second half.
first stepanenko was on hand when the ball fell nicely for him following a left-wing corner. then jadson showed immaculate technique to control and finish in one movement after darijo srna's ball had picked him out inside the penalty area. partizan, already out of europe and sliding to a fifth defeat, were now a demoralised force and eduardo came off the bench to add a third goal from willian's cross.
1. fc shakhtar donetsk...5...4...0...1...10...6...4...12 2. arsenal fc...5...3...0...2...15...6...9...9 3. sc braga...5...3...0...2...5...9...-4...9 4. fk partizan...5...0...0...5...1...10...-9...0
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