Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk is named after River Dnieper of Ukraine. Little wonder perhaps its men prefer to play football of the flowing kind.
They did that for most of the time at the Corporation Stadium on Monday night to beat Shamrock Rovers of Ireland 2-0. It certainly was an impressive debut in the tournament, and in India, by them.
In front of another enthusiastic crowd, the Ukrainians played like a well-oiled machine. They got their passes right, attacked relentlessly and had the opening half in total control.
They led at the interval through a 32nd minute goal from the promising Vladyslav Kochergin, who played a key role in many of his team’s moves. The 19-year-old’s powerful strike -- following a fine pass down the right by Denys Balaniuk -- from just outside the D was good enough to beat the defence and a stretching Craig Hyland under the bar. He was a most deserving Man-of-the-Match.
The Irish men almost looked a different side when they came back after the break, as they upped the tempo, making some quick raids into Dnipro’s box. But, to their credit, the Ukrainians, even as they tightened their defence, continued to press forward.
In the 76th minute, they virtually shut the match down with their second goal. It came off a splendid move initiated on the right flank by Ihor Kohut, who gave a deft pass to Yuri Vakulko. Vitaliy Kiryeyev, who had come in for Balaniuk just a few minutes earlier, finished it off with great precision.
The result: Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Vladyslav Kochergin 32, Vitaliy Kiryeyev 76) 2 bt Shamrock Rovers 0.
Watford takes on Rapid
In a crucial game in Group A on Tuesday, England’s Watford takes on Rapid Bucharest of Romania. Having lost its opening match to Brazil’s Atletico Paranaense on the first day of the tournament, it is a match the English club could not afford to lose.
“We are confident of bouncing back, though we are up against a strong experienced side,” said Watford’s goalkeeping coach Alec Chamberlain. “We had created some opportunities against Paranaense, but could not convert them.”
He said he had watched the rival team’s close and physical game against Volyn Lutsk of Ukraine on Sunday; it had resulted in six yellow cards. “I don’t think the four cards collected by Rapid are going to affect them,” he said. “I wasn’t surprised to see the match getting physical last night; it often happens in English league.”
His counterpart Dan Alexa said that though he wanted his team to win against Volyn after taking the lead, the draw was a fair result. “I was not surprised to see them fight back, as they have a lot of experienced players” he said. “We are expecting a tough match against Watford, too; they had played well against Paranaense.”
