After two victories at the start Phoenix was to face off against three participants of the High League of the last season. According to schedule the first opponent of this trio became Sokil from Khmelnytskyi.
In a way the game developed according to scenario similar to the previous game. Volodymyr Lazeba had to save his team in the very first attack, turning away a billiard-precise shot from Khybovskyi. “Sokils” made several more dangerous shots that were blocked by Phoenix defenders, and then they almost missed the goal: after they lost the ball, Danylo Khodatskyi made a targeted pass and Mykhailo Soldatenko made a one-touch shot above Ilya Sikorskyi goal.
Hardly had the game commentator finished announcing teams squads when Phoenix took the lead. Volodymyr Lazeba was an unexpected player to make assist when he made a perfect pass through the entire field to Artem Shevchenko, and the “pivot” of Kharkiv team punished the defense of team from Khmelnytskyi for their failure. And two minutes past Maksym Dolhulia created a mini-masterpiece, proving to the doubtful fans of away team that Kharkiv team is playing futsal, not rugby: in three elegant rollovers of the ball he defeated two Sokil defenders, beat the goalkeeper and slotted the ball into the empty goal.
Only after this players of away team could respond with a few dangerous moments, but Volodymyr Lazeba played flawlessly. And on the fifth minute of the game Ivan Konkov used position error of Sokil players who created a free area in front of Sikorskyi goal, and, after avoiding a dangerous sliding tackle from the captain of Khmelnytskyi team, he hit the opponents' net, making the score 3:0.
Nikita Bodnar was bound to score more, but he did not hit the net from half a meter after a through pass from Bezruk. But a miss of Stasyuk was even more bitter for Sokil players when he did not hit Lazeba’s net after a three-to-one attack! Khmelnytskyi team looked definitely unsettled: after the next attack that was rushed by the goalkeeper Ilya Sikorskyi, a wing striker did not run to catch the pass and lost a perspective moment. One more certain moment was lost by Khibovskyi and Bernada who ran away to a counter-attack, but Danylo Khodatskyi backed up his goalkeeper.
Phoenix coaching staff performed a pre-planned rotation and Danylo Zamula appeared in the field, but he got lost and disposed of the ball badly with his very first touch, making a repeated pass to Lazeba, thus leading to an indirect free kick. Vitalyi Rospachenyuk took a one-minute break to use the opportunity that had emerged, to maximum effect. Nevertheless, his trainees played in a rather straightforward manner, and a shot from Artem Lysenko stroke the wall drawn up by Lazeba. In the next Sokil attack Zamula rehabilitated for his fall by backing up his goalkeeper. Several more minutes later Danylo had to leave the field for some time as the corner kick hit him directly in the face, drawing blood from his nose.
Tokar received an excellent moment to score when he went one-on-one with Lazeba, but he shot precisely into the goalkeeper, who closed the gap in time. In one minute Tokar finally “distinguished” himself, but in a negative way by receiving a yellow card after taking down Nikita Bodnar. During the minutes left to the break Kharkiv players missed an excellent moment: a pass from Ivan Konkov to Mykhailo Soldatenko was intercepted by Maksym Bernada in a reckless jump. When three minutes were left to the end of the period, Phoenix coaches who felt that it was necessary to calm the game down took a time-out. Lazeba who had received a minor injury in the goal was substituted by Bratchuk, who immediately turned away a long-range shot from Dmitryi Vlasov. By the end of the period Sokil noticeably levelled off the game and received the right for one more indirect free kick, but the striker of the away team again made simplistic shot into Phoenix goalkeeper.
In the second period Volodymyr Lazeba returned into Phoenix goal. Only one minute later his father sitting on the stand clutched at his heart as the goalkeeper had to turn away a point-blank shot from Khibovskyi. And soon the score simply had to become 3:1, but the post of the goal played for Phoenix. One more mistake in the defense led to “fire” in the penalty box of Kharkiv team as well as to several corner kicks which the players in crimson uniforms could not dispose of.
Sokil took a steady foothold on the opponents’ half of the field, changing their four-players squads often and besieging Lazeba’s goal. Initial activity led to success when Danylo Bevz closed the gap in the score, ending a quick counter-attack by an accurate shot into the near corner. It was a miracle that the score did not become 3:2 one minute later: at first Melnik did not hit the empty goal after a through ball from a corner kick, then a similar moment was wasted by Lysenko.
Phoenix started experiencing significant problems, despite positive score the team started failing on the defense, while showing nothing on the attack. Rostyslav Rostkovskyi went one-on-one with Lazeba, but the goalkeeper of Kharkiv team played beyond all praise. In such a complicated situation individual skill of Phoenix players became the turning point: after receiving the ball on a ten-meter point from Nikita Bodnar, who rushed along the right flank, Demyd Yevsiukov skillfully passed the defender with his first touch, and with his second he made an unstoppable shot into the corner of Ilya Sikorskyi net.
Not even a minute had passed when Phoenix used one more semi-moment: Artem Shevchenko dispossessed his opponent of the ball, readdressed it to Danylo Khodatskyi, and the latter made a long-range shot into the same corner of the goal which Yevsiukov had struck earlier. Vitalyi Rospachenyuk had to take a time-out to rearrange the game plan: in the second period everything went well for Sokil, except converting their chances into goals, but now they had to score four balls, and not just two.
Players of Khmelnytskyi team switched to playing in five-players squad, and Eldar Bratchuk returned to Phoenix goal. In the very first attack Maksym Dolhulia intercepted a pass of the opponents and made a shot from his half of the field: the ball hit the crossbar of the goal. One minute later Dolhulia smartly let the pass go by, and Ivan Konkov who shot just a little wide received his chance.
Sokil continued to be unlucky: in one of the episodes the ball hit Bratchuk, in another – the post of the goal. Wide-open game started in head-on manner, Zamula and Bodnar didn’t convert their chances. Sokil finally managed to score: Bernada concluded an effective three-moves piece of the crimson and made the score 5:2 when three minutes were left to the end of the second period.
Two episodes worth noting occurred during the remaining time. At first Zamula fell down awkwardly, injuring his arm. His diagnosis – broken arm – leaves Danylo out of the game approximately for one month. And when one minute was left to the end of the game, Olexandr Bezruk ended an assist from Maksym Dolhulia with a goal following sophisticated trajectory.
Phoenix wins its third victory in three games that were played, but the decisive games for getting into the final of the Cup the team will be played tomorrow: with Chorne More from Odessa at 13:00 and KIVS Futsal from Lviv at 16:30.