The final match of the group stage was more of a symbolic than of a competition value. Phoenix aimed to make up for the defeat in the single full-time match played with Sports School Slobozhanske. True, both then, during the Ukrainian Cup U14, and now the outcome of the game had no significance in terms of the team's position in the standings. It definitely added motivation to the boys in today's meeting, though.
No sooner had the commentator on the online broadcast greeted the audience than the violets scored their first goal: Maksym Dolhulia did his bit. The team from Slobozhanskyi, having prepared to face a difficult game, had to recoup from the very first minutes. Roman Lukhanin, the skipper, had a good chance, failing to make use of a one-on-one rush with Volodymyr Lazeba.
The game pattern was clear now: Phoenix attacked, and Slobozhanske snapped back occasionally, but dangerously, fleeing in a counterattack. Demyd Yevsyukov had a good chance, but did not hear the coach's "Pass it!” and decided to shoot from a kick on his own. He soon went one on one with the goalkeeper of the opposition, failing to outplay him, though. Danylo Boldyzhev missed an excellent opportunity by beating first the defender and then the goalkeeper on the needle tip at the corner flag; at the second rate, the same Yevsyukov hit the post. Ivan Konkov's dangerous shot was brilliantly blocked by Kyrylo Krylov.
Phoenix seized the initiative quite firmly. Long-range shots were delivered by Soldatenko, Dolhulia and Khodatskyi - all past the target. The Slobozhanske players defended themselves patiently and, having lulled the vigilance of the opposition, created a couple of chances, showing both the great skills (Zidane feint alone says a lot) and the speed in two-to-one counterattacks.
Towards the end of the first half, Vadym Ilchenko took a time-out, after which his team increased the pressure on Lazeba's goal. Mykyta Bodnar stopped the striker, who was breaking in, only at the cost of a yellow card, being awarded a dangerous free kick. It came out to be quite straightforward, and Slobozhanske conceded in a counterattack. All the same Bodnar fled to the opposition's half and, taking the defenders upon himself, gave a highly accurate pass to Demyd Yevsyukov, who just shot through the center of the goal, catching the keeper of the opposition by surprise.
Having put Phoenix up 2:0, Yevsyukov had an immediate chance to make a brace, but shot past. In the last seconds of the half, Ivan Konkov tried to turn home the cross-pass of his teammate on Slobozhanske goal line, but the ball would not get into the goal.
In the second half, the coaches of both teams made specific changes in the line-up. Phoenix brought in Eldar Bratchuk- the second goalkeeper, Artem Shevchenko was brought in to replace Maksym Dolhuia. Sports School Slobozhanske switched to the game with the fifth field player: Mykyta Babenko put on a bib. Soldatenko was close to a bad pass, organizing his teammates a two-on-one rush, but immediately corrected his own mistake. In the next moment, the Phoenix defender allowed Slobozhanske's player to beat himself and go one-on-one with Bratchuk, but the outplayed goalkeeper was backed up by Khodatsky on the goal line. Artem Shevchenko intercepted a pass from a corner immediately, and just sent the ball into the empty net from his half of the pitch - 3:0.
Vadym Ilchenko's team did not give up and continued to attack. Babenko managed to find a gap between Phoenix’ defenders and gave an accurate pass to Tabakar, but the latter, being alone at the far post, failed to hit the target, sending the ball to the post of Bratchuk's goal. At those moments, Phoenix was pinned to its goal, fully concentrating on the defense. The same Tabakar had the most dangerous moment having ‘robbed’ Artem Shevchenko of the ball, but failed to outplay Phoenix’ goalkeeper.
Phoenix made attempts to seize the initiative and finally succeeded. First, Boldyzhev played with Bezruk, but shot wide. After that Dolhulia hit from his half of the pitch, the ball missing the far post. Before the Slobozhanske players managed to get the ball away from their goal, Boldyzhev intercepted their pass, beat the defenders and assisted Dolhulia to an empty net. Maksym had time to think about how to deliver the shot, but he did it in the usual way - with his foot, preferring not to mock his already demoralized opponent.
With the score 4:0 Phoenix switched to the game with the fifth outfield player. Danylo Boldyzhev put on a green shirt, organizing two more goals being scored. At first, having lulled the vigilance of the defenders with constant rolls, Danylo unexpectedly sent the ball to the near post to Mykhailo Soldatenko, and the latter was accurate. In the last minutes, Boldyzhev ran into the free zone, received the ball from Shevchenko and shot on goal accurately, setting the final score in the match - 6:0.
Despite the optimism of the commentator, calculating the frequency with which the Slobozhanske players had to score goals in order to bring the match to a draw a minute before its end (the correct answer is one goal in ten seconds), the score remained unchanged, and the duo of Phoenix’ goalkeepers for the first time in this tournament left their goal intact.
Phoenix won their group, which gave the team a chance to play in the quarterfinals with the team that was at the bottom of the standings in group B. The Kharkiv rival was determined immediately after the match in the face-to-face confrontation between Lyubart and Youth Sports School Yunost (Youth), who had not scored a single point in two preceding rounds. That was a real futsal thriller, during which the teams either came forward or caught up with each other that ended with the victory of the Lutsk team. That means that the Kharkiv ‘exam’ tomorrow will have to be passed by the players of Yunost from Chernihiv.