Shakhtar beat Lech Poznan to reach the quarter-finals on a razor’s edge

In the second leg of the Conference League Round of 16, Shakhtar Donetsk overcame a 4-0 aggregate defeat against Poland’s Lech Poznan to advance to the quarterfinals. While Shakhtar won the first leg away 3-1, they lost 2-1 on their home turf in Krakow, narrowly avoiding defeat.

A 3-1 lead in Poznań a week ago gave Shakhtar the advantage heading into the home leg in Krakow. However, the first half of the return leg went extremely poorly for the Miners. Before the break, the scoreboard at the Municipal Stadium read 2-0 in favor of Lech Poznań, with Shakhtar conceding the second goal “on the spot”—a penalty.

This scenario gave Lech a psychological advantage. The Poles even managed a third goal, which could have put Shakhtar in a very difficult position had the referee not called an offside and disallowed the goal.

Shakhtar scored the game-winning equalizer in the 67th minute. Or rather, it was an own goal by Moutinho. The ball touched Lech players at least four times before finding its way into the net. So it was a true “own goal of own goals.”

The remainder of the match proved nerve-wracking for Shakhtar fans and players. Shakhtar evened the game and was close to a 2-2 draw. However, Lech Poznan fought back dangerously, and any goal from the visitors could have sent the game into extremely undesirable extra time. Things turned out alright. Now Shakhtar will face Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the quarterfinals.

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