Yevhen Nazarov: "We missed such an unnecessary goal"

Head coach of "Metalist 1925" U-19 Yevhen Nazarov commented on the loss to "Shakhtar":

- Comment on the match against "Shakhtar" right after the game.

- If you don't want to win, then maybe you shouldn't even step on the field. We were seriously preparing for this match and knew who we were playing against. We analyzed everything, we had a plan, moreover, yesterday we had the opportunity to see the game of the first team. We wanted to play similarly, but conceded such an unnecessary goal already in the second minute. I won't say that everything falls apart after that, but we started with a score of 0:1. Then we tried to level the game, had a real chance to score, but our finishing let us down. And we conceded from a penalty ourselves.

But we don't stray from the idea that we want to play football, not just defend. We try to attack so that our players develop. "Shakhtar" is "Shakhtar", it's very difficult to play against them with ten men. Although we had our moments and approaches to the opponent's goal, we just need to convert those moments to avoid losing.

- Missed penalty - the key moment of the match?

- No, this moment was just the most realistic among those we had. Yes, perhaps a goal could have given us strength and confidence. But it's easy to say now, when everything has already happened.

- The goal at the start of the second half changed the plans you set for the players for the second half of the match?

- For the development of footballers, you need to both attack and defend. I repeat: we want the players to develop, not just stand in their own penalty area and defend. Yes, we were losing, but even with ten men we tried to attack, exposing our defense. Although we had a game plan, it's a pity we couldn't implement it.