Real Sociedad travelled to the Donbass Arena looking for a win over Shkahtar Donetsk to keep their Champions League campaign alive.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side needed to take full advantage at home against the bottom team before their final match in Group A against Manchester United.
There only ever looked like one winner, as goals from Luiz Adriano, Alex Teixeira and a double from Douglas Costa sank Jagoba Arraste's men to go second ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.
Scroll down to read how the action unfolded at the Donbass Arena.
Good evening! Welcome to Sports Mole for live text commentary of tonight's Champions League clash between Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Sociedad at the Donbass Arena.
It's the penultimate match in Group A, with all four teams still in with a shout of qualifying for the knockout stage. Manchester United are currently top of the standings on eight points, followed by Bayer Lerkusen on seven. Shakhtar have five, with Sociedad bottom of the pile with one point. Back-to-back victories are needed if the Spaniards are to have any chance of finishing in the top two.
SHAKHTAR: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakitsky, Shevchuk, Stepanenko, Teixeira, Fred, Douglas Costa, Luiz Adriano, Bernard
REAL SOCIEDAD: Bravo, Cadamuro, Ansotegi, Inigo, De la Bella, Elustondo, Pardo, X. Prieto, Chory Castro, Vela, Griezmann
These two teams met for the first time in the opening game of the group stages, with the Ukrainians emerging 2-0 winners thanks to a brace from Alex Teixeira.
MIRCEA LUCESCU (SHAKHTAR COACH): "We started this campaign very well with a win in Spain – I think La Real were quite surprised by our performance. But they came to their senses, and even though they lost in Leverkusen and Manchester, results don't always show the true standard of a team."
JAGOBA ARRASATE (SOCIEDAD COACH): "We respect Shakhtar and their players, but we need to win and that means we must play our best regardless of our opponents' strengths. Maybe Shakhtar beat us in the first game because of the advantage of their European experience."
The match in September was Sociedad's first against Ukrainian opposition. Shakhtar have played 16 times against Spanish opposition, winning three, drawing four and losing nine.
Shakhtar, who currently top their domestic league by three points, are looking to end a run of four games without a win at home in the Champions League. They have drawn both of their matches at the Donbass Arena in this campaign. The run started with defeat to Juventus and then a 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of last year's last-16 tie.
Real Sociedad beat Lyon in both legs of a playoff to reach the group stages of this year's Champions League. Before victory in France, their last success on the road in the Champions League came at Galatasaray in 2003. Although this is the first year since then that they have competed in the competition.
Shakhtar's record at home against Spanish sides is W1 D3 L3. Their only victory was back in December 2004, when Julius Aghahowa scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Barcelona.
Carlos Vela is undoubtedly La Real's danger man this evening. He scored all four goals to help his team come back from 3-1 down against Celta Vigo to win 4-3 at the weekend. Antoine Griezmann is also in hot form, scoring six in his last six games.
REFEREE: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)
It's a cold night in Ukraine, with a temperature of around -2C. UEFA report that the infrared heating system has just been switched on at the Donbass Arena. The 550 heaters can raise the temperature inside the stadium stands up to 8-16C.
Shakhtar are 31 games unbeaten in their domestic league, and have won on 28 of those occasions. That's formidable form. They have lost three league games this season; however, if you consider that they have lost just one in each of the last two seasons, then they're actually playing catch-up. Kind of.
So the players are on the pitch and we're done with the pre-match handshake, it's time for kickoff at the Donbass Arena. Crucial match for both teams.
KICKOFF! Shakhtar get the match underway in their usuail black-and-orange strip. Sociedad in traditional blue and white.
Sociedad are seeing a lot of the ball early on. Cadamuro has it in an advanced wide position, and easily shrugs Bernard off before delivering a cross. It's easily cleared by the Shakhtar defence.
SHOT! Vela has the first effort on goal but it's a weak one that bobbles into the arms of Pyatov. The home crowd are whistling already, their team just cannot get a foot on the ball at the moment.
Poor clearance by Pyatov only goes as far as Griezmann. He played the ball into Prieto, who swept a gorgeous ball out wide for De la Bella, but the full-back's cross is blocked by Srna for a corner kick.
Teixeira twists and turns on the edge of the box, looking for a route to goal but the way is blocked. He's slipped in moments later, but the angle was always against him. Claudio Bravo made a comfortable stop with his legs at the near post.
SHOT! Shakhtar are applying a bit of pressure, but they'll need to be wary of the counter. Vela was alone in attack but held the ball up well for Prieto. It was Castro who eventually had a shot from around 20 yards, but it was another comfortable one for Pyatov.
Lovely play from Bernard on the edge of the Sociedad area, as he shapes to cross before reversing the ball for Fred. It came to nothing, but it provided a snap shot of the young Brazilian's ability on the ball.
BOOKING! Yaroslav Rakitskiy is the first man to be cautioned. Bit of a late one on Carlos Vela.
SHOT! Bernard drags an effort across the face of Claudio Bravo's goal. Should really have done better there.
Strange opening 20 minutes, it seems to be bubbling under at the moment. Fast tempo and plenty of threat, but no end product at the moment.
Pardo whips a free kick into the box but there's no Sociedad player gambling on it, and the ball bounces into Pyatov. That was a dangerous situation, there's just no aerial threat from the Spanish side. Griezmann and Vela are, if anything, on the slight side.
Kuecher hits a long ball down the right for Srna to chase, and somehow the full back gets to the byline before the ball runs out. This time it's Shakhtar's attackers who are caught napping. They clearly didn't expect the Croatian to have the jets on.
Oh dear... Sociedad have nearly just gifted the lead to Shakhtar! Teixeira caught Ansotegi, for some reason, dallying on the ball just outside his own area, but Luiz Adriano was adjudged to have been offside after the midfielder slipped the ball through. The Brazilian went wide with his effort anyway, but Arrasate will no doubt have breathed a huge sigh of relief then!
Rakitskiy puts in a dangerous challenge on Griezmann. Studs showing, about half way up the ball... In all honesty, he's lucky that's not a second yellow card.
BOOKING! Gorka Urkola is yellow carded after conceding a free kick just outside the area for a foul on Bernard.
OFF THE BAR! Srna hits it right footed and it comes crashing off the crossbar! It always looked a bit high, although Bravo didn't look like he had it totally covered. It wasn't right in the corner.
GOAL! SHAKHTAR DONETSK 1-0 REAL SOCIEDAD (LUIZ ADRIANO)
Shakhtar take the lead! Douglas Costa received a short corner and played it into the near post for the ensuing Adriano. His delicate touch took it out of the clutches of Bravo. They caught Sociedad napping!
You'd have to say it's a deserved lead for the home side. Sociedad have not really featured as an attacking force since the first 10 minutes. Vela cuts an isolated figure in attack, but their defending hasn't been too bad. A lapse in concentration and they're behind. Although credit has to be given equally to Shakhtar for quickness of thought.
CHANCE! Inigo Martinez heads over from Vela's corner kick. The defender should have at least worked the keeper with that opportunity and he knows it, holding his head in his hands.
Brief stoppage in play as Stepanenko receives treatment after taking Griezmann's free kick to the bread basket.
HALF TIME: SHAKHTAR DONETSK 1-0 REAL SOCIEDAD
That half seemed to fly by, although I can't think why. It wasn't necessarily a bad 45 minutes, it's just that nothing really happened. Plenty of neat football individually, especially from Bernard and Alex Teixeira, but it's hardly been a feast. Fred has run his socks off so far.
Sociedad sat back in the middle of the half, inviting pressure on. Quick thinking from Srna and Costa proved their undoing, with the Brazilian firing it into the near post for his compatriot Adriano to dink in the opener.
SHAKHTAR STATS:
Shots: 8
On target: 3
Possession: 46%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 9
Yellow: 1
Red: 0
Shots: 8
On target: 3
Possession: 46%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 9
Yellow: 1
Red: 0
SOCIEDAD STATS:
Shots: 6
On target: 2
Possession: 54%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 6
Yellow: 1
Red: 0
Shots: 6
On target: 2
Possession: 54%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 6
Yellow: 1
Red: 0
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HALF-TIME SCORES:
CSKA Moscow 1-3 Bayern Munich (FT)
B. Leverkusen 0-2 Man Utd
Juventus 1-0 Copenhagen
Real Madrid 1-1 Galatasaray
Man City 1-1 Viktoria Plzen
PSG 1-0 Olympiacos
Anderlecht 1-1 Benfica
CSKA Moscow 1-3 Bayern Munich (FT)
B. Leverkusen 0-2 Man Utd
Juventus 1-0 Copenhagen
Real Madrid 1-1 Galatasaray
Man City 1-1 Viktoria Plzen
PSG 1-0 Olympiacos
Anderlecht 1-1 Benfica
The teams are back on the pitch ready for the second half.
RESTART! Real Sociedad get the second period underway at the Donbass Arena.
SHOT! The hosts immediately win the ball and Srna goes on the attack down the right. His cross is blocked, but sits up nicely for Stepanenko... however, his shot was high and wide.
GOAL! SHAKHTAR DONETSK 2-0 REAL SOCIEDAD (ALEX TEIXEIRA)
Oh dear, oh dear... Inigo Martinez looks like he wants the ground to open up! It's his error that's led to Shakhtar's second of the evening! The centre-back lost his bearings while facing his own goal, and an attempt at a headed clearance fell right into the path of Teixeira. There was still a lot for the Brazilian to do, but he breezed past Ansotegui and clipped into Bravo's top corner brilliantly. Is that the end of Sociedad?
SAVE! Great reflex stop from Pyatov! The ball was looped over the top for Vela, but pressure from Rakitskiy took the ball out of his reach. It fell kindly for Griezmann, but his first-time effort was pushed onto the post.
Shakhtar looked relatively comfortable up until the chance. They don't seem content with two goals, they want more.
BOOKING! Taras Stepanenko goes into the referee's notebook.
Manchester United are currently beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in Germany, meaning that Shakhtar are second in Group A as things stand. The final match sees the Ukrainian outfit travel to Old Trafford, while La Real will host Bayer Leverkusen.
Elustondo has a crack at goal but it's blocked by Rakitskiy. The hosts look very comfortable at the moment, although the Spanish side are enjoying quite a bit of possession.
SHAKHTAR DONETSK 3-0 REAL SOCIEDAD (DOUGLAS COSTA)
That's how you counter attack! One moment Shakhtar are defending a cross from De La Bella, the next Teixeira is surging down the field, exposing a massive hole in the Sociedad defence. He had options left and right, and chose left. Costa was waiting, and he drove a first-time shot into the top corner.
SOCIEDAD SUB: Javier Ariel Rosada comes on for Ruben Pardo.
SHAKHTAR SUBS: Bernard makes way for Taison, while Facundo Ferreyra comes on for Luiz Adriano.
SOCIEDAD SUBS: Imanol Agirretxe and Haris Seferovic come on for Antoine Griezmann and Carlos Vela.
SHAKHTAR SUB: Eduardo enters the fray in place of Alex Teixeira.
OK, so that was a bit weird. No subs in over 68 minutes, then all six in seven minutes. It seems Arrasate has thrown in the towel and is saving Griezmann and Vela for the weekend, whereas Lucescu is going for another goal by freshening up his attack. Three Brazilians for a Brazilian, a Brazilian-born Croatian and an Argentine.
It's now 4-0 to United in Leverkusen, so it looks like qualification will be in Shakhtar's hands in their final game at Old Trafford. Arrasate's boys will want to do them a favour by signing off their European campaign with a win at home against Leverkusen. Exciting group.
There's very little coming from Sociedad now. They're playing for time now, probably trying to limit the damage.
SAVE! Pyatov makes a comfortbale save from Seferovic's shot.
BOOKING! Olexandr Kucher is shown a yellow card.
GOAL! SHAKHTAR DONETSK 4-0 REAL SOCIEDAD (DOUGLAS COSTA)
Liquid football! Although Sociedad are going out with a whimper, there was absolutely no tracking back from their midfield or pressure put on the ball from the defence. Shakhtar broke forward, with Fred and Srna combining to supply Taison down the right. It was his lovely clipped cross that invited Costa to thunder a header past Bravo. The keeper had no chance.
FULL TIME: SHAKHTAR DONETSK 4-0 REAL SOCIEDAD
It's all over, and Shakhtar move second in Group A with a commanding victory over Real Sociedad. They were the better team throughout and thoroughly deserve their victory. They simply had too much in the second half. Cuter, wiser and more clinical.
That brings an end to our coverage on Sports Mole this evening. Thanks for joining us!
Written by
Michael Penkman
Michael Penkman
