Dynamo player Kostiantyn Hubenko commented on the 4:1 victory over Shakhtar in Round 26 of the National league U19:
— I’m very happy, I feel euphoric right now. Of course we were fully focused on this game because, if we had dropped points, we could have forgotten about the championship. It was a crucial match for us. We had to win.
— It was clear how emotionally charged the team was. Was this one of those games where you don’t need extra motivation?
— Yes, we all understood what kind of match it was and how important it was. Today guys went out and did their job. Now we’re preparing for the next game.
— The start of the match wasn’t easy, Shakhtar had few chances. Did that worry you?
— No, we had nothing to lose. Yes, there were some back-and-forth moments early on but then we found our game.
— After Dynamo opened the scoring it seemed like Shakhtar started losing confidence. Did you feel that on the pitch?
— Yes, we got even more fired up. Everyone was in a good mood and had that healthy aggression. We just wanted to keep pushing forward. We remembered how in the previous head-to-head game we were leading 2:0 and it ended 2:2, so we didn’t relax.
— The second half started with Dynamo conceding a goal. Did that affect your confidence?
— No, everyone knew that could happen. In the previous match we also conceded first from a set piece. Everyone knew what to do.
— Pavlo Liusin scored a hat-trick today. How did the team congratulate him?
— We all congratulated him. I told him to take the match ball as a souvenir (smiles). He did great.
— Now the gap to Shakhtar in standings is down to three points. Is it fair to say the title race is heating up?
— Yes. We’re focused on our own matches. We’ll see what happens.
