Shakhtar Donetsk saw off Horkynak 3-0 in a Club Friendly on 2 October 2026. The hosts dominated from the opening whistle, and the scoreline reflected their control throughout. To be fair, the visitors had little to offer against a side that looked sharp and purposeful.
Shakhtar's recent form suggested this might be a straightforward affair. They'd beaten LNZ Cherkasy 3-0 on 20 September, then saw off Vilkhovtsi 3-0 three days later. By then, they'd also secured a 2-0 victory over Chornomorets and a 2-1 win against Karpaty. Only the 1-1 draw with PSV Eindhoven had stopped their momentum.
Horkynak arrived with mixed fortunes. A 2-0 victory over Olympia Savintsy on 8 September stood out, but they'd lost to Polissya 1-0 and Chornomorets 1-0 in their other outings. The 2-2 draw with Kolos Kovalivka and a heavy 3-0 defeat to Rokita painted a picture of inconsistency.
And here's the thing about friendlies — results matter less than the patterns they reveal. Shakhtar's clean-sheet run came to an end against PSV, but since then they'd kept four in a row. Against Horkynak, they maintained that discipline without letting the game flow too freely.
The 3-0 margin tells its own story. Shakhtar had the game won inside twenty minutes, if the pattern held. They tightened things up when needed and didn't need to chase the scoreline. Horkynak simply couldn't find a foothold.
