Left Bank's debut victory, defeats in Zhytomyr and Lviv, unexpected leaders, first resignation: UPL Round 4 results
Kyiv • UNN
“Oleksandriya sensationally defeated Shakhtar 4-3. “Polissia and Rukh won big. “Left Bank scores the first goal and wins its first victory in the UPL. Zorya coach Yuriy Koval is fired.
The first goal and the debut victory of Left Bank, crushing victories of Polissya and Rukh, the first hat tricks, the first resignation of the head coach, a "shootout" in Oleksandriya, unexpected leaders - this is how the fourth round of the Ukrainian Premier League went. UNN decided to tell you the results of the round, new achievements of the round, and what the next round of the UPL will be remembered for.
Details
The "shootout" in Oleksandria and Filippov's benefit
On Saturday, the most spectacular match of this UPL draw so far was played at the Nika Stadium in Oleksandriia, Kirovohrad Oblast, with the two teams scoring 7 goals apiece. Local Oleksandriya was visited by Shakhtar Donetsk, who, according to bookmakers' forecasts, was the favorite in this match, but it did not happen as expected.
Before the match, a symbolic kick on the ball was made by a boy named Matviy, the son of Andriy Usykov, a resident of Oleksandriya who died in the war against the Russian occupiers.
"From the first minutes of the match, Shakhtar took the initiative, which resulted in two goals by the 25th minute. Artem Shabanov became the antihero for his team, who first "mowed" the ball into his own net, and then, using a ricochet from a defender, Shakhtar managed to double their lead in the match - 2-0 in the 25th minute. What happened next came as a shock to the fans. First, Shakhtar defender Irakli Azarov was cut off near his own penalty area, which allowed Oleksandr Filippov to reduce the deficit.
Five minutes later, Ivan Kalyuzhnyi, who caused Oleksandriya to suffer a technical defeat in the match against Shakhtar last season, hit the back of the net from 25 meters out, making it 2-2. That's what happens when you are officially announced for a match.
After the break, Oleksandriya rushed forward in high spirits, which culminated in the third goal. Donetsk defender Valeriy Bondar played with his hand in his own penalty area, and Filippov converted the penalty kick - 3: 2.
In the 56th minute, Oleksandriya managed to run out on the counterattack, where Filippov ran one-on-one with the goalkeeper, who had to beat Riznyk, which he did, scoring a hat trick in the match - 4: 2.
Shakhtar attacked until the end of the match, but managed to score only one goal. In the 95th minute, Pedrino scored a goal that rivals Kalyuzhny's in beauty, hitting a shot right into Yermakov's far post - 4-3.
"Oleksandriya won 110 matches in the UPL, extending their unbeaten streak to 8 matches. Moreover, Ruslan Rotan's wards continue to go without a loss, having won all their matches in the opening rounds of the UPL and lead the standings.
"They showed their character. The character of the team. You understand perfectly well how difficult it is to get together when you lose 0-2 and turn the game around. Especially in a match against a rival like Shakhtar. Therefore, this is a great positive moment. Hopefully, this match will give us a start to what we are striving for," Rotan said after the match.
Obolon's declaration, the second hat-trick of the tour, another beautiful goal
In the second match of the round, Zhytomyr's Polissya visited Kyiv's Obolon. Zhytomyr closed the issue of the winner in the match in the first half.
In the 19th minute, Oleksandr Nazarenko broke into the far post after a pass from Oleksiy Hutsulyak and slotted the ball into the net - 1: 0.
Four minutes later, Hutsulyak first threw the ball between Viktor Bliznichenko's legs, beat Vadym Vitenchuk, and scored a long-range shot into the far back nine - 2-0. This goal can compete in beauty with Kalyuzhny's goal in the match against Shakhtar. By the way, the Polissia forward has already scored his 35th goal in the UPL.
At the end of the first half, Nazarenko went one-on-one with Nazariy Fedorivsky, scoring his second goal of the match. It is worth noting the goal assist by Ruslan Babenko, who cut off almost half of the Brewers team with a "Swedish" from the center of the field.
After the start of the second half, Nazarenko elegantly beat Valeriy Dubko to score his debut hat-trick in adult football - 4:0.
"Obolon was unable to counter Polissia, and the Kyiv club's defender Maksym Hrysiou received a red card in the 54th minute.
Thus, Polissia's unbeaten streak in the UPL has lasted for 8 games: 5 wins and 3 draws, while Obolon continued its winless away streak, which has already lasted 12 games.
The defeat in Lviv, where Rukh, with an unrealized penalty, put Zorya on the back foot
In the second match of the round, Rukh was visited by Zorya, who were mercilessly defeated with a score of 0:3.
In the 14th minute, after a corner kick, Yakov Bashych touched Romak Didyk in his own penalty area - the referee awarded a penalty kick. Ostap Prytula took the penalty kick, but Mykyta Turbayevsky was on top of it, confidently stopping the leather after the Rukh midfielder's shot. Very soon, Yaroslav Karabin made amends for his partner and put Rukh ahead: after a throw-in from the outfield, Ilya Kvasnytsia threw it into the goalkeeper's box and the forward scored on the fly into the near corner. Turbayevsky lacked a few centimeters to save his team for the second time - 1: 0.
At the beginning of the second half, Rukh managed to double their lead. Vasyl Runich responded to a corner kick and headed the ball into the near corner of Zorya's goal - 2:0.
Within 10 minutes, Rukh put a crushing 3-0 score on the board. Kvasnytsia managed to block the opponent's shot near his own penalty area, kept the ball in the field and knocked it far forward, Ihor Krasnopir got ahead of Trontel, who unsuccessfully dumped the ball onto his own goalkeeper, and threw it behind the "collar" to Turbayevsky, who went far out of the goal.
"Despite having their chances, Zorya failed to convert them into goals.
After a crushing defeat at the hands of Rukh, Luhansk Zorya president Yevhen Heller dismissed Yuriy Koval from his duties as the club's head coach.
The team will be coached by Mladen Bartulovic again.
Yuriy Koval
Ingulets' third draw in a row and Kobin's suspension
In the third match on Sunday, Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih visited Ingulets Petrovo. The match turned out to be quite interesting at times, as evidenced by the statistics, where Kryvbas had 22 shots on goal, but the teams drew 1-1.
In the 6th minute, Ingulets midfielder Oleksandr Pyatov put his team ahead: Pyatov broke through to the Kryvyi Rih penalty area on the left of the center. His first shot was blocked by Stetskov, but the ball bounced back to Pyatov, who skillfully curled it into the far upper corner of the goal - 1-0.
In the 40th minute, Kryvbas managed to equalize the score in the match thanks to the efforts of Oleh Kozhushko. Lunev broke into the Ingults penalty area and fired a shot to Kozhushko, who effectively redirected the ball into the goal with his heel - 1:1.
Both teams exchanged positional attacks, but neither team managed to take the lead, although Kryvbas was much closer. At the end of the match, Ingulets head coach Vasyl Kobin, who celebrated his 30th UPL match, was sent off.
First goal, first victory - historic
Monday's matches were opened by Kyiv's Left Bank, which has not won in the UPL and has not scored, and visited Odesa's Chornomorets. This match was historic for Kyiv, as they managed to score their first goal in the top flight and also won their first historic victory, extending Odesa's losing streak to 15 games.
The hosts took the lead in the middle of the first half. Ruslan Dedukh sent a free kick to Oleh Synitsa, who dropped the ball 11 meters, and after a scramble in the penalty area, the ball flew to Andriy Yakymiv, who scored his team's debut goal in the UPL - 1-0.
Andriy Yakymiv - the author of the historic and winning goal
The second half was an evenly contested affair with a slight advantage for the Sailors. "The Left Bank even scored for the second time, but a second before the goal, the referee flagged a violation of the rules. The teams exchanged chances until the end of the match, but failed to either equalize or double the advantage - the first historic victory of "Left Bank" in the UPL.
Veres did not allow Kolos to break the series of home losses
The second match on Sunday was played in Rivne between local Veres and Kolos Kovaliv. The Rivne team managed to win their first victory in the new UPL draw and extended Kolos' home winless streak to nine matches.
The teams started the match actively, which resulted in a goal in the opening minutes. Veres striker Ruslan Stepaniuk scored in the 15th minute, but the referee canceled the goal due to offside. The teams had several chances by the end of the half, but failed to realize them.
In the 54th minute, Veres took the lead. Vladyslav Sharay broke into the penalty area at speed and scored past the goalkeeper - 1: 0.
After that, Kolos tried several times to launch attacks, but to no avail. At the end of the match, the score remained in favor of Rivne.
Unfortunately, due to power supply problems caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine's energy facilities, the match was broadcast with a delay.
LNZ's strong-willed victory over Karpaty
The final match of the round, which was scheduled to start at 13:00, between Cherkasy's LNZ and Lviv's Karpaty, was postponed for 6 hours due to the security situation in Cherkasy region.
Already in the 34th minute, thanks to a goal by Ambrosio Chachua, Karpaty took the lead. Chachua was the first to pick up the ball after a corner kick and struck a powerful shot from outside the penalty area - 1: 0 in favor of Karpaty.
At the beginning of the second half, LNZ seized the initiative, but there were no dangerous episodes until the 54th minute. Gennadiy Pasich had a chance to win back one goal, but in the 61st minute Pasich, moving to the center, scored in the far corner of Kemkin's goal - 1:1.
After 15 minutes, Muharrem Yashari put LNZ ahead. The Kosovar took a great pass from Mollo, broke into the penalty area at speed and beat Kemkin - 2:1 in favor of LNZ.
The final whistle signaled the victory of Andres Carrasco's men, who won their third victory of the season, defeating the second Lviv team in two weeks - in the previous round, LNZ nailed Rukh 3-1.
The standings after Round 4 are as follows
