The battle for the first place continues, sensations in Cherkasy and Rivne, air raids: results of the 13th round of the UPL

Dynamo Kyiv continues to lead the standings after defeating Polissia, but Oleksandriya continues to breathe down their necks with a hat-trick from their central defender. Air raids in the Kyiv region, a fan dog, sensations in Cherkasy and Rivne - this is how the 13th round of the Ukrainian Premier League passed. UNN decided to tell you the results, new achievements and what the next round of the UPL will be remembered for. 

Maksymov's anniversary victory

Odesa's Chornomorets opened the next round of the UPL with a visit from Poltava's Vorskla. The match was crucial for both teams, as a victory could allow Chornomorets, who were 11th in the table, to break away from Poltava, who were 13th, with only two points separating the teams. 

Traditionally, the first symbolic kick of the ball was made by Oleksiy Lytovchenko, who came out on the field with his son, an Armed Forces serviceman who came to the defense of Ukraine in 2022 and fought in the ranks of the 28th separate mechanized brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign. During his service, he was deployed in various areas, but was wounded in the Bakhmut district on June 16, 2023, and has been undergoing rehabilitation for almost a year. 

The first dangerous moment arose already in the 2nd minute of the match, when Ilya Krupsky shot in the penalty area after serving from the flank, but the ball flew higher. "Vorskla" already had its moment in 10 minutes, but Kovtalyuk did not have enough accuracy. Odessa residents in the first 45 minutes almost did not create any main chances, only singly going out in counter-attacks. 

During the halftime show, Chornomorets honored the unsurpassed sporting achievement of the 1974 team of sailors. 50 years ago, the USSR Championship ended in November with a historic bronze medal for the Odesa club. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the important event in the history of national football, the club thanked the stars of the golden generation of 1974: players Oleksandr Degtyarev, Serhii Pavlenko, Volodymyr Rodionov, Viktor Zubkov, Viacheslav Leshchuk, Oleksandr Holokolosov, and masseur Volodymyr Sokolov and specially ordered badges were presented with the club's gratitude and unique badges. Club awards were also presented to Anatoliy Doroshenko, who is undergoing treatment.

The award ceremony was attended by the head of the regional football federation, the head of the Odesa RMA, Oleg Kiper, and the CEO of FC Chornomorets, Anatoliy Mysyura.

After the break, the nature of the game did not change. Absolutely smooth game. The teams responded to each other at the moment, but the denouement of the match came at the end of the match - in the 76th minute, Vorskla organized its attack, which was accompanied by a bunch of bounces and rebounds, but in the end the ball went to the corner. After a corner kick, Chelyadin threw it through himself into the goalie's box, the ball hit Butko, who could not curb it, and shkirny flew to Ndukwe, who was the best orientated in the goalie's box and pushed him into the net - 1:0. 

By the end of the match, Chornomorets tried to win back, but there was not enough time, and the final whistle recorded the minimum victory of Poltava, which became the 80th coaching position in the UPL for the Vorskla coach. 

"dry zeros" in the Battle of outsiders 

The second match on Friday, between Kyiv's Left Bank and Petrov's Ingulets, was postponed for 25 minutes due to an air raid alert in Kyiv region. However, the Russians could not spoil the mood of Kyiv midfielder Ruslan Dedukh, who won his team's best player award last month. 

The first kick of the ball was made by Senior Warrant Officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Hlukhenkyi, who began his military service in 1980, later participated in the ATO from 2014 to 2017, and in 2022 joined the ranks of the Kyiv TRO and was awarded awards for the defense of Kyiv and Kyiv region. 

Ingulets' first chance came in the 5th minute, when Kyslenko headed a shot straight into Mechaniv's hands. Subsequently, Mekhaniv had to re-enter the game, pulling a shot from Vivald, who headed after a corner kick. 

"Ingulets" even scored in the 32nd minute, but the referee canceled the goal due to the fact that Malysh, who completed the attack of the guests, played along with his hand. After the break, the pattern of the game did not change, but Kobin's wards looked more convincing. At first, Pyatov shot well into the bottom corner of the "Left Bank", but Mekhanov saved his team. The "Left Bank" recovered at the end of the match. The hero of the capital team could be Kogut, who had a great opportunity to score in the 73rd minute, but Palamarchuk saved Ingulets.

By the end of the match, the teams were already openly finishing the match, and the final whistle recorded a "dry" draw - 0:0. 

sensational victory of Obolon for the first time in 1.5 months

In the first match on Saturday, another outsider, Obolon from Kyiv, which was in the penultimate place, came to Cherkasy to play. The first shot on the ball in the match was made by a senior soldier, a former soldier of the 156th separate battalion of the 118th brigade of territorial defense of Cherkasy region, Oleksandr Nosenko. 

Oleksandr took part in the battles for territorial integrity from 2014 to 2016, defending the cities of Mariupol, Novoazovsk and Luhansk airport. On February 26, 2022, he was wounded while defending the city of Popasna, Luhansk region. Currently, he is a member of the team of athletes - war veterans. He is a participant of the all-Ukrainian competition “Games of the Unconquered”. 

The first 15 minutes were left for LNZ, who looked more confident in attack, and had the opportunity to open the scoring. However, in the 16th minute, Kiev midfielder Chernenko unexpectedly shot from outside the penalty area-the LNZ keeper jumped from under the crossbar to the corner. "LNZ" responded 5 minutes later, when Putrya shot through the goalkeeper's box, and Karas almost cut the ball into his own goal. Obolon had a cool episode in the 35th minute, when Grusha shot Kucherenko from close range, but then saved his goal again. A moment later, Kucherenko probably gave a save to the tour, when Chernenko shot from outside the penalty area, but the ball after a rebound flew into the top nine, but Kucherenko was able to pull. 

After the break, Obolon finally got their moment: Hrusha twisted the defender on the right flank and fired - Kucherenko pulled, but Slobodian was the first to finish. “LNZ even managed to equalize, but Suarez's goal was canceled because the legionnaire played with his hand.

The final whistle recorded a sensational victory for Obolon, who last won in September - 1-0. 

Oleksandriya continues to breathe down Dynamo's neck thanks to Kampush's hat trick 

In the second match on Saturday, Oleksandriya, which is fighting with Dynamo Kyiv for first place in the standings, hosted Lviv's Karpaty, who are in the middle of the standings. 

The first blow in the match was performed by a senior soldier of the 41st separate Mechanized Brigade Maxim Tkachenko. The brigade performed its assigned tasks in the defense of Kupyansk and Chasovy Yar, and now performs combat tasks in the Kursk direction.

Maxim also received a memorable T-shirt from the head coach of "Alexandria" Ruslan Rotan with the number 41. 

The match started with Alexander Belyaev's shot in the 2nd minute, which shifted from the left flank and aimed at the far corner. Alexander Kemkin in the fall deflected the threat. "Karpaty "responded with a blow from Oleg Ocheretko, who responded to the Cross of Evgeny Podlepentsy – the keeper of" Alexandria " deflected the threat. 

By the middle of the first half, Karpaty looked more active, but the Lviv team's attempts did not result in goals scored. In particular, in the 27th minute, Chachua shot powerfully, but could not hit the near corner. In the 36th minute, the finest hour came for Alexandrian defender Miguel Campos, who made a great free kick into Kemkin's near corner - 1:0. 

In the 40th minute, Karpaty could have scored when Kostenko sent a free kick, but the ball was cut off and flew behind the goalkeeper's collar, but not accurately. 

At the start of the second half, the hosts won the right to a penalty. Jean Pedroso stepped on Bezerri's foot, so the referee pointed to the mark. Kampush took an eleven-meter shot and sent the ball into the net for the second time. 

In the 60th minute, Karpaty was saved by a post when it took Mishnev's shot, after Belyaev's discount. Soon, Karpaty lost the opportunity to reduce the gap in the score. Igor Neves headed after a corner kick, but Georgy Ermakov pulled the ball out of the corner of the goal.

In the 86th minute, the Karpaty keeper mowed down Kovalets in his penalty area, and the referee pointed to the mark. Kampush took the penalty again, shooting exactly into the left corner. Kemkin guessed the direction of the shot, but a few centimeters were not enough to parry the shot - 3:0. 

The final whistle recorded a crushing victory of "Alexandria" - 3:0, and also the Alexandrians set a new club record for a unbeaten streak in the UPL – 17 matches.

Kryvbas breaks into the top 5

In the final match of Saturday, Kolos Kovalevsky was visited by Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. As in the match" Left Bank " - "Ingulets", the start of the match was postponed for almost 1.5 hours due to an air alert in the Kiev region. The start of the match was reserved for the guests, when Nikitishin shot a great header after Bandera's serve, but Pakholyuk helped out. Kolos responded with their own moment - Carioca shot at the goal, but the ball almost flew into the near corner after a rebound. Subsequently, Kolos seized the initiative, as evidenced by the statistics of shots in the first half - 11:1. however, in the first half, the audience did not see any goals. 

Kryvbas made two shots on target during the entire game and it was the second shot that turned out to be accurate - Tverdokhleb, who entered the second half, opened the scoring in 2 minutes: Sosa threw his head at Tverdokhleb, the latter broke into the penalty area, screwed the defenders and accurately shot into the corner - 1:0. 

"Kolos" recovered in 15 minutes and was able to equalize the score - after a corner kick, Klishchuk knocked the ball out with his fists exactly on Kozik, who shot powerfully at the goal, but the Kryvbas keeper coped with the shot, but on finishing Bolivar was powerless, who shot into the far corner - 1:1. 

“Kolos continued to attack and was much closer to scoring than the opponent. In the 80th minute, Sosa could have put Kryvbas ahead, but his accuracy was off. The final whistle recorded a draw, but it allowed Kryvbas to break into the top five of the championship.

Another sensation. This time in Rivne 

In the first match of Sunday, Veres Rivne was visited by Rukh Lviv, which has recently slowed down somewhat, and does not show results, as at the start of the season. Already according to tradition for UPL clubs, the first symbolic kick on the ball in the match was performed by Georgy Merkushin with the call sign "Iago", who served in the MTR and participated in the battles in the Zaporozhye direction, after which he moved to the Azov team, where he participated in the battles in New York in the Donetsk region, where he was injured. 

The start of the match was a cold shower for Rukh, which was considered the favorite in the confrontation before the start of the match. Already in the 6th minute, "Veres", thanks to the efforts of Dakhnovsky. First, Haiduchik started a fight with Slyubik, who was forced to give it to his goalkeeper. Ledvius passed to Pidgursky, but the latter was pressed by Iago Siqueira, who scratched the ball for Dakhnovsky, who stretched a few meters and shot exactly into the bottom corner of Ledvius ' goal - 1:0. 

In 2 minutes, Dakhnovsky could have doubled the lead, but Ledviy managed the shot. 

After 15 minutes, Veres managed a beautiful attack - the Veres defender knocked the ball down the flank, Stepaniuk continued with his heel to Dakhnovsky, who ran down the flank, passed to the opposite flank to Luan, who scored exactly in the far corner - 2: 0 by the 22nd minute of the match.

After scoring a goal, the game calmed down somewhat, but in the 31st minute, the same Dakhnovsky could have brought the score to a crushing one, but the winger threw both the goalkeeper and the goal. "Rukh" could have cut at the end of the first half, but it was not fated: Kvasnitsa shot at the technique, but the ball went past the goal, and Sych's shot was parried by Kozhukhar. 

After the break, Rukh became somewhat more active and began to create its own chances. In the 65th minute, The Shepherd missed the frame with his head. In the future, there was a certain lull on the field. "Veres "was already finishing the match, not going too far ahead, and" Rukh " did not stick to the front at all. The final whistle recorded a confident victory of Veres - 2:0, which allowed Rivne to overtake Lviv in the standings. 

In the second half, the broadcast directors recorded an interesting episode, which shows how the dog came to watch football in the stands and even barked at someone. 

a miracle did not happen, or a strong-willed victory for Shakhtar

One of the central matches of the tour was held in Lviv, where Shakhtar Donetsk was visited by Zarya Luhansk. The Donetsk team, who defeated the young boys in the Champions League the day before, needed to win this match in order to close the gap to first place. 

The first symbolic kick in the match was performed by Yevgenia and Maria, the wife and daughter of the fallen defender of Ukraine Ivan Pavlichenko. Ivan was a combat medic, a junior sergeant of the 131st separate battalion of the 112th OBR of the TRO forces and the brother of FC Shakhtar employee Artem Pavlichenko.

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On August 30, 2024, Ivan died on the battlefield in the Kupyansky direction, providing the necessary assistance to a wounded brother. Before his death, Ivan managed to save the life of a comrade-in-arms, but he himself came under enemy fire while waiting for evacuation. After the symbolic blow, the Pitmen coach presented Yevgenia Pavlichenko with a memorable Shakhtar T-shirt. 

Already in the 9th minute, a curious episode occurred when the referees had technical problems on the field - they could not hear the video recordings. The match was suspended for 3 minutes while the equipment was being set up.

In the first half, Shakhtar looked more convincing, but there were not enough chances for both teams. At Shakhtar, you can only recall Sudakov's shot, which shot higher with his head. 

However, in the 36th minute, Zarya, which had almost no chances, managed to take the lead. Vantukh gave left to Gorbach, who half-passed to Yatsik. A midfielder on loan from Dynamo dragged the ball down the flank, burst into the penalty area and shot powerfully past Bondar into the far nine - 1:0 in favor of Zarya. Sikan could have equalized the score in 4 minutes, but his shot was easy for Turbayevsky, and a little later Matvienko shot into the near corner, but the Zarya keeper was again on top. 

After the break, Shakhtar managed not only to score quickly, but also to immediately take the lead. First, the miners ' midfielder Artem Bondarenko beat Sikan in the penalty area, broke into the penalty area, where he was mowed down by Vantukh. The referee awarded a penalty, which accurately shot into the lower left corner - 1:1. 

Three minutes later, thanks to Kevin's efforts, the Donetsk team managed to take the lead. Brazilian Tobias served from the right flank into the penalty area at his compatriot Kevin, who processed the ball, shot past Turbayevsky - 2:1. Shakhtar could have doubled the advantage in the 70th minute, but Turbayevsky parried Tobias ' shot into the near corner. 

Already in the 2nd minute added to the second half, Sudakov sent Zubkov to the flank, the winger dragged the ball and shot into the penalty area, where Zarya defender Jordan cut the ball into his own goal, setting the final score - 3:1 in favor of Shakhtar. 

Dynamo returns first place in Shovkovsky's anniversary match, while Yarmolenko gets closer to the record. 

Another central match of the tour was held in Kiev at the Valery Lobanovsky Stadium. In the capital's Dynamo, which needed to return the first place in the tournament, as well as rehabilitate itself for a bitter defeat against Ferencvaros in the Europa League, polesie Zhytomyr came, which also continues to impose the fight on the leaders. 

The teams started the match cautiously, playing almost in the center of the field. "Polesie" created a moment at the beginning of the match, but the ball passed by and after that the game calmed down somewhat. By the equator of the first half, Kiev seized the initiative and even managed to score. In the 21st minute, Dubinchak, who was criticized after the match with Ferencvaros, gave to Kabaev, who in turn gave to the center to Vanat. The forward held the ball and gave it to Shaparenko, the midfielder of Kiev broke into the penalty area and gave it to the same Vanat, who shot Volynets from a non - working Leg-1:0. 

Three minutes later, Tymchik broke through the flank and served into the penalty area, but the ball hit Smolyakov's hand, and the referee awarded a penalty. Yarmolenko took up the punishment, who successfully used his chance, and scored the 110th goal in the UPL. 

At the end of the half, things got really bad for Polesie when Bohdan Mikhaylichenko stepped on Vitaliy Buyalsky's foot, received a second yellow card and was sent off. 

In the second half, the removal was carried out in signs and was more like a well - known football saying-some could not, others did not want to. It is difficult to remember the moments on the part of both teams, but still "Polesie", which played in the minority, managed to close the gap. Zhytomyr got the right to a corner in the 85th minute: Mustafayev executed a pass from the corner and the ball treacherously hit Dyachuk, who bounced to Hutsulyak, who only had to shoot Buschan's goal from a few meters, which the Zhytomyr winger actually managed - 2:1. 

At the end of the match, Guerrero scored 3 goals for Dynamo, but the forward got into an offside position and the referee canceled the goal. 

The final whistle recorded a minimal victory for Dynamo in the 40th match of Alexander Shovkovsky at the head of Kiev-2:1. 

The standings after the next round are as follows: Dynamo and Alexandria continue to share points, but Kiev continues to lead in additional indicators. "Obolon", despite the victory, is in the penultimate place, and" Ingulets " took the last place.