The UPL is back after the winter break: “Chornomorets snatches victory from Kolos in the last minutes
Kyiv • UNN
In the first match of the 18th round of the UPL, Chornomorets defeated Kolos 2-1. Kyrylo Popov scored the decisive goal in the 87th minute after a pass from Kratov from the center of the field.
In the first match of the 18th round of the Ukrainian Premier League, Odesa's Chornomorets won a strong-willed victory against Kovaliv's Kolos in the last minutes thanks to a goal by Kyrylo Popov, UNN reports.
Details
The match at the Kolos Stadium in Kovalivka started at 15:30. Before the match, the players and fans honored the fallen soldiers with a minute of silence, and the first symbolic kick on the ball was made by Dmytro Orel, a staff sergeant with the 132nd separate territorial defense battalion of the 114th separate territorial defense brigade.
He defended Ukraine from the Russian invaders in Bakhmut and other hotspots in eastern Ukraine. The home team started the match actively. Already in the second minute, Kovalivka fouled Magomed Kratov near the Chornomorets penalty area, who unsuccessfully passed to his goalkeeper, Arinaldo Rrapai intercepted the ball and passed it 11 meters to Mykola Kovtalyuk, who scored in the 2nd minute into an empty net - 1-0 in favor of Kolos.
A quick goal was a sensation for the Seafarers, but Chornomorets managed to get back into the game in 8 minutes after a free kick - Yanakov "twisted" into the goal, but Pakholyuk managed to save the shot, but Yevhen Skiba was agile in the goalkeeper's box and sent the ball into the empty net - 1-1.
At the end of the half, Skiba could have scored a double, but the VAR recorded offside in the defense, and so the goal was canceled. In the first half, Chornomorets forward Bezborodko had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Pakholyuk saved it, as well as two crosses from the Seafarers.
The teams also started the second half quite actively, but they had to wait until the end of the match to score, but Kolos could have scored at first, but Chornomorets' hero Skiba knocked the ball off the goal line.
Three minutes before the end of the half, the anti-hero of the "sailors" Kratov, who "brought" the ball into his own goal, gave a super pass in the style of Tony Kroos - the defender from the center of the field passed to Popov, cut off two Kolos defenders, handled the ball with the first touch, and with the second - shot into the far corner - 2: 1.
"In a dramatic match, Chornomorets pulls out a victory away from home and gains 15 points, allowing the team to move up from the penultimate place. "Kolos remains in 11th place with 18 points.
Recall
UNN reported that on February 21 the Ukrainian football championship starts after a two-month pause. In two months, the teams managed to play a bunch of friendly matches, some even dropped out of European competitions, some teams strengthened with quality players, and some players even came under Russian fire