The battle for the first place is gaining momentum: the result of the 18th round of the UPL

“Dynamo remains in first place, with a 5-point advantage over its closest pursuer. “Shakhtar and Oleksandriya won hard-fought victories and continue to chase Kyiv. “Obolon moved up in the table after defeating Vorskla, while Poltava found themselves in the relegation zone. “Ingulets remains the worst team in the league, ranking 16th with only 9 points. UNN talks about the results of the 18th round of the Ukrainian Premier League, new achievements and what the next round of the UPL will be remembered for. 

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Chornomorets moves away from last place 

The first match after the winter break was played in Kovalivka, Kyiv Oblast, where the local Kolos hosted Odesa’s Chornomorets. “Odesa defeated Kovalivka 2-1. The decisive goal was scored by Kyrylo Popov in the 87th minute after a pass from Kratov from the center of the field.

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Kryvbas gets close to Polissya 

On Saturday, Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih and Veres Rivne opened the tour. Shandruk’s team sensationally defeated Vernydub’s side 3-0. Goals were scored by Sharay, Haiduchyk and newcomer Kharatin, and the first goal was the result of a goalkeeper’s mistake by Makhankov.

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Record transfer brings victory to Polissya 

The second match on Saturday was played in Zhytomyr – Ingulets, the nominal host, hosted Polissya. The first symbolic first kick of the match was taken by Bohdan Kraevskyi, a Polissia fan and son of Andriy Kraevskyi, a soldier from the 66th separate mechanized brigade who was killed in action.

Head coach of Polissya Imad Ashour presented the team’s T-shirt and scarf to the performer. 

In the first half, Polissia had more of an advantage, but the only dangerous moments were Israeli Yosefi’s shot from a sharp angle after he took the ball from Oleksandr Zhovtenko – the ball hit the net from the outside of the goal, and Oleksiy Hutsulyak’s shot past the goal. 

“Ingulets played confidently in defense, choosing to play on the counterattack, so the teams went into the breaks with a zero-all draw. After the break, the pattern of the game did not change much: “Polissia had the initiative, and Vasyl Kobin’s men tried their luck on counterattacks. 

In the 62nd minute, Polissia organized a great attack that resulted in a goal: Chobotenko passed to the center to Hutsulyak, who continued to Krushynsky with his heel, the midfielder touched the ball to Nazarenko, who shot along the goalkeeper’s line, where Batista sent the ball into the net – 0: 1. It should be noted that Batista is the most expensive transfer in Polissia’s history, having been paid €1 million. 

However, it is worth noting that Batista also missed many opportunities, including an unrealized one-on-one. 

Ingulets’ brightest moment was Ilya Gadzhuk’s close-range shot on Yevhen Volynets’ crossbar after a throw-in from Roman Volokhaty and a header from Stanislav-Nuri Malysh in the 81st minute. This was almost the only opportunity for the nominal hosts to score in this match.

The final whistle recorded the victory of Polissia, which allowed Zhytomyr to move closer to Kryvbas (one point behind), while Ingulets remained in last place. 

“We understand that we may not be able to play matches at our home stadium, and we do not refuse these conditions. We have no other choice, we will work and do our best to keep the team in the UPL,” said Ingulets coach Vasyl Kobin after the match. 

LNZ defeats ailing Rukh

The final match of Saturday, which could have been canceled, was held in Lviv, where Cherkasy’s LNZ visited the local Rukh. Earlier UNN reported that Rukh asked to postpone the match due to the severe epidemiological situation in the team’s condition, but without waiting for a response from the UAF, it was decided to hold the match. 

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The first symbolic punch in the fight was thrown by Ostap Levus, a police officer who joined the joint National Police brigade “Rage”. In the “Safari” regiment, he performed assault missions in the Toretsk sector, where he was wounded and is currently undergoing rehabilitation after a shrapnel wound. 

Already in the debut of the match, the guests managed to quickly open the scoring – after a corner kick, the ball was knocked out by the LNZ goalkeeper, who picked up Yashari, dragged the “leather” almost across the field, and cut the “Swede” to Tankovsky, who hit the goalkeeper – 1: 0 in favor of LNZ. 

“Rukh threatened Cherkasy’s goal several times after set pieces, but it never came to shots on goal. The second half of the game could have started in the same way, but Einel’s shot hit the crossbar. A moment later, Didyk closed the set piece, but shot past the goal. Then another debutant of the “yellow-blacks” – Vladyslav Pogorilyi – made a dangerous shot, but the goalkeeper caught the ball after this shot. 

The two teams had no more chances, and the final whistle recorded the victory of Roman Hryhorchuk’s team, who returned to Ukrainian football after 10 years. 

“I can’t say for the whole game, but for the first half I can say that the guys brought me back to a state where I enjoy what they do. This is worth a lot. We played a pretty good first half. Not perfect, but very good and I’m satisfied,” said Grigorchuk after the match. 

Obolon breaks out of the relegation zone and sends Vorskla there

Sunday’s first match was played at the Viktor Bannikov Stadium in Kyiv. The capital’s Obolon hosted Poltava’s Vorskla. Before the match, the teams honored the fallen Ukrainian soldiers with a minute of silence, including Obolon fan Pavlo Vedybida, who was killed in the battle near Chasiv Yar on November 13 last year.

The match was fundamental for both teams, as they were very close to each other in the standings, so the teams did not sit on the defensive for long. Serhiy Myakushko could have opened the scoring in the second minute, but the Vorskla winger lacked accuracy – the ball went past the near post. “Obolon created its first chance in the 15th minute: after Chernenko’s free kick, Bychek headed it over the top.

In the first half, Vorskla looked sharper, creating several chances, including Avdili’s shot right at the goalkeeper, Myakushko’s shot from outside the penalty area – Marchenko closed it in a fall, then Salabai noticed that the Brewers goalkeeper had come out of the goal and tried to throw it to him “behind the collar”, but threw the ball over the goal.

After the break, Obolon stepped up and made Isenko work harder. In the end, Obolon’s attacking efforts led to a penalty kick in favor of the Brewers – in the 62nd minute, Hrusha shot on goal, hit Pavliuk in the hand, and the referee, after reviewing VAR, pointed to the mark – Sukhanov perfectly placed the ball in the right nine – 1: 0 in favor of Obolon. 

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In the 78th minute, Ndukwe had a super moment, but the ball treacherously passed the goal. A minute later, Vorskla coach Yuriy Maksymov lost his nerve, which the referee did not like, and he sent off the Poltava coach. In the 85th minute, Obolon could have doubled their lead, but Taranukha missed the goal from a few meters. Two minutes before the end of regular time, Kulach could have become Vorskla’s hero, but from a promising free kick he curled it close to the post.

In the end, the match ended with a minimum score of 1-0 in favor of Obolon. 

“It was a very tough game. We realized that Vorskla is a very powerful team that works well with the ball. Very good transitions from defense to attack, high-speed attacks. “Vorskla caused us problems, but we will analyze and draw conclusions on how we acted both in defense and attack. We really needed a victory, so it was a very important match and I am pleased with the result. Not exactly with the game, but I don’t want to say anything on emotions,” said Serhiy Shyshchenko, Obolon’s head coach, after the match.

Obolon fans have been waiting for a long time to get out of the relegation zone

Oleksandriya does not let Dynamo go 

In the second match on Sunday, Luhansk-based Zorya visited Oleksandriya. Ruslan Rotan’s men needed a victory to continue their fight for the top places in the UPL and not to let Dynamo, who were 5 points ahead of Kirovohrad, go far behind. 

Before the match, the players and fans honored Oleksandr Barabash, a resident of Kirovohrad region, who had been missing since May 15, 2024, and only a few days ago the information about his death was confirmed.

“Oleksandriya immediately got down to business and made several attacks, but the most memorable was Dmytro Myshniov’s shot from outside the penalty area, when the ball went past the post. “Zorya immediately responded with a chance of their own – Michin made a powerful shot from 30 meters, but the Oleksandriya goalkeeper saved it. 

In the end, despite Oleksandriya’s advantage, it was Luhansk who opened the scoring – after a protracted attack in the 43rd minute, Zorya newcomer Dejan Popara won a header for the ball, which bounced to Roman Vantukh, who in turn hit the far corner of Heorhiy Yermakov’s goal with a powerful shot – 1-0 in favor of the men. 

However, the joy of Mladen Bartulovic’s wards did not last long, because two minutes later Bezerra struck a shot from the corner of the penalty area, which, after a small ricochet, changed its direction slightly, successfully flying directly to the foot of Filippov, who beat Oleksandr Saputin from close range – 1: 1. 

After the break, Rotan’s men took the lead immediately, scoring a questionable goal that will be analyzed by experts. Dmytro Myshniov didn’t quite clear the ball, ran on the counterattack and rolled it to Filippov, who scored a double into an empty net – 2: 1. 

Former FIFA referee Miroslav Stupar told Sport.ua that referee Maksym Kozyryatsky made several mistakes at once. 

“And it’s not just the foul against Vakula that Bartulovich drew attention to. The violation of the rules was obvious, and the referee managed to punish Vakula with a yellow card for… simulation. Kozyryatsky was not blameless when the hosts took the lead at the beginning of the second half. Before making an effective pass to Oleksandr Filipov, Dmytro Myshniov openly pushed the opponent away, but Kozyryatsky did not pay attention to it. What is most offensive is that VAR referee Vitaliy Romanov for some reason did not point out Kozyryatsky’s mistakes. Why then send a whole group of referees and VAR observers to matches if justice is not being done?” said Stupar. 

In the end, over the next 40 minutes of play, neither team came close to increasing their advantage or saving themselves from defeat – the referee recorded a 2-1 victory for Oleksandriya.

There was also a scandalous episode in the match when Kampush held Vakula in the penalty area with his hands, but the referee gave Vakula a yellow card for simulation rather than a penalty. 

Zorya’s head coach Mladen Bartulovic said that there was a clear penalty in the 67th minute. 

“In my opinion, it was an even game. A very unfortunate defeat for my team. We conceded unnecessary goals. The first of them, before the break, was the key one. If we had gone into the second half with a 1-0 lead, it would have been a completely different game. But we conceded. We can say that in two minutes we conceded again and lost. However, after we started losing, I liked the reaction of the players. They started to act actively. It was not enough to score a little bit. In my opinion, there was a clear penalty in the 67th minute when Vakula was fouled. For some reason, no one saw it – neither the chief referee nor the HACC judges,” Bartulovych said .

Dynamo continues to make steady progress toward the championship 

In the final match of Sunday, Dynamo played host to Lviv’s Karpaty at the Valeriy Lobanovsky Stadium. The match promised to be interesting, in particular, it was interesting to see Karpaty, who, after reuniting with Rukh, were strengthened by four players from Lviv, as well as other legionnaires. However, the miracle did not happen, but Dynamo played as the first team, almost not allowing Karpaty to create their own chances. 

In the first half, Dynamo had many chances that failed to materialize into goals. “Karpaty held on heroically, and the Lions’ first chance came only in the second half, when Ihor Krasnopir broke into the penalty area and scored past Neshcheret’s goal. 

In the very next attack, Dynamo’s efforts finally resulted in a goal – Chachua earned a foul on Pikhalenko, after a Kyiv free kick, a commotion ensued in the visitors’ penalty area, in which Mykhailenko was the first to find his way and hit the right corner of the goal – 1: 0 in favor of Kyiv. 

“Karpaty quickly recovered and began to attack Dynamo’s goal, with Ocheretko scoring a shot past the goal and Kostenko once shooting high. However, 20 minutes before the end of the match, Dynamo still doubled their lead – Vivcharenko ran down the flank, passed to Vanata, the forward took out Pedroso with an elegant feint and hit the top right corner of the Karpaty goal with a wonderful free kick – 2: 0. 

By the way, this is Vanat’s 11th goal in the current UPL draw, which allows him to take first place in the scoring race. In the end, the match ended with the score 2-0. 

Shakhtar closes the round with a minimal victory 

In the final match of the round, Shakhtar Donetsk and Luhansk’s Left Bank met in Lviv on Monday. Before the match, the miners presented a commemorative T-shirt to 13-year-old Yana Stepanenko, who lost both legs in 2022 as a result of a rocket attack on the train station in Kramatorsk. 

On March 1, with the support of Shakhtar Donetsk, she will participate in the Tokyo Marathon Friendship Run to represent Ukraine and draw attention to the issue of prosthetics for Ukrainian soldiers.

At the start of the match, Shakhtar were predictably more active, but Kyiv created the first chance when Oleh Synytsia hit the post from a sharp angle. “The Storks could not be said to be sitting in defense, and even had a few chances of their own. 

However, Pushic’s men looked sharper – first, Mehaniv kicked away Traore’s header from a deadly position, then Kevin tried to score, but the Brazilian’s shot was covered by defenders. 

Left Bank got its chance in the 25th minute, but Sukhoruchko lacked accuracy and the ball went past the far post. At the beginning of the second half, Shakhtar began to press and did not give Kyiv any more freedom. And in the 61st minute, the Pitmen opened the scoring – Shved took advantage of the panic of the Storks defense in his own penalty area and headed the ball into the net – 1-0 in favor of Shakhtar. 

Subsequently, Donetsk was strengthened by the most expensive forward in the team’s history, Elias, who could have opened the scoring for the new team in the first attack, but Mekhaniv, who made a great save, was against it. Later, Elias hit the post after a corner kick, and just before that, Nazarin tested the strength of the Kyiv goal frame.

In general, the Pitmen did not allow Left Bank to create anything in the second half, and the match ended with the same score as in the first meeting – 1-0 in favor of Shakhtar.