First League. Cobra's second absence, Kovalets' victory and Volyn's appetite

19.08.2018 00:18

Despite reliable game of the goalkeeper Andrew Novak, "Prykarpattya" conceded in Nikolaev. Photo by www.mfc.mk.ua

The fifth round of the first league championship of Ukraine opened with confrontation in Nikolaev where "citizens" accepted one of outsiders - "Prykarpattya".

Experienced goalkeeper Andriy Novak, who previously played for Chornomorets, made his debut for Ivano-Frankivsk. And the guests should thank him for keeping their gates intact for a long time.

In particular, in the 50th minute the defender of "Prykarpattia" Petro Kovalchuk broke the rules in the fight against Yuri Tsapiy, but the regular penalty kick of the hosts Igor Semenina lost the duel to Novak. However, ten minutes later Semenin managed to rehabilitate when he hit the bottom of the penalty area. 1: 0.

The leader of the attack, Ihor Khudobiak, clearly dropped out of the ensemble, and Roman Dytko, who replaced him, could have leveled the score in the 67th minute, but missed from close range. The last word could be behind Nikolaev, however Victor Berko who appeared face to face with Novak, couldn't outwit the goalkeeper.

"Prykarpattya" is staffed with experienced, physically strong football players, - the manager of "Nikolaev" Ruslan Zabransky told after a match. - That's why we were preparing for a tough rivalry on every piece of the field. I think we deservedly scored three points, because we created more scoring opportunities, and this allowed us to gain a foothold at the top of the standings. "

It is unlikely that Ruslan Zabransky was happy to hear that the next day the match between Zirka and Cobra did not take place because of Kharkiv residents. As this was the second absence of Slobozhanets, they will automatically be forced to leave the distance early, and the victories of "Mykolayiv", "Kolos" and "Rukh", which have already met with "Cobra", will be annulled. It remains to wait for the verdict of the FFU SCC…

Of course, in the next round, first of all, the fights with the participation of leaders aroused interest. We will remind that after a victory last week in Dnieper the head coach of "Metalist 1925" Sergey Valyaev declared that, most likely, will leave the position. However, the founder of Metalist 1925, Serhiy Storozhenko, said after a meeting with Valyaev that there would be no changes on the coaching staff.

Today, the residents of Slobozha found out their relations with Obolon-Brovar, which is headed by Serhiy Kovalets, who used to work in Kharkiv for a long time. At the start of the season, "brewers" are not happy with the performance, but also miss a little. Instead, Metalist 1925 players, especially at home, try to act as the number one, at high speeds, often threatening the possession of rivals. But this time, as they say, a scythe jumped on a stone…

The "Brewers" not only defended themselves reliably, but also responded with sharp counterattacks. And in the 88th minute they achieved their goal when Artem Kovbasa scored the winning goal. The hosts were not even helped by the support of 9 spectators.

Earlier this summer, Agribusiness and Dnipro-1 played the title of second league champion on a neutral field in Kyiv. Then at the NSC "Olympic" all decided decisive shot by the leader of the attack Podolia Bohdan Sement. However, the Dnipro team is doing better in the first division, so it was possible to understand the desire of Andriy Donets' wards, with the support of the fans, to finally celebrate the first victory. But a different point of view was held by guests who were better accustomed to the wet lawn after the rain, more often controlled the ball and dictated their terms. In the 25th minute, after a clever combination, Igor Kohut caught the hosts' goalkeeper Konstantin Odolsky by surprise, hitting from outside the penalty area. 0: 1.

In the second half, the rebels stepped up, attacking on the flanks much, but the visitors compactly acted on their own half and kept the winning score.

Last season, Volyn and Sumy fought fiercely to retain their place in the first league. Now the situation has changed dramatically, both teams are pleasing their fans and, according to many experts, Lutsk is almost the main contender for promotion. Of course, Volyn fans who came to support their team were interested in whether midfielder Denis Kozhanov, who has already scored four goals and two assists, will be able to continue his scoring streak.

And Denis remained true to himself: in the 26th minute he beat two opponents on the flank and made a targeted pass to Dmytro Kozban, who opened the scoring at close range. And before the break Kozban made a double after a mistake by the visiting goalkeeper Artem Shtanko. Igor Karpenko brought the case to the defeat in the 89th minute, who replaced Kozban. 3: 0. "Volyn" remains the only team that plays without losses.

5 round

17.08.2018

Mykolaiv - Prykarpattya - 1: 0

18.08.2018

"Volyn" - "Sumy" - 3: 0

Kolos - Avangard - 2: 2

"Agribusiness" - "Dnipro-1" - 0: 1

Rukh - Ingulets - 0: 1

"Miner-Sport" - "Balkans" - 1: 0

"Metalist 1925" - "Obolon-Brovar" - 0: 1

"Star" - "Cobra" - did not happen

Standings