Sport Arena names the symbolic selection of the first round of the First League for the season 2022/23
Game program of the 7th round (report with video here)
Champion group | Elimination group |
Monday, May 22 | Saturday, May 20 |
Flint – Niva (Ternopil) – 2: 2 | Dinaz ‒ FC Chernihiv-SHVSM ‒ 1:0 |
LNZ – Karpaty – 4:1 | Prykarpattya – SC Poltava – 0:1 |
Metallurg – Epicenter – 1:0 | FSK Mariupol – Skoruk – 0:3 |
Obolon – Polissya – 1:1 | Bukovyna – Gornyak-Sport – 3:2 |
About the best personalities and the main figures of the tour – here.
Goalkeeper – Igor Vartsaba (Skoruk)
The fact that the victory of the new leader of the Group in the knockout was not just devastating, but “dry”, a huge role played by the experienced goalkeeper Vartsaba. Even with the minimal advantage of his team, he made one of the best saves of the tour, pulling Penteleychuk’s shot. In the future, Igor reacted to not the most difficult blows from Mikhailenko, Gora, Kharzhevsky from a long-range free kick. This is the fifth match without conceded goals for Vartsaba.
- Best in Champion Group: Ivan Muzychka (Flint)
Right back – Bogdan Sokol (Metallurg)
Epicenter has good flanks, which is worthy of Shevchenko’s left fullback with a cannon strike, the ability to serve from the field and from the set pieces. Sokol, in his own manner, managed to tie up his opponents, except for dangerous long-range strikes, they had practically nothing from this flank. But Sokol himself periodically connected to the attacks, supported Belotserkovets and Sidorov, could score on his own (one hit was unsuccessful, the other went on target, but the goalkeeper saved the rivals).
- Best in Elimination Group: Sergei Starenky (Dinaz)
Central defender – Sergey Basov (Metallurg)
A tough, viscous game brought a good result for the Zaporizhzhya team – given the victory of the LNZ over the Karpaty, we can say that Metallurg has one foot in the playoffs. We note one of the experienced players of this team – Basov. He not only played great in defense (the only moment when the hosts could lose points – a hit on the crossbar of Gorny – was not his fault, in another Sergey acted great), but also connected to the free kick and scored.
- Best in Elimination Group: Ilya Hodulya (Skoruk)
Central defender – Kirill Pasechnik (SK Poltava)
A difficult match that ended in an important victory. Although for Prykarpattya a positive result would mean continued leadership, the Poltava team had to win in order to protect themselves from play-offs for maintaining residence permits. It is important that at this moment the team was able to unite and avoid conceded goals. In this regard, we note Pasechnik, who won a lot of fights, who was the best at the top and often started attacks with his guide passes.
- Best in Champion Group: Bogdan Veklyak (Metallurg)
Left back – Davronbek Azizov (Flint)
In the last rounds, Azizov faced a tough rotation, but the match against Niva is his important argument in the fight for the main team. It was Davronbek who equalized the score at a surprisingly important moment, closing Agapov’s flank serve with his head. He, after the break, served a free kick, after which Matveev brought Kremen forward. It was not possible to keep the advantage over the Ternopils, however, the Kremenchuzhites did not let them go ahead either.
- Best in Elimination Group: Igor Kotsyumaka (Skoruk)
Central midfielder – Arsenty Doroshenko (Niva)
Doroshenko opened the scoring with a splendid free-kick already in the debut of the match (see the Goal of the Tour nomination), and then he performed a large amount of work in the center of the field, which was especially important this time – a number of Niva’s leading players did not come to Poltava region due to injuries. Arsenty could, by the way, score a double, but his good shot after a pass from Galadei was pulled from the front by the hosts’ goalkeeper Muzychka.
- Best in Elimination Group: Artem Tsurupin (Bukovina)
Right midfielder – Ivan Tishchenko (LNZ Cherkasy)
An incredible match from Tishchenko – he managed everywhere and made a decisive contribution to the crushing victory over the Karpaty, which gave the LNZ an early ticket to the playoffs. Ivan could open the scoring himself, had a great moment at the goalkeeper’s corner, later scored from offside. However, Tishchenko revealed himself more as an assistant. In the first effective combination, he supported the impulse of Khamelyuk, after which the Soldier dropped Galenko under the goal. Then Tishchenko gave good assists to Savin (a pass to the opposite post) and Dolinsky (an excellent pass to the move).
- Best in Elimination Group: Bogdan Orinchak (Dinaz)
Attacking midfielder – Ilya Skripnik (Bukovina)
A rising star with the Dynamo school – Skrypnik in the spring part of the season became the best player in the division. Against Gornyak-Sport, it was he who could open the score, but hit the crossbar. When the hosts conceded, Ilya elegantly connected Palahniuk, who equalized the score. When, after Stolyar’s throw, the opponent did not play clearly enough, Skrypnyk instantly took advantage of the moment and scored the third winning goal for his team. If you play the last home game of the season, then that’s it.
- Best in Champion Group: Vitaliy Boyko (LNZ Cherkasy)
Left midfielder – Artem Perebora (Skoruk)
Top match from Perebora. In fact, in Boryspil, where FSK Mariupol hosted Skoruk, it was Artyom who made the result. He opened the scoring with a direct kick from a corner and then almost scored from a free-kick from the Shevchenko spot. He constantly participated in high-speed combinations and became a direct co-author of two more goals for his team, when he gave assists to Kotsyumaku and Shmigelsky.
- Best in Champion Group: Egor Prokopenko (Obolon)
Forward – Eugene Streltsov (SK Poltava)
Streltsov’s good match – in the absence of Shcherbak, he managed to finish (he could open the scoring, starting from the right edge, without hitting the far corner), and in the underplay. An excellent throw on Kostenko’s move was Yevgeny’s assist under the decisive goal, which brought SC Poltava a victory over the Carpathians and removed the townspeople’s worries ahead of schedule about how to avoid the need to defend a place in the First League in the play-offs.
- Best in Champion Group: Yaroslav Galenko (LNZ Cherkasy)
Forward – Vasily Palahniuk (Bukovina)
The match against Gornyak-Sport is one of the best for Palahnyuk, although in the spring it was difficult for him to get in shape after the injury and at first other players looked better. Although the opponent fought for the last chance to avoid relegation, Vasily constantly rammed his defense – he could score more than once, hit the post. At the most crucial moment, it was Palahnyuk who, having received a pass from Skrypnyk, turned around and shot into the far corner with his left foot (this is how he equalized the score in the match). Again, he remained active and could score more.
- Best in Champion Group: Igor Krasnopir (Obolon)

Alexander Kovpak, photo fc-lnz.com
The match, which gave the winners a “golden share” in the form of an early exit to the UPL playoffs, LNZ Cherkasy not only won, but won with a crushing score. Starting in a slightly rebuilt line-up, the hosts made great use of substitutions, and after the removal of the guests, they brought the game to a spectacular victory. Karpaty is a strong contender with a good selection of experienced players and gifted youth. The victory over the Lviv team confirms the success of the renewed Cherkasy team.
Analysis from the All-Ukrainian Association of Football Coaches – here.

There are high-quality jokers in this round – Tsurupin from Bukovina made a great contribution to the victory over Gornyak-Sport, after his strike he took the second goal, Bystritsky from Vyshgorod was remembered – yes, yes – with speed, finally, Dolinsky from Cherkasy scored the last goal after coming on as a substitute Karpaty and could have scored more. However, Kovpak has one simply unique replacement – Boyko instead of Kopyl. Removal for the opponent, his own third goal, participation in another combination. Well, not a replacement – a feast for the eyes!
- Sport Arena stats: 7 league matches, 2 goals.

The strong-willed victory of Chernivtsi gave them a little in the tournament plan, but Gornyak-Sport was relegated from the First League ahead of schedule. The hero of the match was Skripnik. The 19-year-old midfielder was good in playing along (Palahnyuk equalized from his pass) and scored the winning goal against the Pitmen.
- Sport Arena stats: 17 league games, 4 goals, 5 assists.
We had a goal from a direct corner kick (moreover, Skoruk has already scored one this season), but we are already spoiled, give us something especially spectacular. OK. Quoting the report: “After the failure in the center of the field, Matveev had to shoot down Riznyk. Dangerous free kick from 23-25 meters undertook to carry out the Dnipro pupil Doroshenko. Arsentiy shot with his right foot so chic that the ball bounced off the crossbar and fell into the net.
Goal can be seen on video from 0:18

Read later on our website an interview with a player who scored a direct corner kick and provided two assists in the match against FSK Mariupol.
- Sport Arena stats: 20 league games, 6 goals, 4 assists.
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ALL THE BEST ON THE TOUR: goalkeeper, joker, young player, goalscorer – in one article. On our website – individual nominations in the First League and the numbers of the tour!
PS When preparing the material, photographs of the official websites of the clubs were used. The material is written by the author in Ukrainian.
Source: Sportarena

I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.