Sport Arena names the symbolic team of the next UPL round of the 2023/24 season, as well as the best in individual nominations, which are determined by our website for each round
The Sport Arena website contains teams from all rounds of the Ukrainian Premier League 2023/24. Who made it into the top 11 this time and won in individual categories?
Goalkeeper – Evgeniy Past (Veres)
The trip to the newcomer of the First League – Obolon – was a certain test for the Rivne team, because the hosts have several high-speed players and people like Chernenko with his crazy shot. Already in the opening, Past passed the test, parrying the blows of Krasnopir and Pear from lethal positions. Later he constantly worked on serves from the game and from set pieces. A goalless draw under such circumstances is a compliment to the goalkeeper.
Right back – Ilya Putrya (Chernomorets)
The flank defenders of Chernomorets simply vacuumed their edges, constantly providing their team with an advantage. We note Putrya: his constant connections helped Shtogrin and Badibanga, and Ilya himself did a fair amount of work for them. He was a participant in several decisive attacks at once, in particular the fourth, when Boychuk scored with a finishing shot after Putri’s shot.
Central defender – Bohdan Slyubik (Rukh)
First of all, we note Slyubyk for his play in defense – where this has been seen, a duo of centerbacks at the age of 19-20 played against the champion, and at the same time they did not allow the opponents to turn around. In addition, Bogdan boldly went to the opponent’s goal and equalized the score on about the third attempt. His crazy strike is one of the most beautiful goals of the entire tour and on the short list of the Ukrainian Championship.
Central defender – Vitaly Ermakov (Chernomorets)
Actually, the key event of the match was when defender Ermakov managed to finish off Bragaru’s shot and opened the scoring already in the opening of the Alexandria meeting. This deprived the hosts of Plan A for the game, forced them to rebuild and open up, and therefore set the pace for the entire confrontation. Later, Vitaly was more involved in defensive work, which was enough.
Left back – Artem Smolyakov (Polesie)
One of the most emotional moments of the tour was Smolyakov’s goal, played with Arielson and after a wonderful return throw from the Brazilian, he somehow curiously threw the ball past the Minai goalkeeper Bandura. In front of his parents, active Artem gave a particularly bright, active performance. He constantly joined in attacks, shot at goal before, and aggravated from his flank many times.
Central midfielder – Vladimir Brazhko (Dynamo)
Before the match, there was only talk about how much Brazhko would replace Sidorchuk. The coaching staff even played it safe by releasing Andrievsky to help the breakwater of the Ukrainian youth team. And these two ensured the goal already in the third minute, when Brazhko tore through the net of the Cherkassy goal with an excellent long-range strike. Subsequently, Vladimir did not switch off from the game and provided another assist for the third goal of the match and the second for Dynamo – for Yarmolenko.
Right midfielder – Andrey Yarmolenko (Dynamo)
Andrey’s high class allowed him to outwit his opponents and create a constant threat on his flank. He could have scored even earlier, but after the corner he slightly missed the goal. But after Brazhko’s pass, Yarmolenko gave showtime, dealing with his opponents and sending the ball into the corner of the goal.
Attacking midfielder – Orest Kuzik (Chernomorets)
An active participant in most combinations of Odessa residents, the leader of the midfield center of Chernomorets. Even without Shporn, he maintained the harmony of the middle line, forming a good tandem from Dada Belmonte. He was noted more as an assistant and attack designer. Orest scored his team’s third goal using a pass to Bragar.
Left midfielder – Dmytro Kryskiv (Shakhtar)
Playing as a nominal left midfielder, indeed Kryskiv constantly interacted and changed zones with Sudakov, leaving a large space on the left eyebrow at the mercy of Azarov. Dmitry acted in a combinational manner: he could score himself, directly assisted Sudakov on Gornyakov’s goal, and after the break he even scored a goal, which, however, was one of many that were not counted in this round.
Forward – Igor Kogut (SK Dnepr-1)
In search of a replacement for Dovbik, the coaching staff of Kucher and then Maksimov looked at different options – from classic forwards (Filippov and Kivinda) to substitutes (Gutsulyak and now Kogut). In the status match with Zorya, even though both opponents were not at their best, it was Kogut who brought victory to Dnepr-1. Igor was the first to zero in, then completed the Babenko-Rubchinsky-Kogut three-move with an insanely powerful blow. Several more times he shot at goal and aggravated, claiming a penalty.
Forward – Oleg Kozhushko (Krivbass)
Vorskla was in the lead, and in principle, it seemed to have every chance to finish the match with points. Instead, the Krivbass middle line and its attack played very well, despite the absence of Sosa and several other players who could strengthen the combination play of the Vernidub team. We highlight Oleg separately – he gave a strong game in front and was at the forefront and at the end in three of the four effective attacks. He scored twice after excellent preparatory work by Ilic and Vakulko. He outplayed his rivals and made a significant contribution to this brilliant victory for the Krivoy Rog team.
Before the difficult trip to Poltava, Krivbass felt acute personnel problems – defender Yakimets, all-rounder Semenov, midfielder Lunev, and forward Sosa dropped out due to injuries. Non-football circumstances have left newcomers Ada and Yadoma out of the game for now. However, the Krivoy Rog club played convincingly in the match with Vorskla and beat the hosts in terms of efficiency of attacking actions, speed of transition between phases of the game and skill in finishing..
- Analysis from the All-Ukrainian Association of Football Coaches – here.
A good tour for players from the bench. Chernomorets’ fifth goal in Alexandria is a common cause between Badibanga and Hadida. Debelko is a full-fledged co-author of Krivbass’ fourth goal in Poltava. Dynamo’s fourth goal was created by Benito and Voloshin, the second goal by LNZ – Pryadun. Even Rukh’s saving goal in the match against Shakhtar would have been impossible without O. Fedor’s assist. So, in such worthy company, we celebrate Mustafayev from Polesie. He spent about 20 minutes on the field when he managed to grab a rebound near the Minai goal and brought a strong-willed victory to the Zhytomyr team with an amazing finishing move.
- Sport Arena statistics: 4 matches in the championship, 1 goal.
The Lviv team, with an average player age of 22, not only more than gave the fight to Shakhtar – they played from a position of strength, surpassed their opponents in the number of shots and attacks, but were inferior in the majority. While 19-year-old defender Slyubik once again joined the attack and, after a pass from O. Fedor, delivered an excellent aimed shot at the Donetsk goal. A goal that is both spectacular and life-saving – that’s what Bogdan created.
- Sport Arena statistics: 7 league matches, 2 goals.
Even nowadays there are interesting foreign players in the UPL. Cameroonian Dibango from Krivbass demonstrates stable class. Rwandan Bizimana and Croatian Ilic are catching up to his level. Nigerian Benito from Dynamo chalked up an effective performance for the second round in a row. The Brazilian Arielson scored a goal for Smolyakov, but if he had scored himself, he would have been the hero of the tour from Polesie. And we were amazed by the 26-year-old Brazilian Dada from Chernomorets. The Odessa middle line seemed to be complete, but Belmonte was able to strengthen it. Against the backdrop of good rivals from Alexandria, Dada acted more technically and thought faster. Just one assist to Shtogrin shows the level of thinking and equipment of Belmonte.
- Sport Arena statistics: 4 league matches, 1 assist.
A great long-range strike by the new hope of the Dynamo midfield. Already in the third minute, LNZ’s plans had to be viewed through this voice of Brazhko!
The best player of this round was the football player who scored a double in the victorious match with Vorskla.
- Sport Arena statistics: 8 league matches, 3 goals.
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.
