Fedosov, Borodenko, Kuzmin, Kopytov and successful replacement Baboglo: the entire team of the 17th round of the first stage of the First League

Game program of the 17th round (video report here)

About the best personalities and main figures of the tour – Here.

Goalkeeper – Andrey Kozhukhar (Carpathians)

Kozhukhar played the 11th clean sheet – no other goalkeeper in the entire First League has such an indicator. Moreover, in Khmelnitsky, a landmark city for Miron Markevich, the Lviv goalkeeper did not complain at all about the lack of work. In total, six shots were fired at his goal, and Andriy Karpaty helped out with three saves. In the first half, he won a clean duel with Bozhenar, and at the end of the match he drew a magnificent free kick from Zadoya. If Kozhukhar had made a mistake or simply not helped out, there would have been no minimal victory for the leader.

• Best in Group B: Ilya Karavaschenko (FSK Mariupol)

Etcavy defender – Nikolay Buzhin (SK Poltava)

The right flank of the Poltava team suffered a heavy loss due to the injury of Shmigelsky, an amazingly productive and technical winger. However, the Buzhin-Gorzhuy pairing largely compensates for the absence of a new leader. Specifically: both goals of the hosts in the victorious match with Dinaz “came” from this edge. Buzhin was active and escalated the game more than once, and in the 54th minute he delivered a very well executed flank serve, with which Shcherbak doubled the score.

• Best in Group A: Dmitry Shinkarenko (Prykarpattya)

Tsecentral defender – Bogdan Wekljak (Carpathians)

While Baboglo is scoring for the Moldova national team, Carpathians are experimenting defensively. So, in Khmelnitsky, Veklyak got his chance, who after the start of the season was somewhere in the shadow of Myzyuk and Porokh, not to mention the status of a newcomer from Alexandria. Against Podolia, Bogdan played strongly: he performed a fairly large amount of work in defense, and after connecting to a corner from Sakiv, he scored the only goal of the match and the winning goal against the hosts.

• Best in Group B: Pavel Shushko (FSK Mariupol)

Tsecentral defender – Sergey Basov (Metallurg)

The match between neighbors in the leading group in Uman did not live up to expectations in terms of entertainment, but the defenders of both teams, along with the defensive midfielders and goalkeepers, turned out to be the real heroes of the confrontation. Among the Cossacks, we note the veteran Basov, who won a lot of goals, played strongly on interceptions, tackles and rebounds (a total of 30 successful attempts!) and also traditionally connected to the opponent’s goal, which was especially important in such a game.

• Best in Group A: Roman Bily (Agribusiness)

Lefirst defender – Taras Sakiv (Carpathians)

In general, it was felt that the Lviv residents were tired after such an intense six months – and it was difficult to say what kind of strength they no longer lacked (physical or emotional, so to speak). Based on this difficult game, Podillya had a chance for points. It is very important that immediately after the break Karpaty scored against the hosts. Sakiv, together with Chachua, performed many set pieces – it seems that both recorded 5-6 each. However, in the 49th minute, Taras cut out a great corner kick from which Veklyak scored.

• Best in Group A: Sergey Chenbay (Ingulets)

Tsecentral midfielder – Dmitry Kopytov (SK Poltava)

Late autumn is Kopytov’s time. Now this midfielder with a good school has gained cruising speed and prime form. The match with Dinaz, which was not easy for the hosts, was turned in their favor thanks to a double strike after the break – two goals with an interval of three minutes. First, Dmitry acted as an assistant for Vivdich, making a clear pass to his head, and then directing the vector of the second effective attack, Kopytov from the center of the field transferred the ball to the right flank, where Gorzhuy connected Buzhin with his fifth (this was the so-called “pre-assist”).

• Best in Group A: Andrey Lipovuz (Epicenter)

EtcFirst midfielder – Dmitry Borodenko (Nyva Ternopil)

This is a very unusual story. Borodenko previously played for Druzhba (Mirovka), with which he won all possible amateur trophies, but in the summer he was looking for a new team. The career leap of a young player with a good school straight into the First League was not so easy for him; he waited a long time for his first effective actions, his first goals. The match against FC Khust became Dmitry’s benefit performance. He scored twice from the game – he equalized the score on the finish, then closed in Tanchak’s flank pass, and also earned a counter-conversion penalty for Galadei’s goal. The unstoppable player made a big contribution to Niva’s first crushing victory of the season.

• Best Group B: Vladislav Voitsekhovsky (Left Bank)

Atoffensive midfielder – Roman Kuzmin (Agribusiness)

In the penultimate round of the first stage, the Volochysk team defeated Bukovyna, securing a spot in the Champions group. One of the heroes of this bright match was Kuzmin, who plays the role of a kind of “false nine” – he plays an attacking midfielder who moves forward, pulls opponents towards himself, and moves into different zones. It was Roman from the left flank who assisted Galenkov for the first goal, and after the break he played the finishing touch after reaching goalkeeper Volkov, doubling the score. In total, he shot at the Chernivtsi goal twice and took part in most of the sharp attacks.

• Best in Group B: Dmitry Mironenko (FC Chernigov)

Lefirst midfielder – Yaroslav Bogunov (Ingulets)

Ingulets came to visit his closest pursuer, Victoria, who also knocked the Petrovsky club out of the Ukrainian Cup, reaching the quarterfinals and Shakhtar. It was felt that even with a large lead, the leader played with courage. Bogunov, constantly changing zones with Kozak, was one of the most active: he shot at the hosts’ goal four times, interacted well with his teammates, and demonstrated explosive speed and technique. But he scored the winning goal with a magnificent direct free kick.

• Best in Group A: Evgeniy Ryazantsev (Metalist)

Onfalling – Pavel Fedosov (FC Chernigov)

The Tigers lost six games in a row and ended up in last place in November. A visit to Gornyak-Sport, last season’s outsider, also did not bode well. However, in this match the Chernigov team had two trump cards: midfielder Mironenko, who played the best match after an injury, and striker Fedosov, who had never performed at this level for this team at all. Even before the break, Pavel almost scored after a free kick (the goalkeeper parried his header under the crossbar), but in the end, maintaining his signature speed, Fedosov played to the end in two optional moments and scored two unlike, but well-executed goals. FC Chernigov celebrates for the first time since September!

• Best in Group A: Daniil Kravchuk (Epicenter)

Onfalling – Alexey Litovchenko (Left Bank)

In Kremenchug, the “storks” unexpectedly changed their starting line-up: the author of the best goal of the last round, I. Kogut, was in the reserve, but Litovchenko came on from the first minutes, taking the place of the striker in the dugout under Sukhoruchok. It was he who closed in Wojciechowski’s good flank serve, opening the scoring. Later he made a great shot from mid-range, having a real chance for a double. Typically, Left Bank operates within a 4-5-1 formation, but the presence of two strikers is a viable additional option for Pervak.

• Best in Group A: Dmitry Galadei (Niva Ternopil)

The best coach of the 17th round of the first stage of the First League. Illustration pfl.ua

Tour coach – Valery Cherniy (FC Chernigov)

For the second time in the championship, FC Chernigov experienced a difficult 6-match losing streak. On the eve of leaving for the main competitor in the fight for survival, this was a very alarming symptom. However, unable to field the optimal lineup and having suffered numerous losses in defense, the “tigers” held zeros until the end of the match, when Fedosov’s speed and agility played a role. His two goals against Gornyak-Sport gave his team the opportunity at the end of the first stage to leave the last place where FC Chernigov was for three rounds in a row.

• Analysis from the All-Ukrainian Association of Football Coaches – here.

Joker of the tour – Vladimir Timenko (Niva Buzovaya)

In the reporting round there were not a single goal from substitute players. However, of course, only those who look only at the bare numbers can think that we can do without jokers. In the match against Metalist, the Buzov team secured a ticket to the Champions group, and the decisive goal took place with the direct participation of a player from the bench. This is not the first time this season that Timenko has qualitatively improved the game along the way, and in Uzhgorod it was he who struck after a free kick from Palamar and a discount. The referee showed formalism, recording it as an own goal by Gomez. The ball after Vladimir’s shot went into the goal, the Brazilian saved – the authorship can and should be attributed to Timenko. But even without that, the team knows that he played well in that important moment.

• Sport Arena statistics: 16 league matches, 3 goals.

Best young player of the tour – Evgeniy Ryazantsev (Metalist)

21-year-old Ryazantsev scored four goals in the last three rounds. In the match with Buzovskaya Niva, he opened the scoring, and although this was not enough for the Kharkiv team to win, a draw with such a good opponent can be considered a more than acceptable result of the final conditional home match of 2023.

• Sport Arena statistics: 16 league matches, 5 goals, 1 assist.

Goal of the round – Andrey Lipovuz (Epicenter → Prykarpattya)

A good tour in terms of entertainment. Here is a crazy goal from Khustyan Vagin with a long-range field goal, and a pretty good hit by Chernigov player Fedosov, and a magnificent free kick from Petrovka Bogunov. We like the luxurious nine in Kamenets-Podolsky. We quote the report: “After an unfortunate loss of the ball, Pokotilyuk was forced to disrupt the attack with a foul against Kozyrenko – a yellow card and a penalty 25 meters just to the left of the goal. It seemed that he was doing everything right, but Bogunov’s performing skills punished the hosts. With a direct shot from his right foot, Yaroslav planted the ball into the far top corner – 0:1. The fifth goal with one assist for Bogunov, this is Victoria’s “evil genius” – he scored against her in the first round.”

The goal can be seen on video from 4:14

Hero of the tour – Pavel Fedosov (FC Chernigov)

Read later on our website an interview with the player who scored a double in the victorious match with Gornyak-Sport.

• Sport Arena statistics: 17 league matches, 5 goals, 1 assist.

* * *

ALL THE BEST OF THE TOUR: goalkeeper, wild card, young player, goalscorer – in one article. On our website – individual nominations in the First League and tour numbers!

PS When preparing the material, photographs of the official resources of the clubs were used. The material was written by the author in Ukrainian.