Girny, Spivakov, Shcherbak, Degtyar and the entire team of the 18th round of the first stage of the First League

Game program of the 18th round (video report here)

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

Goalkeeper – Yaroslav Protsenko (Gornyak-Sport)

Of course, we take into account that Ingulets completed all his tasks ahead of schedule – he reached the Champion group, and even from first place. However, at home, the leader was going to give one last extravaganza, and to a certain extent this was successful – immediately 34 (!) shots on the guests’ goal and 12 of them on target. Protsenko pulled off great shots from Melnichuk, Koltsov, Malysh, Bogunov, Zaporozhets, Pyatov. He conceded only a penalty at the very end of the game, but Gornyk-Sport achieved a draw on the road, to a certain extent getting even with their opponents for their defeat in the first round from a penalty in stoppage time.

• Best in Group A: Roman Zhmurko (Epicenter)

EtcFirst defender – Petr Kharzhevsky (FSK Mariupol)

Already in the opening, after a wonderful pass from Mochevinsky, Kharzhevsky opened the scoring with a good shot. In general, against Kremnya Peter played at a good level, shot at the guests’ goal three more times, and completed a traditionally large number of passes with serves and crosses. In cooperation with Penteleychuk, Pudi and Oleynik, Kharzhevsky caused a lot of difficulties for his counterpart on the flanks and contributed to the victory that brought FSK Mariupol to the championship round from an honorable third place.

• Best in Group A: Peter Lutsiv (FC Metalist)

TseCentral defender – Oleksandr Tsybulnyk (Podolia)

In general, the Bukovynians are an opponent with good attacking potential. There are fast wingers, versatile forwards, full-backs with long connections, and a center of midfield with an impact. But even with losses in defense, Podolia was able to keep a clean sheet in Chernivtsi. Largely thanks to the help of defensive midfielder Tsybulnik, who this season is filling a problematic position in the center of defense. Alexander played well both with the strong, persistent Skotarenko, and with Palagnyuk, who is more mobile and prone to playing in space. This away victory gives the Khmelnytsky team hope for a successful performance in the Knockout group in the spring.

• Best in Group B: Artem Terekhov (FSK Mariupol)

Tsecentral defender – Vasily French (Prykarpattya)

The victory in the match with Agribusiness guaranteed the Carpathians a place in the championship round, which they lost to Ternopil Niva last season in the final round. Therefore, the diligence with which the hosts carried out their attacks proved to be a key element in their victory. Two goals from corner kicks decided the fate of an important meeting, and the second of them was scored by defender Frenchman, finishing off Solovyov’s cross. Vasily added to the goal a good game in defense, where he, Demkiv and Shvets helped the team keep a clean sheet.

• Best in Group B: Alexander Litvinov (Dinaz)

Lefirst defender – Kirill Degtyar (Metalhead)

The youngest player in the history of the Premier League, the youngest participant in the PFL competition this season – this player has received too many advances, so the expectations from him are maximum. In Transcarpathia, where the Kharkov team beat FC Khust in the match to avoid last place, Degtyar played a key role in the victory of the guests. It was he who, after a corner kick, crossed to Gomez, who scored the fifth (see the nomination “best goal of the tour”), and then earned a penalty for P. Lutsiv’s winning goal against his former teammates.

• Best in Group B: Alexander Dudarenko (Left Coast)

Tsecentral midfielder – Andrey Spivakov (Left Bank)

An important match for second place in the group took place at the Left Bank arena. And who would have thought that the hosts would defeat their closest pursuer and competitor – Victoria from the Sumy region – with a five-goal advantage! The Storks’ most accurate scorer, Spivakov, made a big contribution to this success. He doubled the score with a well-aimed shot after a rebound, and then after the break he had a great header with I. Kogut and struck another shot from mid-range. The centre-half’s double brought his personal tally to 10 goals – an impressive result for a player of his role in six months.

• Best in Group A: Maxim Soloviev (Prykarpattya)

Etcav midfielder – Andrey Lyashenko (Epicenter)

The left flank, on which Lyashenko and Kristin worked in Bucha, caused a lot of trouble for Buzovskaya Niva. Lyashenko himself personally shot at the hosts’ goal, but brought more benefit in the play-by-play. More than once Andrey performed his signature trick of passing along the front line and exacerbating. Several such raids with surprisingly dangerous shots were interrupted at the last moment by Turchanov, Misyura and Prokopchuk. But when Lyashenko passed the ball in the 34th minute, Gorny opened the scoring on his pass.

• Best in Group B: Vladislav Voitsekhovsky (Left Bank)

Atcurrent midfielder – Dmitry Shcherbak (SK Poltava)

In Chernigov, Shcherbak played in class. The level and speed of his football thinking, sports intelligence and field vision worked like a modern computer for him. After one of Dmitry’s penetrating passes, Kopytov opened the scoring, making a strong play right in front of the goal surrounded by opponents. And soon after the break, Shcherbak himself, taking advantage of Buzhin’s cross pass, sent the ball into the net from 18 meters (with his only shot in the match). Two goals were not enough for the Poltava team to win, but a draw saved them from worrying about their place in the top five. In the last three matches of the first stage, Dmitry scored 7 effective actions.

• Best in Group A: Ambrosius Chachua (Carpathians)

Lethird midfielder – Ivan Kogut (Left Coast)

Koguts became the most important argument of the hosts who defeated Victoria. Already in the opening, the brothers played a good combination and after Nikolai’s pass, Ivan opened the scoring with a shot to execute. Subsequently, the Kohuts took part in most of the dangerous attacks of the Kievites, who were taken to enforce the standards. Ivan also added an assist to his goal, supporting Spivakov and returning the ball to him with his head just in time for the scoring strike.

• Best in Group A: Egor Kartushov (Carpathians)

Onfalling – Maxim Girny (Epicenter)

The first half of the season was not so smooth for Girny due to health problems, but he ended the first stage with a real benefit performance. It was Maxim’s two goals that ensured Epicenter’s victory away from their direct competitor Buzovskaya Niva, as well as second place in the group at the intermediate stage. In the first half, Girny shot at the goal after a pass from Lyashenko, and after the break he judiciously disposed of the ball after a pass from Kristina. In total, Maxim hit the target with five shots, and all of them hit the Niva goal!

• Best in Group B: Artem Nizhnik (Girnik-Sport)

Onfalling – Igor Neves Alves (Carpathians)

The Brazilian Igor received a lot of criticism for his low performance, as for a foreign player with a task, and lack of aggression at the forefront of the attack. However, it was precisely the match against Ternopil Niva that Neves Alves gave a demonstrative performance as a central striker. He constantly addressed the pitches and tried to lock down every set piece. Shot six times at the visitors’ goal. I practiced in a large space in the opposing half of the field. When the visiting goalkeeper unexpectedly fired the ball at Cech, Igor took great advantage of the situation and doubled the “Lions” advantage.

• Best in Group B: Daniil Kirichenko (Dinaz)

And now – our individual nominations:

The best coach of the 18th round of the first stage of the First League. Illustration pfl.ua

Tour coach – Vitaly Pervak ​​(Left Bank)

Defeating their closest pursuer with a score of 5:0 is a brilliant achievement. Moreover, the victory was important for the Left Bank, which, by defeating Victoria, secured second place in Group B and an advantage in head-to-head meetings with a team that could become a competitor in the second stage. Even before the start of the season, the Kiev team were considered one of the favorites of the tournament, not the first place, perhaps even an annoyance for them somewhere, however, in matches against most competitors (except perhaps SK Poltava), Pervak’s players received a convincing advantage in head-to-head confrontations, which can be important in the “champion” group.

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

Joker of the tour – Kirill Pinchuk (FC Chernigov)

Many players played well after coming off the bench: Kostenko from Podolyan, Kartushov from Lviv and Sinitsa from Kiev scored goals, Kamenka resident S. Krastin and Chernihiv resident Pinchuk scored assists. Which of these actions is most important? Let us take the responsibility to say that this was a replacement of the head coach of FC Chernigov Cherny. It was after Pinchuk’s free kick that Koidan pulled back the first goal. And the score was equalized after a throwout from another joker – Galstyan. Thanks to this draw, the Tigers avoided last place.

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

Best young player of the tour – Daniil Kirichenko (Dinaz)

In the first league there are many young players who play consistently at the base, and sometimes everyone forgets about their youth and demands that they be mature footballers. 21-year-old Kirichenko is one of those. In the match against Zaporozhye Metallurg, he scored the winning goal, which deprived the opponent of even hopes for the championship round. Daniil plays consistently and regularly in Golovko’s team, and is gradually progressing and developing.

• Sport Arena statistics: 17 league matches, 4 goals.

Goal of the round – Gabriel Gomez (Metalist → FC Khust)

A free kick from Kartushov from the Carpathians, juicy aimed shots from I. Kogut from the Left Bank, Kirichenko from Dinaz… There was something to see in the final round of 2023. However, one goal stands alone. We quote the report: “Already in the third minute the guests opened the scoring. Degtyar sent the ball from the right flank after a corner, and Gomez heeled the ball into the net – 0:1. A great goal from the Metalist captain.”

The goal can be seen on video from 0:18

Hero of the tour – Maxim Girny (Epicenter)

Read later on our website an interview with the player who scored a double in the match with Buzovskaya Niva, which secured his team second place.

• Sport Arena statistics: 16 league matches, 6 goals.

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ALL THE BEST ON 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.