Sport Arena names the symbolic team of the next round of the spring part of the UPL season 2023/24, as well as the best in individual nominations, which are determined by our website for each round
On the website SportArena.com – teams of all rounds of the Ukrainian Premier League 2023/24. Who made it into the top 11 this time and won in individual categories?
Goalkeeper – Alexander Kemkin (FC Minaj)
Despite the return of the experienced Bandura, Lyubenovich entrusts his place in the team to the young Kemkin. The 21-year-old goalkeeper played well in the opening match with Dnepr-1 (1:1 away draw), and in the victorious match with Metalist 1925 (2:0) Alexander kept a clean sheet for the first time in a full UPL match. Four times he seriously entered the game in the match with the Kharkiv team, including parrying rather difficult shots from Ari Moura and Gabelka. Somehow he was lucky: Yusov’s goal was canceled out by offside, Garmash ricocheted into the post, and several dangerous balls missed the goal. The “dry” match became victorious.
EtcFirst defender – Alexey Sich (Rukh)
In general, Kolos has the best defense in the current championship. Moreover, the Kovalevites have not conceded a goal before 14 minutes in the UPL 2023/24. However, all the plans of the hosts were spoiled by a bold raid by Sych already in the fourth minute, who beat Kvasnitsa and, at first glance, hit the goalkeeper with a weak shot that was most inconvenient. Alexey’s debut goal in the top division of the Ukrainian football championship turned out to be victorious: Rukh did not defeat this opponent in four head-to-head matches, and was not inferior to Kolos in five rounds. It is important that Sych could also score and played quite bravely and selflessly in defense, contributing to the success.
Tsecentral defender – Sergiy Loginov (FC Alexandria)
For the second round in a row, Rotan’s defense faced a strong attack group – after Shakhtar, the Alexandrians were tested by Zarya. It is worth noting the tenacity of the Loginov-Kampush duo; they stopped the Luhansk team – and above all Guerrero – hard, on the verge of, and sometimes beyond, a foul. If the Portuguese focused more on playing one-on-one in space and below, Loginov acted powerfully in aerial combat (he won most of the combats in the air). Sergei also played clearly during Zarya’s numerous shifts from the flanks with attempts to break through. For the second time in a row, FC Alexandria keeps a clean sheet – this time, it seems, absolutely legally.
Tsecentral defender – Nazariy Muravsky (LNZ)
The Zhytomyr team created a lot of danger at the LNZ goal, and for Oleinik’s curious goal to have any significance, they had to plow the field for 90+3 minutes, stopping Polesie’s speedy and technical players. The Muravsky-Salihu duo generally coped with this, and where everyone was already powerless, Nazariy personally took action. It was he who, in the most difficult situations, deprived Talles, Fortune and Ndukwe of the ball, thereby thwarting potential scoring attacks. I tried to act tightly and not give my opponents room to maneuver.
Lefirst defender – Sergei Korniychuk (FC Minaj)
19-year-old Korniychuk, a product of Kovel football, showed promise in the youth team of Kolos, and with the transfer to Metallurg he began to play for the reserve team of the Cossacks in the Second League. It turned out that this fast and at the same time technical football player is capable of playing modern football. Sergei was invited to FC Minaj and given a place in the team. Prokopchuk’s brilliant reception of a long pass with a cool finishing shot allowed the Transcarpathians to take the lead and achieve their first victory in the current championship. Of course, there were moments when Zhichikov and Yurchenko seriously broke through Korniychuk’s flank, but this passed without consequences, and the young footballer will draw his own conclusions.
TseCentral midfielder – Artem Bondarenko (Shakhtar)
Bondarenko is a player of high potential, but the current season started poorly for him. Removal, damage, broken rhythm. And in the central match of the tour against Krivbass, Artem gave his benefit performance. It was after his shot that Klishchuk parried the ball not very successfully, and Konoplya opened the scoring on the finish. Bondarenko successfully played a controversial free kick with Kryskiv, assisting Dmitry for the second goal. And in the end he scored the fifth goal, because it was his targeted touch pass that was completed by Traore. Artem himself also had a good shot at the Krivoy Rog goal and, after Zubkov’s pass, skillfully placed the ball into the net.
Tsecentral midfielder – Vladimir Shepelev (Dynamo)
Chernomorets beat the Kiev team twice last year in 2023, so the home match for Dynamo acquired special significance. Especially when you consider that the Kiev team had the same number of football students from Odessa region as the guests – five each. So, a native of the Odessa region, Shepelev played especially strongly against his fellow countrymen. He shot at the Odessa goal four times, acted aggressively in front and lay in wait for his chance – after Voloshin’s cross, the goalkeeper played an uncertain interception, so Vladimir scored the winning goal.
EtcFirst midfielder – Oleksandr Zubkov (Shakhtar)
A difficult duel was expected between Konoplya – Zubkov – Dibango – Sossa. And in the first half, by the way, not everything was so clear: it was Dibango who half created the goal for Prince Adu. However, when the Miners seized the strategic initiative, especially when they found themselves in the majority, Zubkov’s high class and courage in one-on-one play became Shakhtar’s big trump card. Alexander could score himself (remember hitting the crossbar), gave assists to Kryskiv and Bondarenko, and a couple of Zubkov’s passes were not used by Bondar and Sikan.
Atoffensive midfielder – Dmytro Kryskiv (Shakhtar)
The extraordinary, proactive midfielder Kryskiv has more than once given particularly strong performances in games that were difficult for the Miners. It’s hard to overestimate what Dmitry did in the game with Krivbass. Two goals in very important moments of the game, a corner for the first goal and participation in another scoring combination at an early stage. Finally, he was fouled by Ilic, leaving the visitors shorthanded for most of the second half. This is a decisive contribution to a brilliant victory in the central match of the tour.
Lefirst midfielder – Sergei Myakushko (Vorskla)
Needless to say, the Vorsk team got it right with their experienced winger. Myakushko, in excellent interaction with Prindeta and Stepanyuk, tore apart the Veres redoubts, scoring Dolgansky’s debut victory with his double. Even earlier, in the opening of the match, Sergei could open the scoring – Kohut came to the rescue. But the rookie linebacker didn’t stop. He shot at the visitors’ goal four times, equalized the score immediately after the break with a magnificent strike (see the “Goal of the Tour” nomination), and then managed to finish off and with a cunning header ensured the Poltava team’s strong-willed superiority.
Onfalling – Alexander Filippov (SK Dnepr-1)
An experienced sniper illustrated how a real forward should act. Although Obolon had a very strong opening round and Chernomorets miraculously bounced back to a draw, this time SK Dnepr-1 played strictly against the leading players of the Kiev team and achieved that the team, which in the last round made 20 shots at the Odessa goal, never hit the target Gateway of Volynets. But Filippov could have opened the scoring at the beginning of the meeting (Fedorivsky transferred the ball to the corner, from which Sarapiy almost scored), but before the break, Alexander managed to finish off after the same Sarapiy’s hit and, on a reflex, with his bust, scored the decisive goal in the match.
Even a goal rebound from a good scorer. Photo: scdnipro1.com.ua
One of the least experienced specialists in the UPL coaching department dared to trust little-known newcomers, and FC Minai won four points in the two opening matches of the spring part of the season! If the guests still did not maintain their advantage away from Dnepr-1, then in the game against Metalist 1925 they also secured it with a wild card goal. This is the first victory of the Transcarpathians in the 2023/24 championship, and also, of course, the first personal success of the young Serbian head coach.
- Analysis from the All-Ukrainian Association of Football Coaches – Here.
It was a good tour for the bench players. It is difficult to assess the importance of a goal in the central match of the tour for Lassina Traore personally with his injuries and gaps. When Evgeniy Skiba (from the corner of another rookie wild card – Ivan Matyushenko) consolidated his team’s advantage, Metalist 1925 actually capitulated. But what Oleinik did… Having intercepted the unsuccessful clearance of his youth friend Boyko, and then calmly dealt with the Polesie goalkeeper, Denis scored his most important goal after returning to Ukraine. Having withstood a lot of pressure from the Zhytomyr team, LNZ managed to snatch points at the end of the stoppage time match of the second half.
- Sport Arena statistics: 17 league matches, 2 goals, 1 assist.
Player born in 2004 from the Second League got a chance to prove themselves in the UPL by the will of fate – it so happened that FC Minaj unplannedly lost Buleza, and Metallurg-2 was disbanded and the Zaporozhye club became more negotiable in relation to a large number of its talents. But look how Korniychuk seized his chance! In the best style of Concorde Serginho or prime Jordi Alba, Sergei took Prokopchuk’s luxurious long pass and received, assessed and shot at high speed. Just a little vigilance in your penalty area, so as not to risk a penalty, and everything is just fine.
- Sport Arena statistics: 2 matches in the championship, 1 goal.
In general, foreign players did not play a key role in the reporting round. But there is one player whom I would like to mention. Traore missed 179 days and 22 matches of Shakhtar this season due to a serious injury, and only began to appear as a substitute in the spring. And in the match with Krivbass, the Burkinabe made full use of his time on the field. He could have scored earlier, but in the end he reacted well to Bondarenko’s pass and put an end to the match with Krivbass.
- Sport Arena statistics: 5 league matches, 3 goals.
We have already admired the beauty of the cavalry charge of the Minai Korniychuk, but this goal is even cooler in terms of the beauty of execution and the complexity of the goal. After a pass from the right flank from Perduta, the defenders left Myakushko alone with the ball. And Sergei managed to assess the situation, think and immediately launched the ball into the far corner with his right foot. Behind the ostentatious simplicity of such heads there is usually great skill and experience.
Two goals, an assist and a penalty earned for the opponent – it is unlikely that the midfielder could have done more in the central match of the tour.
- Sport Arena statistics: 17 league matches, 6 goals, 3 assists.
Source: Sportarena
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