Midfielder of the Cherkassy club – about the match against Metalist 1925 and the team’s tasks
Captain LNZ (Cherkasy), 33-year-old midfielder Sergei Rybalka commented on his team’s draw in match against Metalist 1925 within the framework of the 20th round of the UPL, as well as shared the club’s plans for the season.
— Sergey, is a draw in this match natural?
— It’s a shame for us to miss the victory at the end of the match. However, if we evaluate the entire match, then the score 1:1 is generally logical.
– You were at the epicenter of all the key moments of the game – you scored a penalty and a penalty was awarded to you for handball…
– This is football, it happens. By inertia, the hand went up and covered the face. Since the referee made such a decision, it means there was a penalty. I’ll watch the replay at home. What interpretations do the arbitrators have now? Actually, I always put my hands behind my back in my own penalty area, but here…
— LNZ won in Zhitomir against strong Polesie and the fans were probably waiting for the winning streak to continue. Why didn’t you manage to score three points?
— I think that the aggression that we had against Polesie was not there in the match with Metalist 1925. In Zhitomir we played more compactly and pressed better. Perhaps we wasted too much emotion in the match with Polesie. We lost the first official match in 2024 to Krivbass and then wanted to rehabilitate ourselves. In the UPL, if you don’t take Dynamo and Shakhtar, all clubs are equal, plus or minus. Everything depends on who gets ready for the fight and who wins the fight.
— Is the Kharkov club an inconvenient opponent for LNZ?
— They played well, especially the first half. Metalist 1925 was headed by a new coach, Viktor Skripnik. All players want to show their best under a new coach.
— What can LNZ claim in the Ukrainian Championship?
— Our leaders want to see high-quality football played by us. The team must win and strive for this in every meeting. I think that we can take 6th-7th place at the end of the season in the UPL.
Source: Sportarena
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