Sport Arena names the best in the First League of the 2023/24 season, round by round, and provides exclusive statistics. For your attention – the best player, wild card, young player, coach, as well as the best goal, main numbers and much more
Game program of the 17th round (video report here)
| Group A | Group B |
| Saturday, November 16 | Sunday, November 17 |
| Metalist ‒ FC Minaj – 3:0 | Kremin – Dinaz ‒ 0:3 |
| Epicenter – Agribusiness – 2:0 | YUKSA ‒ Metallurg – 2:2 |
| Nyva (Ternopil) – Podolia – 2:1 | Metalist 1925 ‒ FC Kudrovka – 0:2 |
| Bukovyna and Prykarpattya | FSK Mariupol ‒ SK Poltava – 1:2 |
| missed the tour | Victoria missed the tour |
Already traditional:
- Read soon on our website the symbolic team of the next round
- interview with the hero of the tour, which Sport Arena determines together with the PFL
And now – our individual nominations:
There was only one intrigue left for the penultimate round: the fourth place in Group A. And in the end, it was Metalist who made it into the Champions group, although in the derby with the former UPL participant, a lot was against the Kharkiv team. FC Minaj had generally experienced players with a higher nominal status. The Kharkiv residents themselves fulfilled an honorable mission and released a number of players to the youth national teams of Ukraine – Vernattus, Digtyar and Sinchuk. Due to disqualification, Mizyuk and the same Vernattus, as well as a member of the coaching staff, Fomin, could not help them in defense. There were also injured people. However, with a fairly young squad with an average age of just over 22 years, Metalist inflicted a crushing defeat on Lyubenovich’s team and qualified for the top eight for the second stage.
- Analysis from the All-Ukrainian Association of Football Coaches – Here.
The players from the bench tried very hard in the reporting round. After coming on as substitutes, Matvey Kharchenko (YUKSA) and Dmitry Kulik (Dinaz) scored, Ivan Demidenko (Epicenter) and Daniil Prikhodko (Metalist) provided assists. However, in our opinion, the exit of the Tarasov resident Kharchenko turned out to be the coolest. Firstly, he was forced to replace defender Zozulya in the first half (this led to several changes for the hosts). Secondly, he livened up the game and could score earlier. Thirdly, in the end, after the discount, Dedyaeva coolly shot past the goalkeeper and gave the “crusaders” a super-willed draw with Metallurg. Considering the loss of points by Metalist 1925, YUKSA maintains its position in the top three and can slightly improve its place in the final table of the first stage in the final round.
- SportArena.com statistics: 16 league matches, 3 goals.
We have a difficult choice: we can take almost every player from Metalist with his average age, but we want to give credit to the 18-year-old Tsvirenko. He opened the scoring in the match with FC Minaj, which was of great importance, and generally looked good. And here we must take into account that this recent junior scored his first goal in competitions under the auspices of the PFL and successfully replaced some of the guys who were absent due to injuries or business trips to national teams.
- SportArena.com statistics: 8 league matches, 1 goal, 1 assist.
This is such a quiet tour, without masterpieces, but with labor achievements. However, even among everyday heads there is one for aesthetes. We quote the report: “Riznyk himself went at several opponents in front of the penalty area, and although his shot was blocked, the captain of Niva tried to tackle and was knocked down in the semicircle of the penalty area by Karanga. Andrey himself took a free kick from this deadly position and planted the ball into the top corner with his right foot.”
The goal can be seen on video from 4:03
Read later on our website an interview with the player who scored two goals in the match with Podillya and extended his scoring streak to four matches.
- SportArena.com statistics: 10 league matches, 7 goals.
Metalist 1925 congratulated his fellow countrymen on joining the Champion group, but there is a nuance. Just look at what photo the SMM tubers chose to illustrate and what score against whom is displayed on the scoreboard. Oh, and the top eight will be hot, as I can see!
I wonder if the idols gave T-shirts to the fans or not? photo fcepicentr.com.ua
Metalist, having inflicted a crushing defeat on FC Minaj, filled the last vacancy in the Champion group.
A few more interesting things:
- Metalist 1925 goalkeeper Daniil Varakuta’s dry streak ended at 517 minutes
SC Poltava won its 10th away victory and conceded its 50th away goal in the First League (1 more goal) - Epicenter’s unbeaten streak continued in the First League with 7 games: 4 wins and 3 draws
- Since September 12, if Metallurg concedes goals in the First League, then at least 2 goals per game
- Assistant referee Nikolay Kuzmenko (Kiev region) played his 50th match in the First League
- The 15th goal in the First League was scored by Valery Rogozinsky (FC Kudrovka)
And more interesting facts from Sport Arena:
Ternopil resident Andrey Riznyk scored five goals in the last four rounds
Ivan Demidenko from Minai gives assists for three rounds in a row
Dmitry Chirikal (YUKSA) made 7 effective substitutions at once – more than anyone else
More interesting things in the PFL digital selection, whose information partner is Sport Arena.
- Tournament table after the 17th round
- Group A
- Group B
- Bombers
| Player | Team | Goals | Pen. |
| Kravchuk Daniil | Epicenter (Kamenets-Podolsky) | 8 | (1) |
| Riznyk Andrey | Niva (Ternopil) | 7 | |
| Moura Ari | Metalist 1925 (Kharkov) | 7 | (1) |
| Wendy Vawa | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 6 | (2) |
| Castro Paraguay Pablo | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 5 | |
| Remenyak Arthur | FC Minaj | 5 | |
| Storchous Andrey | FC Kudrovka | 5 | |
| Galadey Dmitry | Niva (Ternopil) | 5 | (1) |
| Zubkov Ilya | FSK Mariupol | 5 | (1) |
| Tsyutsyura Vasily | Prykarpattya (Ivano-Frankivsk) | 5 | (2) |
| Shcherbak Dmitry | SK Poltava | 5 | (3) |
| Palamar Ruslan | Victoria (Sumy) | 5 | (4) |
- Assistants
| Player | Team | Passes |
| Gabriel Goulart | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 6 |
| Shcherbak Dmitry | SK Poltava | 5 |
| Kuharuk Andrey | Niva (Ternopil) | 4 |
| Lutsiv Peter | Metallist (Kharkov) | 4 |
| Novikov Andrey | Dinaz (Vyshgorod) | 4 |
| Savin Anton | FSK Mariupol | 4 |
| Evdokimov Anton | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 3 |
| Voytikhovsky Maxim | Agribusiness (Volochisk) | 3 |
| Dedyaev Andrey | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 3 |
| Demidenko Ivan | Epicenter (Kamenets-Podolsky) | 3 |
| Korokhov Evgeniy | Victoria (Sumy) | 3 |
| Lebedenko Alexander | Victoria (Sumy) | 3 |
| Litovchenko Alexey | FC Kudrovka | 3 |
| Molko Vladislav | Kremen (Kremenchuk) | 3 |
| Odaryuk Vladimir | SK Poltava | 3 |
| Yurchenko Vladlen | Metalist 1925 (Kharkov) | 3 |
- Goal+ass
| Player | Team | Goal+Pass | Goals | Passes |
| Kravchuk Daniil | Epicenter (Kamenets-Podolsky) | 10 | 8 | 2 |
| Shcherbak Dmitry | SK Poltava | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Moura Ari | Metalist 1925 (Kharkov) | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Riznyk Andrey | Niva (Ternopil) | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Wendy Vawa | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Palamar Ruslan | Victoria (Sumy) | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Storchous Andrey | FC Kudrovka | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Voytikhovsky Maxim | Agribusiness (Volochisk) | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Yurchenko Vladlen | Metalist 1925 (Kharkov) | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Lutsiv Peter | Metallist (Kharkov) | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Castro Paraguay Pablo | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Litovchenko Alexey | FC Kudrovka | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Novikov Andrey | Dinaz (Vyshgorod) | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Gabriel Goulart | YUKSA (Tarasovka) | 6 | 0 | 6 |
* * *
All calculations by Arthur Valerko, SportArena.com. The material was written by the author in Ukrainian.
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.
