October 7, 2022
The Second Division in Ukraine consists of 16 teams,
and is known as the Persha Liga. The top three sides are automatically promoted
to the Premier League, with the bottom two sides relegated to the third level
of football in Ukraine. Unlike neighbouring Belarus whose league has a summer
season, the leagues in Ukraine play in the autumn and spring, with a lengthy
break for the winter.
Despite the international break, round 12 is being
played in mid-week and with local afternoon kick-off times, with matches being
live streamed on the Канали
Футбол 1,2,3 and ПЕРША ЛІГА YouTube channels. Both channels
also have highlights and complete matches of nearly all Persha liga matches. The
division has its own excellent website ( www.pfl.ua ), which is a tremendous source of news and statistics.
The major story in the division this year is the
re-emergence of Metalist Kharkiv, frequent participants in the Soviet First
League, including the last 10 seasons before its dissolution, winners of the
Soviet Cup in 1988, and a regular representative of Ukraine in European
competitions after independence in 1998.
Metalist achieved draws with both Everton and Newcastle in
England in the UEFA Cup but on both occasions lost the return legs at home.
Bayer Leverkusen, Sampdoria, Olympiakos, Benfica and Galatasaray are among the
list of sides Metalist have beaten in Europe. However, the club went into
liquidation in 2016, and two separate clubs have emerged from the ashes.
Metalist 1925 have no claim to the historical legacy and
have already worked their way back into the top division in Ukraine, but
Metalist have been awarded the rights to be the successors of the previous
club, and after promotion from the third level last season now head the Persha
liga. They have been playing in front of average crowds of nearly 27,000 in the
Kharkiv stadium whereas Metalist 1925 have been playing in front of less than
5,000. The stadium is also the temporary home to Shakhtar Donetsk whilst their
Dombass Area remains unusable given the conflict in the eastern areas of
Ukraine, and it was one of the host venues for Euro 2012.
Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine and has
a population of just under 1.5 million inhabitants. It is just over 400
kilometres east of the capital Kiev, and 30 kilometres from the border with
Russia.
Metalist are already looking good for promotion, having
won 10 out of 11 matches so far, with only Polessya avoiding defeat, with a 1-1
draw in Kharkiv. Ex- Bragantino Brazilian forward Mattheus Peixoto is the top
scorer with 8 goals whilst ex-Lyon midfielder Fares Bahlouli has five goals to
his credit. Right-back Mailton played for Coritiba in Brazil’s Serie A and
Colombian forward Jose Riascos has scored twice after joining from Portuguese
side Nacional.
Metalist’s most noteworthy signing for the Ukrainian second level though was Kadeem Harris, who joined the club in September. After playing 13 times for Cardiff in the English Premiership, Harris joined Sheffield Wednesday, before being released in the summer, having previously also played for Wycombe Wanderers and Barnsley. In two appearances so far for Metallist, Harris has already scored two goals and at 1.5M Euros, he is rated the most valuable player in the division by Transfermrkt. He is also reportedly the first Englishman to play professionally in Ukraine.
Today Metalist travelled to Horishni Plavni to play
Hirnyk Sport. Horishni Plavni is in the Poltava region of Ukraine and is
located on the Dnepr river. It was a town created in the 1960s to exploit the
expanding gas and oil industry and was previously known as Komsomolsk. Its name
was changed in 2016 as part of the decommunization laws to curb Russian
influence in Ukraine. The population is
estimated to be just over 50,000 and the town is reported to have one of the
lowest unemployment rates in the country.
Hirnyk’s squad is all Ukrainian apart from Brazilian
winger Kleber. Their Yunost stadium has a capacity of either 2,500 or 5,000
depending on which source you rely on but there is a smart seven row seat
covered stand running all the way along one side of the ground. There is a smaller covered stand along half
of the other side of the stadium, and a small enclosed terrace for away
supporters on the other side of the clubhouse and dressing rooms. There is also
an impressive large hedge towards one corner of the ground. Transfermrkt has
much travelled striker Yadym Yavorskyi as their most valuable player, rated at
250K Euros.
Hirnyk are in their 8th consecutive season
in the Persha liga, having finished 13th in 2020/21 and 9th
in 2019/20. They currently lie in 12th position with a 3-2-6 record
although they have the worst home record in the division with just two draws
from 6 matches, and only 5 goals have been scored all season. They did win
their last match though, a 1-0 win at Prykarpattia thanks to a second half
penalty from Yaroslav Yampol, who lists Dinamo Minsk amongst his former clubs. Home
attendances have averaged around 700.
The journey from Kharkiv to Horishni Plavni is just over 150 miles and is estimated to take three and half hours by road. It is though apparently the shortage journey between two teams in the division !
Bet365 had Metalist 1/7 odds-on favourites, with
Hirnyk Sport rank 10/1 outsiders and the draw at 6/1. The weather at the 13.15
local time kick-off was expected to be dry and cloudy, with the temperature
around 12 degrees.
Hirnyk made 8 changes from the side that beat
Prykarpattia, and with many of the dropped players amongst the substitutes it
suggested more a case of mediocrity in depth rather than an injury crisis. All of the starting XI were 23 years old or
younger.
Metalist made 4 changes from the side that started in
their 2-1 home win over Nyva Ternopil, with Harris coming into start after
being on the bench last week.
Metallist played in an all yellow kit, whilst the home
side wore red shirts with black shorts. The names of the players on the back of
the shirts was in the Cyrillic alphabet but the shirt sponsors were printed in Roman
script ! Fortunately, the team lists and all the graphics on the TV feed were in Roman script although the commentary was in
Ukrainian
Like in Belarus, the national anthem was sung before
kick-off and the match began quietly, with Metalist having most of the
possession whilst Hernyk sat back, but there was little urgency to the play.
Hirnyk had the almost obligatory drummer in the
section in the far corner where 10 or so of their ultras had gathered, whilst
it looked around 30 to 40 Metalist fans had made the journey to watch from
inside a cage.
The first action of note occurred after 10 minutes
when Harris shot wildly over from a tight angle, but it was noticeable that he
was being closely marked. In the 18th minute, with two defenders in close
attendance near to the corner flag, there didn’t seem to be much danger, but a
cute short pass inside put left-back Gorbunov in space and as he ran into the
area he fell to the ground when challenged. The referee waived play on.
Peixoto made a strong run from half-way to just inside
the Hirnyk penalty area but was halted by an excellent tackle, and shortly
after Pidlepenets volleyed wide from 20 yards but the keeper had it covered. In
the 33rd minute a low cross from the right found Harris in the
centre of the penalty box, and after controlling and turning he chipped towards
the far post, but no-one was there to finish off the move and the chance went
begging.
In the 35th minute a Metalist corner was
cleared to Tverdokhlib and there didn’t seem to be much danger. However, the
Hirnyk midfielder ran the length of the pitch, moved across the edge of the
Metalist area and thumped a tremendous shot into the top corner to give the
hosts an unexpected 1-0 lead completely against the run of play.
Metalist were only able to muster one attack in response
before half-time. Harris was again found in a good position down the left but his
cross was poor and blocked for a corner. A short corner was taken, but the
cross went beyond the Metalist attackers at the far post.
Hirnyk led 1-0 at the break having had only one
attack, and although Metalist had dominated possession, home keeper Klimov had
not been tested.
To add attacking potency, Colombian Jose Riascos came
on for Metalist at the start of the second half and was immediately involved in
the action. After a good run his shot was blocked by the legs of Klimov but on
the turn Peixoto fired the rebound high and wide. Metalist cranked up the
pressure, Sarapyi’s volley bounced awkwardly in front of Klimov who couldn’t
hold cleanly but he gathered before anyone could pounce.
Two more Metalist substitutes soon entered the fray
and by the 62nd minute all five permitted changes had been made,
either as a measure of dissatisfaction or desperation from the coach Kucher. It
was all Metalist but Hirnyk did look dangerous on the occasional counter
attack, with Kleber in particular showing good skill.
Klimov had to scramble to gather the ball on the line
after a glancing back-header from Fomin was blocked by the foot of Tsvirenko
but was rolling gently goalwards. This was the start of a 5 minute spell of
constant pressure on the home goal, Riascos has a shot blocked for a corner,
from which Demchenko had an effort deflected by Chernysh for another corner.
Soon after Riascos sent a curling effort from close to the corner flag towards
the top far corner, but Klimov athletically tipped away for another corner,
from which Ralyuchenko had a goal-bound effort blocked.
However, against the run of play again, Hirnyk should
have doubled their lead in the 69th minute when a cute chip from Posyevkin
put Kozhevnikov clear but his attempted first-time shot resulted in a mis-kick
and the ball dribbled off for a goal-kick as Kozhevnikov fell over.
The game’s comedy moment came a minute later when
Metalist keeper Rybka attempted to clear a back pass but only succeeded in scooping
it vertically into the air, and under pressure, he had to head over his own bar
to give away a corner.
With their nerves restored, the equalizer duly arrived in the 72nd minute. A quickly taken free-kick released the increasingly influential Sergei Gorbunov down the left and after moving into the penalty area, his left-footed shot was blocked by Klimov. Gorbunov reacted quickly and crossed from the by-line into the six-yard box. The ball skimmed off the top of the head of Fomin, but Peixoto was on hand at back post to head into the unguarded net from 6 yards.
With Hirnyk rocking, Peixoto immediately had another chance but Klimov blocked the shot with his legs. The home keeper was called in to action three minutes later when Riascos played a nice one-two with Peixoto but Klimov blocked the close range shot with his body, although the offside flag had been raised.
Going into the last 10 minutes Hirnyk midfield Artem Syomka
had three efforts to win the match for the home team. First, his curling
left-footed effort from around 15 yards was tipped over the bar by Rybka, and when
the subsequent corner was partially cleared, Rybka again had to tip Syomka’s 20
yard effort over the bar. In the last minute, another 20 yard left footed effort
from Syomka forced the diving Rybka to parry the ball away to safety.
In between, an incredible miss prevented Metalist from
taking the lead in the 87th minute. An inviting chip across the face
of the goal from Harris was met by Fomin in the centre of the goal three yards
out, but somehow the ex-Shahktar Donetsk veteran managed to head back across goal and wide of the post as
Klimov dived the other way !
In the fourth minute of added time Syomka broke
dangerously into the Metalist half and Demchenko cynically brought him down to
snuff out the danger at the expense of a yellow card. Although 7 minutes of
added time were played, Metalist couldn’t force a winner and Hirnyk held on for
an unexpected point.
At the final whistle the home players happily
celebrated with their supporters, whilst Metalist were left to rue two points
dropped. However, it is likely to be only a momentary hiccup on the road to
promotion.
Hirnyk Sport : Klimov – Chernysh, Chuev,
Tsvirenko, Safikhanov – Syomka, Kulakovkyi ( Palamar ), Mylchenko, Tverdokhlib
( Yavorskyi ), Kleber ( Posyevkin ) – Kozhevnikov
( Shynkarenko )
FK Metalist Kharkiv : Rybka – Shopin, Mizyuk ( Romanyuk ), Perokh, Gorbunov – Tankovskyi ( Ralyuchenko ), Postupalenko ( Riascos ), Sarapyi ( Demchenko ), Pidlepenets ( Fomin ), Harris – Peixoto
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK_s0mkIjqY
Round 12 Results
Olimpik Donetsk 3-1 Kramatorsk ( att : 150 )
Nyva Ternopil 0-1 Obolon Kyiv ( att : 1,200 )
Kryvbas 2-1 Volyn Lutsk ( att : 1,600 )
Kremin Kremenchuk 1-1 Prykarpattia ( att : 300 )
Hirnyk Sport 1-1 Metalist Kharkiv ( att : 500 )
Ahrobiznes Volochysk 1-1 Uzhhorod ( att : 400 )
Podillya Khmelnytskyi 0-0 Alliance Lypova Dolni ( att
: 2,350 )
Polessya Zhytomyr P-P VPK Agro
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