On Sunday, June 4, in the guest match of the final, 30th matchday of the Ukrainian championship Dynamo Kyiv played a draw with 1:1 against Metalist 1925 Kharkiv. The meeting was held in Kyiv at the Volodymyr Bannikov sport complex. Here is the post-match press conference of the head coaches.
Oleksandr SHOVKOVSKY, acting head coach of Dynamo:
- I congratulate everyone on the completion of another championship of Ukraine. But in the situation our country is in, we should thank our armed forces that this championship took place at all. It was not easy, it was difficult. But we realized that if this championship was not held, the whole Ukrainian football would have been in a hole. And in a very big hole. I don't know how people who invested their money in football would have kept the teams and players.
All the efforts of our country are now focused on defeating the enemy. I am sure that we will succeed in the near future. And the next championship of Ukraine will be very different.
Александр Шовковский. Фото — Ю.ЮрьевAs for the match itself, we controlled the game, we understood what the opponents were playing at. We opened the scoring, the pace was not slowed down, but everything was turned upside down after the suspension. That's football. However, our main mistake wasn't the suspension itself, but tactically: we had no right to bring the situation to such a one-on-one with our keeper. We told the players about it, but, unfortunately, it happened the way it did.
After the suspension, the game had a completely different pattern; we had to rebuild as the match progressed. In the second half we controlled the game more or less, but there were not many chances.
Congratulations to Metalist 1925 for solving the problem of keeping their place in the Premier League. Congratulations to the fans on the end of the season. We need to make a big analysis and think about the new season.
Oleg Golodyuk, acting head coach of Metalist 1925:
- Of course, today was the main game of the season for us. We understood that we can solve the problem of keeping our place in the Premier League, but we also understood who we were playing with. "Dynamo made good progress in the recent games, the team scored a lot of goals.
Yes, suspension in the opposing team helped us today. But this is history. The most important thing is that we fulfilled the task. It is entirely the merit of the players. I do not think there is any other team in our league, which in the course of the championship had the same problems as we did. We have never talked about it because it would sound like an excuse, and excuses are the lot of the weak.
The championship was difficult, but we remained in the Premier League, and that, I repeat, is the most important thing. The boys showed today that we really have a very good team. Despite the name of the opponent and its level, despite the responsibility for the result, our players coped with the task and received the reward of retaining their place in the UPL. We are very happy for the team. Now all the lads can go on holiday with a clear heart and spend time with their families and friends. Let them have a rest, they deserve it.
Alexander POPOV with Victor Bannikov UTC
