This weekend features the matches of the 13th round of the current Ukrainian championship. One of them took place on Saturday, November 22, between Kovalivka’s 'Kolos' and Kyiv’s 'Dynamo'. The match was held in Kovalivka at the 'Kolos' stadium.
Ukrainian Championship. 13th round
’Kolos' (Kovalivka) — 'Dynamo' (Kyiv) — 2:1 (2:0)
Goals: Klymchuk (9, 37) — Ogundana (86)
Warnings: Pakholiuk (71), Salabay (90), Alefireinko (90+3) — Kabaev (17), Popov (73), Dubinchak (40)
’Dynamo': 35. Neshcheret — 18. Tymchyk (20. Karavaev, 68), 4. Popov, 32. Mykhavko, 44. Dubinchak — 6. Brazhko, 8. Pikhaliok — 9. Voloshyn (16. Ogundana, 68), 29. Buyalsky (C), 22. Kabaev — 39. Guerrero (99. Ponomarenko, 79).
Substitutes: 71. Ignatenko, 74. Surkis, 2. Vivcharenko, 14. Burtnyk, 15. Rubchinsky, 66. Tiare, 77. Blenuţe, 91. Mikhaylenko.
’Kolos': 31. Pakholiuk, 9. Tsurykov (C), 16. Krasnichi, 3. Kozik, 77. Ponedilnik, 55. Teles, 99. Rrapaj, 7. Demchenko (5. Bondarenko, 84), 17. Salabay, 70. Klymchuk (27. Oevusi, 58), 14. Kane (19. Alefireinko, 77).
Substitutes: 1. Matsapura, 38. Puzankov, 2. Rukhadzi, 6. Burda, 8. Cheliadyn, 11. Tretyakov, 15. Husol, 47. Denisenko, 90. Bezruchuk.
Match statistics >>>
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The match started disastrously for 'Dynamo'. As early as the 8th minute, 'Kolos' created a very dangerous moment: Demchenko struck accurately from the penalty area line, the ball flew toward the Kyiv team’s goal, but Mykhavko blocked the path. However, a few seconds later, the home team did open the scoring — Kozik, with a pass from his half of the field, released Klymchuk one-on-one with Neshcheret. In the penalty area, Popov caught up with the opponent, but this didn’t prevent the strike that placed the ball into the corner of 'Dynamo’s' goal — 1:0.
The guests, having conceded, naturally rushed to equalize. However, this did not lead to sharpness at the 'Kolos' goal. The team from Kovalivka could have built on their success in this segment of the match. On the 22nd minute, Tsurykov struck powerfully from about 20 meters, and Neshcheret, with difficulty, parried the ball. Then, a few minutes later, Rrapaj took a rather dangerous free-kick shot, narrowly missing the post.
’Dynamo', meanwhile, created its first goal-scoring opportunities towards the end of the first half-hour. First, Buyalsky, with a through pass, released Guerrero one-on-one with Pakholiuk on the left side of the penalty area, but the 'Kolos' goalkeeper saved his team by kicking away the ball after the 'Dynamo' forward’s strike. Subsequently, an impressive 'white and blue' multi-pass sequence ended with a well-placed shot by Voloshyn from the same left side of the penalty area — the ball was aiming for the far corner, but a player from the Kovalivka team blocked it.
Overall, 'Dynamo' managed to shift the game to the opponent’s half during this segment, but on the 37th minute, 'Kolos' succeeded instead: Tymchyk, in a simple situation on his half of the field, played the ball directly to an opponent, leading to a quick counterattack, culminating with Tsurykov passing to Klymchuk in the central zone, who calmly received the pass at the edge of the penalty area, turned towards the goal, and struck the ball into the lower corner of Neshcheret’s goal, which he couldn’t save — 2:0. There could have been a third goal in the first half (in the 45th minute of the match), but 'Dynamo' goalkeeper managed to handle the dangerous shot by Kane from outside the penalty area.
The second half began with 'Dynamo' very active, and by the 50th minute of the match, Buyalsky’s shot had hit the 'Kolos' goalpost. Pikhaliok then hit from outside the penalty area — Pakholiuk struggled to parry this shot, the ball bounced to Voloshyn, but he was unable to control it, missing the chance for a follow-up. 'Kolos' responded with a shot by Oevusi from about 20 meters — the ball narrowly missed Neshcheret’s goalpost. Rrapaj also took a shot from a similar distance, which the 'Dynamo' goalkeeper confidently saved.
As the match progressed, 'Dynamo' continued to attack relentlessly, while 'Kolos' openly 'sat back', defending their score. However, there were no clear goal-scoring opportunities for the visitors. Popov and Mykhavko took shots after corner kicks, but these were inaccurate. Only on the 86th minute did the visitors manage to pull one back: Pikhaliok, in the Kovalivka penalty area, received a pass from Karavaev, approached the goalkeeper area, crossed it, and after a deflection, the ball reached Ogundana, who struck it into the net from a meter away — 2:1. There could have been a second 'Dynamo' goal, but Pakholiuk managed to save Kabaev’s header from six meters, sealing the pass from Ogundana. Ultimately, the match concluded with 'Kolos' winning 2:1.
Following this result, 'Dynamo' is in fifth place in the standings, seven points behind the leading 'Shakhtar'. Meanwhile, 'Shakhtar' has yet to play their 13th-round match. 'Kryvbas', who currently have the same number of points as 'Dynamo', have also yet to play. Finally, 'Zorya' of Luhansk, one point behind the Kyiv team, has yet to play the 13th round as well, posing a threat to their position.
In the next round, the 14th, 'Dynamo' faces a home match against 'Poltava'. This game will take place on Monday, December 1, in Kyiv at the 'Dynamo' stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi (starting at 15:30).
Alexander POPOV from the 'Kolos' stadium