Ukrainian Premier League update week 23

By: sasha | April 15th, 2009

Week 22 of the Ukrainian Premier League had few surprises as both Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk won decisively as they head into their UEFA Cup matches this week.

Dynamo maintained its fifteen point lead on Shakhtar with a 3-1 victory over Chornomorets Odessa, however the match was decided till late. After veteran Ukraine international Andriy Nesmachnyi gave Dynamo the lead, Volodymyr Bondarenko squared it up just before the hour. Serhiy Kravchenko and Oleksandr Aliyev scored in the final twenty minutes to decide the match. (see Yevy’s blog for full details)

Shakhtar Donetsk overtook Metalist Kharkiv for second place as they defeated Arsenal Kyiv 3-0 with all strikes coming after the break. Oleksandr Hladky, Polands Mariusz Lewandowski and Jádson all broke the mark to seal the victory.

The upset of the week came as Metalist Kharkiv was held by Karpaty to a 1-1 draw. Marko Dević goal for Metalist five minutes after the break leveled the match after Serhiy Kuznetsov gave Karpaty the lead early in the match. The draw dropped Metalist a point behind Shakhtar.

Elsewhere Metalurh Donetsk overcame Lviv 1-0 with a goal by Velizar Dimitrov in the nintieth minute. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk defeated Vorskla Poltava 2-1 with Serhiy Nazarenko scoring the winner with five minutes left. Zorya Luhansk defeated Kharkiv 2-0 with Parid Xhihani and Olexiy Kurilov striking for Luhansk. Metalurh Zaporizhya lost points on the race as they were held to a 1-1 draw to Illichivets and only saved from a defeat with Adolf Teikeu’s goal with twenty-two minutes left. Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih defeated Tavriya Simferopol 1-0 with Serhiy Motuz scoring with thirteen minutes left in the opening half.

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