After the defeat in the 3rd round against "Prykarpattia," the management of FC "Niva" decided to terminate their cooperation with head coach Andriy Kupets. And yesterday, during the match against "Polissya," the duties of the manager were carried out by the club's sports director and former national team player Serhiy Zadorozhnyi.

He managed to prepare his players for a showdown with the main contender for victory in Group A, and it would have been unfair if the hosts had conceded. Undoubtedly, he added confidence to the "Niva" players about their own strength and the fact that they previously successfully played against "Polissya." They demonstrated that they remain an awkward opponent for the Zhytomyr team, drawing 0-0 last Saturday. The guests dominated only immediately after halftime, even had a chance to open the score when their giant Pilyp Budkivskyi headed from close range, but home goalkeeper Maxim Mehanov made an impressive save. He was also on top form at the end of the match when Polissya tried to tip the scales in their favor with aerial passes.

"A draw is a fair result," said head coach of "Polissya" Yurii Kalitvintsev after the final whistle. "I am more satisfied with the second half, but my players were let down by their realization in key moments. We must acknowledge that the Ternopil team showed resilience and good organization."

The first point loss of "Polissya" could have been capitalized on today by "Karpaty," who in case of a victory over "Dinazor" would become sole leaders. By the way, this was the 20th matchday for Dinazor's coach Oleksandr Golovko in the top league. Naturally, "Karpaty" wanted to spoil his anniversary. The rivals did not sit back defensively and mostly attacked from the flanks. Twice the stopper of "Karpaty," Igor Duts', could have scored after set-piece plays but missed from close range. On the 34th minute mark, already the hosts earned a corner kick, and their central striker Oleg Kos headed under the crossbar in a leap. It should be noted that this was the first goal conceded by Galicians this season.

After halftime, the players of Andriy Tlumak added intensity, and Vladyslav Pryymak, who came on as a substitute, equalized the score. Soon the undeterred Duts finally adjusted his aim and put "Karpaty" ahead. The green-and-whites secured an away victory — 2:1 and solidified their position at the top.

In Group B, "Obolon'" pulled ahead after yesterday's victory over "Skorokhod" — 3:1 and benefited from the fact that their table neighbor, "Metallurg," unexpectedly lost to "Chernihiv" at home — 0:2. It seems that Metallurg's players were knocked out of rhythm by an early goal conceded to Dmytro Myronenko. This victory is historic for "Chernihiv" as they had never won in the first division before.

Not only did "Obolon'" benefit from "Metallurg's" misfortune, but also "LNZ," which after a win over "Poltava" — 1:0 closed the gap on the Zaporizhzhia team.

And Poltava remains the only team in the first division that has lost all of its matches.

Finally, about the sensation in Kremenchuk, where today's local "Kremen" scored seven goals against "Girnyk-Sport," not conceding any. Although before the match experts assessed the guests' chances as higher.

Match results and league tables