The recent failures of the Ternopil "Niva" have forced the club's leadership to send head coach Vasyl Malik into retirement. Today, in the 9th round match against "Karpaty," Alexander Stakhiv — Malik's assistant — took charge of the team.

He managed to properly set up his players, and they put up a fight against group A leader "Karpaty." Despite the guests taking an early lead after Jan Kostenc's goal in the debut, the hosts quickly equalized — Andriy Zin scored.

The game advantage, especially in the second half, was on the side of "Karpaty," but they could not tip the scales in their favor — 1:1. Among other things, Ternopil's goalkeeper Maxim Mehaniv saved a penalty kick at the 74th minute.

It is worth noting that earlier, Lviv "Niva" had taken points from the Carpathians. And it was precisely the Buzhanskyi team, taking advantage of the Carpathians' slip-up, reduced their gap from Miron Markevych's wards.

Interest in the match between "Metalist" and "Khust" was fueled by the fact that brothers Luzhiv play for Kharkiv. But this time they did not help. The city dwellers secured a convincing victory — 3:0 and solidified their position in the top group.

In Group B, leader "Ingulets" only managed to secure a win against the outsider, "Gorohiv-Sport," in injury time — 2:1. His main pursuer, "Viktoriya," was also close to losing points. However, with the match nearing its end, Anatoliy Bezsmertnyi's wards managed to score and celebrate a much-desired comeback.

Match results and league standings