In a home match of the 12th round of the Ukrainian Championship, Polissya defeated Veres with a score of 2:0. Ruslan Rotan's team secured three points with some effort but confidence: Eduard Sarapiy opened the scoring at the beginning of the second half, and Mykola Hayduchyk sealed the result in stoppage time. Thanks to this victory, the Zhytomyr side gained three points and tied with Shakhtar Donetsk at the top of the UPL standings, while Rivne's Veres failed to improve their position and remained in 13th place.
First half: strong guest defense and canceled penalty
Ruslan Rotan's charges started the match actively, but in the first half of the game, they could not find a way to the opponent's goal. Veres defended smartly and even created the most dangerous moment of the half: Wesley Pomba passed to Vladyslav Sharay, who found himself in front of goalkeeper Yevhen Volynets, but after a blocking attempt by Borys Krushynskyi, he failed to beat the Polissya goalkeeper. Later, Fabrício Yan also tested Volynets's reflexes. The hosts responded by winning a penalty — Kai Čipot fouled Krushynskyi in his own penalty area, but after a VAR review, the referee canceled the spot kick.
Sarapiy's goal and numerical advantage
At the beginning of the second half, Polissya finally took the lead: in the 47th minute, Mykyta Kravchenko crossed after a set-piece, and Eduard Sarapiy headed the ball into the net. In the 58th minute, the guests' situation worsened even further when Mykyta Aleksandrov received his second yellow card for a rough foul on Roman Babenko, leaving Veres a man down. Soon after, the match was interrupted due to an air raid alert; after the all-clear signal, the teams returned to the pitch and continued the game. Having a numerical advantage, the hosts controlled the match: Sarapiy even tried to score a brace with a long-range shot, but Pavlo Stefanyuk saved Veres.
Hayduchyk puts the final nail in stoppage time
The Zhytomyr side set the final score in stoppage time. In the 90+3rd minute, Mykola Hayduchyk scored the hosts' second goal and brought the team a 2:0 victory. This win allowed Polissya to earn three points and tie with Shakhtar Donetsk at the top of the Ukrainian Championship, while Veres remained in 13th place, failing to improve their position in the table.
Tour context
In addition to the Polissya vs Veres match, this UPL round featured the capital derby in which Obolon and Livyi Bereh played out a hard-fought draw. Thus, the 12th round of the Ukrainian championship brought several intriguing results, and the battle for leadership between Zhytomyr's Polissya and Donetsk's Shakhtar remains open.
