The twelfth matchday of the Ukrainian Premier League turned out to be controversial: fans expected goals in the season's central showdown, but instead got tactical tightness and a scoreless draw. The match between Shakhtar and Dynamo ended without any goals scored, with both teams demonstrating dense defense and preventing the opponent from creating any dangerous moments. Nevertheless, the tour left fans far from indifferent: in parallel fixtures, Polissya defeated Veres, Kudrivka narrowly beat Chornomorets, and LNZ took three points in a match against Zorya, where Papa Ndiaga Yade scored a brace. The only match that was not played to completion was the encounter between Kharkiv and Karpaty: after the first half, the teams could not return to the pitch due to an air raid alert, and the result of the match remains unrecorded.
Team of the Week: Unanimous Expert Choice
The editors of Sport RBC.UA traditionally formed the team of the week based on the votes of four experts — Danylo Vereitin, Mykyta Malyuhin, Ihor Ilyin, and Andriy Kostenko. The highest number of votes — four out of four — were received by four players: Eduard Sarapiy (Polissya), Oleh Kryvoruchko (Livyi Bereh), Yevhen Smyrny (Kudrivka), and Papa Ndiaga Yade (LNZ). It was these players who became the most unanimous choices of the panels. In goal, the experts split: Heorhiy Bushchan (Dynamo) and Kyrylo Lavuta (Kudrivka) shared positions, with Lavuta gaining more votes. In defense, Oleksiy Sych, Bohdan Veklyak, Oleksandr Drambayev, and Sarapiy himself featured most often, while in the attacking line, besides Ndiaga, Alisson (Shakhtar), Yan Kostenko (Karpaty), and Denys Ndukve (Kolos) stood out.
Top Scorers Race: Krasnopir Retains Lead
In the goalscorers' race after matchday 12, Polissya forward Ihor Krasnopir maintains leadership with nine goals. Taking second place is Yan Kostenko from Karpaty, who rose to six goals. Papa Ndiaga Yade, following his brace against Zorya, has four goals and is approaching the top of the list. It is worth noting that the Kharkiv vs. Karpaty match was not completed, so the final statistics of Kostenko and other Karpaty players may change after the match is replayed.
Standings and Next Matchday Schedule
Following matchday 12, Shakhtar seized the lead in the championship, ahead of Polissya by one point. Dynamo rounds out the top three. Kharkiv and Karpaty have a game in hand, which makes their positions in the table conditional until the interrupted meeting is replayed. The next, 13th matchday, will take place in two weeks and stretch over four days: it will open on November 20 with the Shakhtar vs. Livyi Bereh match and conclude on Monday, November 23, with the Chornomorets vs. Epitsentr and LNZ vs. Polissya fixtures. Thus, fans face a pause after which the championship will continue in a truncated format with a four-day game cycle.
Tour Context: What Lies Behind the Results
The 12th matchday of the 2026/27 UPL demonstrated high playing density in most matches: not a single encounter ended in a blowout score, and most head-to-head confrontations were decided by one or two goals. For Kudrivka, the victory over Chornomorets was an important step in the battle for mid-table, while for LNZ, Ndiaga's brace against Zorya confirmed the status of a team contending for the upper part of the championship. The scoreless draw in the Classic between Shakhtar and Dynamo brought no goals, but allowed the Donetsk side to intercept the lead, which could become a key psychological factor ahead of the decisive part of the season.
