The Ukrainian season got under way and several Macedonian internationals were in action.  Here is a recap of how they did:

Ukraine, Premyer-Liha, Dynamo Kyiv – Metalist Kharkiv 1:1
Goran Popov played the entire game for Dynamo Kyiv who began the new season with a draw against Metalist Kharkiv.  The visitors took the lead in the 3rd minute after some sloppy defending before Dynamo Kyiv equalized in the 17th minute when Andriy Shevchenko scored an easy goal from close range following a howler from the opposing keeper.  Popov made a nice play in the 56th minute when he dribbled the ball past several Metalist players before he set up his teammate Oleh Gusev whose shot was saved by the visiting keeper.  The first half was even but Dynamo Kyiv peppered the Metalist goal in the 2nd half and even hit the post twice but they could not score a second goal so the game ended in a 1:1 draw.

Ukraine, Premyer-Liha, Illichivets – Karpaty Lviv 1:0
Martin Bogatinov played from the start for Karpaty Lviv and conceded one goal in the 7th minute.  Bogatinov was in a competition for the starting keeper position with Andriy Tlumak but the Karpaty Lviv manager chose Bogatinov to open the season as the starter.  Bogatinov made a early save in the 2nd minute of this game but the assistant referee ruled offside so the save didn’t count.  However, in the 7th minute, a Illichivets player attempted a shot from distance and it took a deflection off a Karpaty defender before the ball went past the diving Bogatinov to the back of the net.  That proved to be the only goal of the game in what turned out to be a disappointing start to the season for Karpaty.  Besides the goal, Bogatinov wasn’t busy as he didn’t have additional saves to make but Karpaty could not score an equalizer and suffered a narrow loss to begin the season.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hHJXc9w_n_0

Ukraine, Premyer-Liha, Kryvbas – Volyn Lutsk 1:0
Vance Sikov played all 90 minutes for Volyn Lutsk and also picked up a yellow card in the 21st minute.  From all indications, Sikov had a solid debut in the Ukrainian league as he started at right CB and displayed good positioning while also winning most duels that he was involved in during the match.  The Volyn Lutsk keeper made a huge blunder on the only goal of the game in a video that you have to see to believe.  A Volyn Lutsk defender made a pass back to the keeper from about half the field and somehow the ball went under the feet of the keeper for a soft goal and a terrible way for Volyn to start the season on such a blunder that cost them the game.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=YbxxBpPAoBg

Ukraine, Premyer-Liha, Chornomorets Odesa – Metalurh Donetsk 0:1
Mario Gjurovski was an unused substitute for Metalurh Donetsk who scored the only goal of the game in the beginning of the 2nd half thanks to a nice finish by Marcos Pizzelli.

Ukraine, Premyer-Liha, Tavria – Zorya 3:1
Besart Ibraimi was not among the 18 players called up by Tavria.  His club was trailing 1:0 at halftime before Tavria stormed back to score three goals in the 2nd half to record the victory.