Shakhtar Donetsk has become Ukrainian champion for the 14th time. The team of Croatian coach Igor Jovicevic won 3-0 (1-0) in Lviv in what ended up being a turbulent game against pursuers SK Dnipro-1.
One matchday before the end of the season, Shakhtar is eight points ahead of Dnipro and third-placed Sorja Luhansk and can no longer be relegated from first place. At the same time, Donetsk qualified again for the Champions League.
Artem Bondarenko (9th minute), Danylo Sikan (55th) and Taras Stepanenko (59th) scored the goals for the hosts. In injury time, the Shakhtar players Yehor Nasarina and Anatoly Trubin (90+6), as well as Dnipro Peglov (90+6) and Vitaly Fedorov (90+8), each saw red after a scuffle.
Strict security rules because of the war
“We thank the armed forces of Ukraine for the opportunity to play football in our homeland,” Shakhtar wrote on Twitter. The league started playing on August 23, 2022 despite the Russian war in Ukraine. All games took place without spectators for safety reasons.
Strict safety rules also applied to the teams: In the event of an air raid, games had to be stopped immediately, and everyone involved then had to go to the shelter, which according to the concept had to be in the immediate vicinity of the stadium. If it is not possible to restart the game, the result at the time of the alarm would be included in the score.