Shakhtar, Fourth??!?

FC Karpaty Lviv is no big force in the Ukrainian league.

But with Shakhtar Donetsk struggling - they haven't won a match for the third round in a row - it's not as big a surprise as it would ordinarily be that Karpaty beat Shakhtar!
Final score: 3-2. And Karpaty even led 3-1 (for about 10 minutes).

Karpaty played really quickly, and were inspired as well, on the counter-attack, but Shakhtar made some bad errors in defense, too, facilitating all of Karpaty's goals.
Especially the third goal by the home team, scored by Bartulovic, made the Shakhtar back line look foolish, as the ball traveled a very long way, following a free kick, to sneak in untouched at the far post.

So, with only one point from the last possible nine, and if Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk achieves a very logical home win against bottom-side Tavriya, on Sunday, Mircea Lucescu's team could be fourth in the standings by the end of this matchday.
That is partly because surprise side Chornomorets Odessa also won today, beating Metalurh Zaporizhya, 1-0 away from home. (They're second in the table, at the present time, but could be overtaken by Dnipro, with a win.)

They could have been first, for at least 2 days, if they had won in Lviv, but now they could end up fourth. And the race for the title could become a five-horse race, if Dynamo Kyiv beats Metalist Kharkiv, away, on Sunday.
Maybe Shakhtar was concentrating more on their Champions League start, in San Sebastian, against Spanish team Real Sociedad, on Tuesday. That, despite the fact that Metalist threatens to run away with the league, based on their current form.

Highlights:

Ukraine - UEFA Club Competitions Participants - 2013-2014

Shakhtar Donetsk --> Champions League Group Stage
Metalist Kharkiv --> Champions League Third Qualifying Round
Dynamo Kyiv --> Europa League Play-off Round
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk --> Europa League Play-off Round
Metalurh Donetsk --> Europa League Third Qualifying Round
Chornomorets Odessa --> Europa League Second Qualifying Round

Amazing! Over Already?!?

The derby of the Ukrainian Premier League showed that there is only one true contender to the title.
Although Dynamo Kyiv tried, Shakhtar is just way too strong for any internal opponent.

Dynamo was lucky to go in at half time with a score of 1-1, but, unfortunately for them, their players could not call themselves as lucky during the second half.

There's no point in following the Ukrainian league closely anymore, for now, because it could have only one outcome, based on what transpired on Sunday, in Donetsk.

By the way, Dynamo is not even second anymore, because Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk overtook the team from the capital, with a superior goal difference.
Both Dynamo and Dnipro are on 18 points, but Dnipro's goal difference is +12, while Dynamo is down to seven more goals scored than conceded, following their second loss of the season.
Shakhtar is already 6 points ahead, after only 8 matchdays, and that is looking like an unassailable advantage.

Ukraine - UEFA Club Competitions Participants - 2012-2013

Shakhtar Donetsk --> Champions League Group Stage
Dynamo Kyiv --> Champions League Third Qualifying Round
Metalist Kharkiv --> Europa League Play-off Round
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk --> Europa League Play-off Round
Arsenal Kyiv --> Europa League Third Qualifying Round
Metalurh Donetsk --> Europa League Second Qualifying Round

Shakhtar Loses Ground

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk played valiantly in Donetsk on Sunday, and succeeded to take one point from the champions.

They even opened the scoring, in minute 29, but Shakhtar tied it only 11 minutes later. Lucescu's team could not get the win, however.

Given Dynamo Kyiv 's victory, 1-0 against Arsenal Kyiv, the gap between Shakhtar and the leaders increases by two points, to three. Dynamo has 55, Shakhtar 52.
And Metalist is now closer to Shakhtar than Shakhtar is to Dynamo. The Kharkiv team is trailing the Donetsk team by 2 points.

The second-placed team in the Ukrainian Premier League gets to participate in the Champions League play-offs, with a chance to reach the group stage.

Highlights from Shakhtar - Dnipro 1-1:


Highlights from Dynamo - Arsenal K. 1-0: