Milevskyi and Aliiev in the stands while ignoring the rules: highlights from the return matches of the Ukraine Cup Round of 16.

After the draw for this stage of the cup tournament, it was relatively easy to identify the favorites in seven pairs without any significant risks. The only exception was the match between HIT and Aurora Team, which had no clear favorite. For both teams, currently occupying the top two spots in the Extra League standings, it was disappointing to exit the Ukrainian Cup at such an early stage, but that’s the nature of the game. However, once all participants of the "Final Eight" were determined, set to decide the trophy holder from April 24-27, even in this unpredictable pair, there was an overall trend present, consistent with the 1/8 finals – all eight teams that advanced were ranked higher than their opponents in the tournament hierarchy.

For instance, Aurora Team sits at the top of the Extra League, having eliminated HIT, which is second in the standings, from the cup. This pattern continued in the other matchups, which we will outline along with the match results. Sokol overcame Athletic Futsal with some difficulty (4:2, 2:3), SkyUp Futsal also struggled against Avalon (3:2, 2:2), Enerhiya handled in.IT with ease (2:1, 3:1), Uragan easily defeated amateurs AM Estate (7:3, 7:2), Sukha Balka dominated MCK Kharkiv (5:0, 9:2), Cardinal-Rivne had a tough match against amateur Budivelnyk, but managed to secure a win (5:1, 3:3), and finally, in the only pair that went to penalties, after two draws (4:4, 3:3) between Liubart and Furnitura, the team from the Extra League prevailed in the shootout (4:1).

Statistics are one thing, but despite the general trend observed in the 1/8 finals, there were specific moments during the games worth highlighting, which is the focus of the following narrative.

Central Game

Undoubtedly, the spotlight was on the match between HIT and Aurora Team, where, after the first game, the advantage was with Yevhen Zadorozhny's team by one goal. This set the stage for the return leg.

What transpired on the court doesn’t need to be recounted – it’s all available in the broadcast. Therefore, we will look at some moments from an outsider's perspective. The first surprise was the absence of Alexander Sukhov in HIT's goal. There were no doubts about the reliability of Oleksandr Kravets, who played the entire first half. The goal he conceded just seconds before halftime would have been difficult for any goalkeeper to save.

However, in Sukhov's absence, HIT lost the ability to apply constant pressure on their opponent due to his regular contributions. This pressure was necessary, as Aurora Team, mindful of their slim advantage, immediately relinquished initiative to HIT. Breaking through a solid defense while the goalkeeper is in position, and playing "four-on-four" in attack, proved impossible for HIT. They resorted to long-range shots, but, firstly, the players of Aurora Team knew exactly who posed a threat, namely Chernyavsky and Melnyk. Secondly, if anything reached Savenkov, it wasn’t a problem for him.

After the match in the championship a week prior against Sokol, HIT's coach Vladislav Lysenko commented: "I promise you will see a completely different team in the match against Aurora Team compared to the first match." It's hard to say what Lysenko meant, but there was nothing in HIT's game that could surprise Aurora Team, which, as the first half neared its end, began to apply high pressing, capitalizing on HIT's key players tiring out, leading to their goal. It all started with a technical error from Zhuk, who failed to control the ball.

After the goal, HIT needed to score at least two to take the game to penalties, and three for an outright win. The only change was the introduction of Sukhov, who immediately started playing offensively. However, he did so without much confidence, perhaps fearing a repeat of previous mistakes against Aurora Team. Sukhov's contributions didn’t have the desired effect, and with eight minutes remaining in the second half, HIT switched to a five-player formation, featuring Yevhen Siry, who was not fully recovered from an injury.

The early transition to a five-player game has its drawbacks. If a team has only one quintet trained for the "5-on-4" setup, they cannot physically sustain it for long, as prolonged ball control drains the players. This was evident with HIT, as Siry's first appearance saw nearly two minutes of ball control end in an unforced turnover. The second and third goals conceded were described by Vladislav Lysenko as "agonizing," and it’s hard to disagree. The players expected to deliver results faltered, having exhausted their efforts. The second goal came from a mistake by Andriy Melnyk, who attempted to control the ball but failed. The third goal was a misplaced pass from Siry directly to Rostyslav Semenchenko, who scored the decisive goal in the clash of the two Kyiv teams.

Of the four matches this season, HIT has not won against Aurora Team, suggesting a potential reevaluation of values in Ukrainian futsal. Does this indicate that Oleg Lukyanenko's team has lower chances of winning the championship compared to Aurora Team? Paradoxically, their chances have actually increased. The paradox lies in the fact that there seems to be a curse surrounding the Ukrainian Cup. The last time a team achieved a double by winning both the championship and the cup was in the 2011/12 season when it was accomplished by Lviv's Enerhiya. Since then, even Kharkiv's Lokomotiv and Kherson's Prodexim in their golden eras failed to win both trophies. The most recent examples show that in the last two seasons, the Ukrainian Cup was won by Cardinal-Rivne and Uragan, while HIT claimed the championship both times. Whether Aurora Team or another team will break this curse remains to be seen by the end of the season.

Special Guests

In very ancient times, when Kyiv had a futsal team called Interkas, some well-known, even legendary football figures could often be seen at their games. In particular, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko frequently attended futsal matches, which was simply explained by the friendship between Interkas's president Serhiy Veselov and these football personalities. It was also common for Myron Markevych to be invited to the Ukrainian national team games in Lviv.

What’s the relevance of this historical digression? Well, during the Kyiv derby, among numerous fans, Artem Milevskyi and Oleksandr Aliyev were spotted. How these media figures, former well-known footballers, ended up at the HIT vs. Aurora Team match, whether by their own initiative or through an invitation, remains unanswered. However, it is safe to say for whom they were cheering. When the third goal flew into HIT's net in the final minute, the broadcast captured Oleksandr Aliyev's genuine joy as he jumped from his seat.

As is known, the "Final Eight" is scheduled to take place at the capital's Palace of Sports, so it can be expected that this event will attract renowned footballers, perhaps even those who haven’t hung up their boots yet. Ideally, they should not only be among those currently holding official positions in UAF, attending the "Final Eight" solely out of duty.

No Goals

Among the 16 participants in the 1/8 finals, only one team failed to score in the return matches. It’s hard to believe, but that team is the reigning Ukrainian champion, Kyiv's HIT, which boasts a significant number of honored masters of sports, including one of the best scorers in recent years, Yevhen Zhuk. However, for every Zhuk, there is a Savenkov, and in the Kyiv derby, the efforts of Oleg Lukyanenko's players were thwarted by the honored master of sports from Aurora Team, Yuriy Savenkov. And it turns out this is quite routine for him.

Almost two years ago, in the return leg of the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup for the 2022/23 season, Uragan faced HIT, concluding with a 1:0 victory for the Ivano-Frankivsk team, whose goal was defended by… Yuriy Savenkov. However, that victory for Uragan was a weak consolation, as they lost the first match 1:3. The mentioned match took place on April 5, 2023, and since then, HIT has played nine matches in the Ukrainian Cup, consistently scoring, but in the tenth game, the circle "from Savenkov to Savenkov" was completed.

Crushings

Among the eight games, there was at least one instance where one team had a significant advantage over their opponent. This applies not only to games between teams from different tiers of Ukrainian futsal. Sukha Balka arrived for the return match against MCK Kharkiv in Poltava, having won 5:0. This predicted that the return match would become a formality, but