Disappointing coaching debuts, tragic 1:2 outcomes, and absurd moments: highlights from the 11th round of the Extra League.
The first level consists of two capital clubs, Aurora Team and ХІТ, both of which completed the first round unbeaten and drew against each other. The two-point gap between them emerged in the sixth round when the Ukrainian champions dropped two points in Rivne, ending in a 2:2 draw with Kardinal-Rivne.
The second level is represented by Khmelnytskyi's Sokil, which is currently trailing ХІТ by five points but is six points ahead of the nearest pursuer, SkyUp Futsal. In terms of gameplay, Roman Kovalchyk's team is closer to the leaders, as evidenced by their fiery match against ХІТ. However, the Khmelnytskyi team needs to keep an eye on those teams chasing them from behind.
This brings us to the third level, which includes SkyUp Futsal, Enerhiya, and Uragan. The "aviators" only managed to surpass the two teams representing the "energy" sector at the end of the first round. Interestingly, if we consider only the interactions within this trio, Uragan has the best record, having defeated SkyUp Futsal and drawn with the Lviv team.
The fourth level consists of three teams that will likely compete for the last two playoff spots – Athletic Futsal, Sukha Balka, and Kardinal-Rivne. The difference among them formed partly due to their head-to-head matches, where the "athletes" earned four points, the team from Zhovti Vody secured three, and the Rivne team managed just one. The main issue for Kardinal-Rivne in the first round was their home games: out of six matches, Yevhen Lank's charges did not win a single one, despite all teams visiting Rivne knowing they would face a serious challenge.
Finally, the fifth level includes Liubert, in.IT, and MSk Kharkiv. Due to various internal reasons, these teams are far from playoff contention, and it will be extremely difficult for them to make up the six-point deficit from the eighth position. And that’s putting it mildly.
Moving on to the eleventh round, there were no results that could be considered unusual or shocking. Nevertheless, this did not prevent us from finding several appealing moments during the matches, which became the subject of our discussion on the interesting highlights of the round, whether they were in the spotlight or, conversely, might have gone unnoticed by fans. More on that in our review.
Coaching Returns and Debut of the Round
Two teams played their first matches of 2025 with new head coaches, one of whom was returning to the Extra League after a long hiatus, while the other was making their absolute debut at this level. The appointments of both coaches were announced just before the New Year.
The reasons behind Sukha Balka's management deciding to dismiss Denys Ovsianikov remain unclear, as the club from Zhovti Vody did not officially inform the futsal community. This decision came after a confident victory over Uragan. Ovsianikov was replaced by Serhiy Hupalienko, who had worked in Cherkasy in recent years. Under his leadership, Cherkasyoblenergo could not reach the playoffs in the 2022/23 season, although they showcased attractive futsal in certain matches. A local success for the "energy" team was reaching the "Final Eight" of the Ukrainian Cup, where they lost to ХІТ 0:6 in the quarterfinals on April 27, 2023. The last match at the Extra League level for the 54-year-old coach was against Uragan, which took place on April 1, 2023, ending in a 2:4 defeat for the Cherkasy team.
Following Andriy Fedyuk's self-removal from the position of head coach of in.IT, the "IT specialists" played two games under the guidance of his assistant Oleg Halamaha. They won both matches, making his appointment as head coach a logical decision. However, the leadership in Lviv opted for a different path, appointing 37-year-old Nazariy Stankevych, who had been part of the club's structure working with youth teams and the second team playing in the First League.
The opponents for this important event for both coaches were not easy – both were leaders of the Extra League. The matches, as sometimes said, were not about points; they became just that for the new teams of Serhiy Hupalienko and Nazariy Stankevych: Sukha Balka lost at home to ХІТ 0:3, while in.IT succumbed to Aurora Team away with a score of 3:6.
Flashmob of the Round
For the second consecutive round, players from one team showed support for one of their teammates, and in the eleventh round, in.IT players stepped onto the court in Kyiv against Aurora Team wearing shirts featuring Vladyslav Syzyk's image and the inscription "We are with you."
In the tenth round match, which the "IT specialists" played on December 13 last year, Syzyk was sent off the court for two yellow cards. Consequently, he missed the next game, which was the ninth round against MSk Kharkiv. After serving his suspension, Vladyslav was supposed to play, but something prevented him from doing so.
What happened to the 22-year-old Lviv club player was directly questioned to the head coach Nazariy Stankevych in the post-match commentary, but he did not provide a direct answer, saying: "Vlad has health issues; I think he will announce it personally when he is able to." We hope this will be the case, and we will see Vladyslav Syzyk on futsal courts again in the future.
Comebacks of the Round
Three impressive comeback victories were recorded in the eleventh round. SkyUp Futsal delivered a remarkable comeback in the second half of the second half. As late as the 33rd minute, the "aviators" were trailing Enerhiya 1:2, but within five minutes, they scored four goals against the Lviv goalkeeper. It was a knockout blow, although the "energy" team managed to pull one back before the final whistle.
The situation was similarly dire for Lutsk's Liubert, who found themselves down 1:2 to Kardinal-Rivne after 36 minutes of play, but persistent efforts allowed them to equalize. The draw forced the Rivne team to take risks, releasing a fifth field player in a bid to snatch victory. Liubert seized this opportunity brilliantly when Nazariy Kuzmych found the back of the empty net.
The score of 1:2 proved fatal for the teams that were leading. The third "victim" was Uragan, who led 2:1 in Khmelnytskyi as early as the seventh minute. The collapse of the Ivano-Frankivsk team occurred closer to the end of the first half when they conceded three goals within three minutes.
MSk Kharkiv came close to a victorious comeback after hopelessly trailing Athletic Futsal at halftime. After the break, Vasyl Sukhomlyn's team managed to turn the game around, leading twice at 3:2 and 4:3, but they could not maintain the winning result, conceding a fourth goal just four seconds before the final buzzer.
Matches of the Round
The match schedule already indicated that the most attention would be drawn to the encounters between Enerhiya and SkyUp Futsal, as well as between Sokil and Uragan. The events unfolding in Lviv and Khmelnytskyi left no other option but to split the "match of the round" status between them. Both featured comebacks by the winners: the "aviators" in the second half, and the Khmelnytskyi team in the first half. Each match saw a total of eight goals, both ending with the same score of 5:3, but the intrigue lasted until the final minutes.
Moreover, the broadcasts of both matches attracted a worthy audience. The Lviv broadcast garnered nearly 12 thousand views, while the Khmelnytskyi match reached approximately 13,500, a record figure for the Khmelnytskyi club, which streams its matches on its YouTube channel.
Goal of the Round
The referees recorded 41 goals in the eleventh round, making it the third highest scoring round of the season. More goals were scored in the eighth round – 46 goals, and in the fifth round – 44 goals. We will award the best goal to one scored in Poltava during the 14th minute of the match between MSk Kharkiv and Athletic Futsal.
The goal-scoring combination began with goalkeeper Bohdan Meshcheryakov and was continued by Eduard Nahornyi. Following a pass to Vladyslav Vasyliev, Nahornyi made a run towards the center circle, where he received a pass from Dnipro club captain Vitaliy Dziuba. The key highlight of this masterpiece was Dziuba's one-touch back-heel pass, which