Kudrivka lost 2-3 to Kolos in round seven of the Ukrainian Premier League, a match that an air-raid alert halted for almost half an hour at the Avanhard in Rivne on Sunday, 20 September. Yevhenii Smyrnyi opened the scoring and completed a brace in the second half, but between his goals the visitors scored three — Oleksandr Demchenko, Khrypchuk and Ndukwe.
It is Kovalivka’s first win of the season: Kolos climb to 13th with five points, while Kudrivka, after six matches played, remain bottom in 16th with two points — and a postponed game against Veres in hand.
How it went
The hosts started the bolder side: in the 4th minute Rosales beat three opponents and forced Pakholiuk to turn the ball behind, and in the 19th a set piece worked — Bieliaiev delivered a free kick, Dumaniuk headed it on to the far post and the unmarked Smyrnyi opened the scoring. Kolos, meanwhile, lost Telles early, with Khrypchuk coming on — and that forced change would later turn against Kudrivka. In the 24th minute an air-raid alert stopped play: the teams came back out only half an hour later, and after the pause the match turned around. In the 30th minute Salabai crossed and Demchenko headed in from a few metres; in the 36th, from Rrapaj’s delivery, Khrypchuk outjumped Dumaniuk and put the visitors ahead. The first half ended with a run of yellow cards — for Oharkov, Klymchuk and another home player — and the score at 1-2.
Kudrivka changed half the team at the break, but the visitors scored first again: in the 55th minute, after a quick attack down the left, Ndukwe slid in from a tight angle and put the ball through Yashkov’s legs. The hosts replied with a beauty — Smyrnyi cut in from the flank and lifted the ball in off the crossbar into the far top corner, 2-3. From there the game dissolved into chances and cards: Salabai missed an open goal from the six-yard box, Kane shot over from the penalty spot, Takhiri was booked for diving in the box, and in all the referee showed ten yellow cards, one of them to the Kolos bench. Late on Sten and Verlei had chances to level, but Pakholiuk and poor finishing left the three points with Kovalivka.
Match updates
15:27. Full time! Kudrivka 2-3 Kolos. Smyrnyi's brace could not save the hosts: after the air-raid pause the visitors scored three — Demchenko, Khrypchuk and Ndukwe.
15:25. 89th minute: a chance for Verlei — a good opening to equalise, but the shot is off target.
15:23. 88th minute: substitute Sten shoots from about seventeen metres — Pakholiuk deals with it safely.
15:21. Takhiri bursts into the box and goes down under a challenge from Semenov — no penalty; instead a yellow card for Takhiri himself for simulation: there was no contact.
15:20. Rrapaj gets away down the flank, cuts the ball into the box and then shoots himself — but the assistant flags offside.
15:18. The cards keep coming: in the 82nd minute Burda fouls Yushchenko in midfield and kicks the ball away after the whistle — a yellow; Kudrivka work the dangerous free kick to Verlei, but Poniedielnik blocks at the last moment. In the 84th Yushchenko slides in and tangles Takhiri's legs — and is booked too.
15:15. Substitutions in the 81st minute: Sten replaces Owusu for Kudrivka, Takhiri comes on for third-goal scorer Ndukwe for Kolos.
15:13. 79th minute: Dumaniuk's free kick — very poor.
15:12. 76th minute: Dumaniuk shoots from distance — well over the bar. In the 78th a yellow card for Demchenko: after a foul on a Kudrivka player the Kolos forward said too much to the referee.
15:09. 74th minute: the moment of the match — Salabai, from inside the six-yard box, somehow failed to hit the target when he could have settled it. Then Kolos captain Tsurikov is booked.
15:09. Two Kudrivka players collided in midfield and one of them, with a cut, had to go off for treatment — the hosts were briefly a man short. Kane then burst into the box and, from the penalty spot, shot over the bar — a great chance wasted by Kolos.
15:08. Kolos break down the flank, but Verlei stops his opponent with a foul — a free kick for the visitors.
15:05. Kolos substitution: Stankovski replaces Khrypchuk, scorer of the second goal — the visitors shore up the defence.
15:04. 69th minute: Adeoye played Rosales in nicely down the right, but Kudrivka's two foreigners did not read each other.
15:02. A double change for Kudrivka in the 67th minute: Verlei for Petriak, Yushchenko for two-goal Smyrnyi.
15:01. 66th minute: Ndukwe aimed for the far corner — well off target.
15:00. 63rd minute: Rrapaj shoots from distance — wide.
14:56. GOAL! 2-3 — a beauty from Yevhenii Smyrnyi: he cut in from the flank and hit a shot that went in off the crossbar into the far top corner. A brace — Kudrivka pull one back!
14:55. Smyrnyi lofts the ball into the box, Petriak goes down in a challenge and appeals for a penalty — the referee waves play on. Then a Kolos coach is booked for running out of the technical area in the heat of the moment.
14:51. 57th minute: Khrypchuk, buoyed by his goal, tries from distance — well wide.
14:49. GOAL! 1-3 — a quick Kolos attack down the left, a cut-back into the box, and Ndukwe, sliding in from a tight angle, puts it through Yashkov's legs — the visitors' third in the 55th minute.
14:48. Hot minutes around Yashkov's goal: Salabai burst into the box and Ndukwe pushed the ball wide; Kolos appealed for a penalty for a foul on Rrapaj — the referee saw no offence. Khrypchuk holds his shoulder after a collision but plays on.
14:47. Petriak breaks down the flank and cuts the ball back across the box, but Svitiukha cannot get there to finish.
14:44. 49th minute: Smyrnyi tried a placed shot — Pakholiuk caught it.
14:41. 47th minute: Dumaniuk shoots from about twenty metres — well off target. Then Ivan Petriak fouls in a challenge — a yellow card.
14:40. Half-time changes. Kudrivka: Semenov for Oharkov, Svitiukha for Bieliaiev. Kolos: Poniedielnik for Savchuk, Kane for Klymchuk — both booked players stay in the dressing rooms.
14:39. The whistle goes — the second half is under way.
14:24. Half-time. Kudrivka 1-2 Kolos after the first half: Smyrnyi put the hosts ahead in the 19th minute, and after the air-raid pause the visitors replied through Demchenko (30') and Khrypchuk (36').
14:20. Bieliaiev's free kick to the far post finds nobody. Then another booking: a Kudrivka player brings down Salabai as he carries the ball down the flank.
Photo: FC Kudrivka14:16. 39th minute: Klymchuk deliberately broke up a Kudrivka attack, grabbing Owusu by the shoulder as he drove through the middle — a yellow card.
14:13. GOAL! 1-2 — another set piece, this time for the visitors: from Rrapaj's delivery substitute Khrypchuk outjumped Dumaniuk and headed Kolos in front in the 36th minute.
14:12. 35th minute: Oharkov let the ball run too far and tripped Ndukwe — a yellow card.
14:10. 32nd minute: Khrypchuk went in hard on Smyrnyi.
14:09. GOAL! 1-1 — Kolos level in the 30th minute: Salabai crossed into the box and Demchenko headed in from a few metres — Yashkov had no chance.
14:01. Play resumes from the 24th minute — Kudrivka lead 1-0.
13:56. The air-raid alert in Rivne is over. Play has not resumed yet — we wait for the teams to come back out.
13:29. The match has been halted: an air-raid alert has been declared in Rivne. We wait for the all-clear.
13:27. Kolos respond: a long spell of pressure ends with Savchuk's shot blocked, and from the next corner Honcharenko heads over the bar.
13:24. GOAL! 1-0 — Smyrnyi opens the scoring in the 19th minute! Bieliaiev delivered a free kick, Dumaniuk headed it on to the far post, and the unmarked Smyrnyi placed the ball into the open corner.
Photo: FC Kudrivka
Photo: FC Kudrivka13:19. 14th minute: Bieliaiev tried his luck from outside the box — off target.
13:17. Kolos substitution in the 13th minute: Khrypchuk replaces the injured Telles.
13:16. 12th minute: Petriak shoots from a tight angle — Pakholiuk gathers it calmly.
13:14. 9th minute: it looks like Kolos's Telles cannot carry on.
13:11. From a corner Telles headed over the bar.
13:11. Kolos reply in the 6th minute: Rrapaj received a pass in the box, but Serdiuk blocked the shot at the last moment.
13:09. Kudrivka's first chance in the 4th minute: Rosales beat three opponents, cut inside and shot low towards the far corner — Pakholiuk turned it behind for a corner with some difficulty.
13:05. Kick-off — the match in Rivne is under way!
Photo: FC Kudrivka12:47. The starting line-ups are out. Kudrivka: A. Yashkov (37, goalkeeper and captain), M. Serdiuk (17), M. Oharkov (25), V. Adeoye (29), Ye. Smyrnyi (8), A. Dumaniuk (19), Ye. Pasich (42), M. Rosales (38), I. Petriak (7), O. Bieliaiev (21), R. Owusu (24); the coach listed in the protocol is Yevhen Zadorozhnii. Kolos: I. Pakholiuk (31, goalkeeper), A. Tsurikov (9, captain), M. Burda (6), R. Honcharenko (33), O. Savchuk (42), Telles (55), O. Demchenko (7), Rrapaj (99), A. Salabai (17), Yu. Klymchuk (70), D. Ndukwe (30); on the bench — Morhun, Matsapura, Khrypchuk, Rukhadze, Sukhonos, Denysenko, Stankovski, Kane, Takhiri, Kozik, Poniedielnik, Shershen. Ruslan Kostyshyn is in charge, although the UPL protocol lists O. Shelaiev as coach.
Why this match is ours too
On paper Kudrivka belong to Chernihiv region, but their roots run deep into Bucha district: club president Roman Solodarenko sits on the executive committee of the Bucha District Football Association, the team is based in Buziv, and in 2024/25 they played their home season in Bucha at the Yuvileinyi — eleven home matches. We told that Bucha story in detail in our preview of the match against Veres that an air-raid alert wrecked.
Kolos also have a fresh Bucha connection, if from a different floor of the football pyramid: on 5 September, in the Kyiv regional championship, the Kovalivka club's youth side lost 0:4 to Bucha Fortuna.
What is at stake
Photo: FC KudrivkaBefore the game both clubs, as Kudrivka put it, sat in the direct relegation zone. In the official UPL table after six rounds Kolos were 15th and Kudrivka 16th, with identical records: five matches played, two draws, three defeats, two points. Only the goal difference separated them — 3:8 for Kovalivka against 2:13 for Kudrivka. Each side also had one postponed match in hand.
| Round | Kudrivka | Kolos |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakhtar – Kudrivka 5:1 (3 August, Lviv) | Zorya – Kolos 2:0 (31 July) |
| 2 | Livyi Bereh – Kudrivka 0:0 (8 August) | Chornomorets – Kolos — postponed |
| 3 | Kudrivka – Obolon 0:0 (15 August, Rivne) | Dynamo – Kolos 2:1 (16 August) |
| 4 | Kudrivka – Epitsentr 0:3 (29 August, Rivne) | Kolos – Obolon 0:0 (28 August) |
| 5 | Polissya – Kudrivka 5:1 (4 September) | Kryvbas – Kolos 2:2 (5 September) |
| 6 | Veres – Kudrivka — postponed to 3 October | Kolos – Karpaty 0:2 (11 September) |
| Total | 16th: 5 played, 0 wins, 2 draws, 3 defeats, goals 2:13, 2 points | 15th: 5 played, 0 wins, 2 draws, 3 defeats, goals 3:8, 2 points |
Last season Kudrivka stayed up only through the relegation play-off against Ahrobiznes — 0:0, 2:2 and a 3:2 win on penalties. Sunday's winner, by contrast, would immediately have five points — as many as Veres have now and two more than Obolon — and climb out of the direct relegation zone, at least for a while.
Why Rivne
Kudrivka have no ground of their own this season. Since February 2026 the club has hosted opponents at the Avanhard in Rivne — the home of Veres at 34 Zamkova Street, which holds 7,122 spectators. Kudrivka cannot fill it yet: the games against Obolon and Epitsentr drew 251 and 238 people.
The Rivne address is also why there is a hole in the team's schedule. On 12 September the round-six match against Veres never kicked off: the club explained it by prolonged air-raid alerts in Rivne district. The UPL directorate has since approved a new date: Saturday 3 October, 13:00, the same Avanhard, during the international break. So within two weeks Kudrivka will play in Rivne twice — first against Kolos, then against the stadium's owners.
The match will be refereed by Kyiv official Klym Zabroda, with assistants Valentyn Kutsev and Vitalii Skoblia, fourth official Vasyl Faida of Lviv, and Viktor Kopiievskyi of Kropyvnytskyi on VAR with assistant Liudmyla Telbukh. The club announced the appointments.
Who the opponents are
Kolos come from Kovalivka in the Bila Tserkva district of Kyiv region and belong to president Andriy Zasukha, whose foundation our readers know from the story of the young circus performers from Bilohorodka. The team travel to Rivne after a hard week: on 11 September they lost 0:2 at home to Karpaty, and on 16 September, again at home, they went out of the Ukrainian Cup to the same Karpaty — 2:3, despite leading at half-time through goals by Salabai and Ndukwe.
After the cup tie head coach Ruslan Kostyshyn spoke of a "tough conversation" with the president, admitted that legally he has no contract with the club, and said he will leave Kolos whenever Zasukha decides so. The coach also said he had apologised to the president for his remarks, because what ties them is a human relationship, and that he is not clinging to a money contract. On the club website he summed up his view of the situation in a single sentence.
Ruslan Kostyshynhead coach of KolosIt seems to me that the team's recovery is beginning.
According to insider reports, which the club has not confirmed, the coaching staff's fate may be decided precisely after the match against Kudrivka. In terms of personnel Kolos arrive almost at full strength: captain Andriy Tsurikov has served his suspension and started again on 16 September, while Zurab Rukhadze, sent off on 5 September in Kryvyi Rih, was already on the bench in the cup.
Judging by the head-to-head games, the biggest threats to Kudrivka's defence are Oleksandr Demchenko, who scored against them in July's friendly and, in the league, against Dynamo, and Arinaldo Rrapaj, who scored in both official meetings last season.
What is happening at Kudrivka
Photo: FC KudrivkaThe team is led by senior coach Oleksandr Protchenko, a 33-year-old veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who served from 2022 to 2025 and replaced Vasyl Baranov in May; in the match protocols Yevhen Zadorozhnii is listed as head coach.
In the summer the club was joined by 32-year-old Ivan Petriak, an attacking midfielder with three UPL titles, two Ukrainian Cups and a Hungarian championship. Before the game in Zhytomyr he was ill, but on 12 September he was named in the starting line-up against Veres.
The form is worrying: two away trips, to Shakhtar and Polissya, ended in identical 1:5 defeats, at home Kudrivka failed to score against either Obolon or Epitsentr, and on 9 September they went out of the cup — 0:2 to the same Polissya. In Zhytomyr the team played with ten men from the 11th minute after Bohdan Vekliak was sent off, and after the game Protchenko bemoaned the team's "bad luck" with red cards.
Oleksandr Protchenkosenior coach of KudrivkaWith ten men against a team like that it is very hard to hold the defence.
Vekliak himself is a separate question. On 12 September he was left out of the squad against Veres because of the suspension, but that game never took place, so Kolos become Kudrivka's next league match. His ban therefore probably falls on Sunday; the club's team sheet will give the final answer. Anton Demchenko (namesake of the Kolos player) and Kostiantyn Bychek were also left out of the squad on 12 September, while Dmytro Semenov and Serhiy Sten were on the bench after recovering from injury.
Head-to-head
Photo: FC KudrivkaKolos won both official meetings last season. On 7 November 2025 at the Obolon Arena in Kyiv Kudrivka led through Storchous in the 35th minute but conceded three times from the 69th — Rrapaj from the penalty spot, Klymchuk and Tsurikov made it 1:3. That match ended a six-match winless run for Kovalivka.
On 8 May 2026 in Kovalivka Kolos won 1:0 — Rrapaj in the 24th minute from a Tahiri pass; it was Kovalivka's fourth straight clean-sheet win, while Kudrivka's winless run stretched to nine rounds. This summer, on 17 July, Kolos also won a friendly there 2:0 — both goals by Oleksandr Demchenko.
The club itself, introducing the opponent, recalled one more detail: it was in the May match against Kolos that Oleksandr Protchenko made his debut in charge of Kudrivka — and a single Rrapaj goal decided that game. So for the senior coach this is not just round seven but a meeting with the team where his work at the club began.
What comes next
Kudrivka’s next official match is on Saturday, 3 October, at 13:00 at the same Avanhard: the rescheduled round-six game against Veres, abandoned on 12 September because of an air-raid alert; tickets bought for September remain valid. According to the UPL calendar, then come a trip to LNZ Cherkasy on 10 October and a home game against Bukovyna on 17 October.
As a reminder, Kolos Kovalivka already feature in our coverage from another tier of football: on 5 September their youth side lost 0-4 to Bucha Fortuna in the Kyiv region championship.
Nota bene
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