Kryv-bashed! – Vorskla Poltava 1 Kryvbas 4

Does president Zelenskiy’s magical mojo extend to the team from his home town? They played like it has.

The crew from Kryvi Rih came back from one down to thrash the hosts with a slick, confident display that took them to top of the table for 24 hours until Shakhtar’s 1-1 draw returned them to first.

Last time I visited Vorskla, you could throw snowballs at the substitutes when it got boring. This time it was 28 degrees Centigrade.

The teams filed out, each player with a Ukrainian flag and we all stood facing the warzone (eastwards) to pay respects and listen to the national anthem.

Once again, few were allowed in so some kids were able to sit in the press box.

But there were more people present than at Shakhtar’s home game the previous week in the cavernous Lviv Arena.

Shakhtar’s match was an on-field borathon.

This was the opposite. When Vorskla opened the scoring there was a mini roar. A semblance of excitement on the level of a British non league game.

They weren’t allowed in but some fans watched the match from under sector 12, accessible from the street. But a pretty awful view.

They started chanting and from the sound of it were mostly schoolboys.

Above is their view. Full view of the length of the pitch but players’ legs not visible.

And you can hear them below:

All to no avail though.

Vorskla, eighth before the game, just disintegrated and Kryvbas channelled the president’s aura to storm back in quite some style.

Zaderaka levelled on 31 minutes, Oleg Kozhushko got one either side of half time and Cameroonian Yvan Dibango a late fourth. Quite a stuffing.

Yep, luck’s certainly on the side of the president’s home town. One of Zelenskiy’s former comedy group pals is a big fan of the club, and they might well be an outside bet to win the league this season as Shakhtar stutter and Dynamo Kyiv aren’t what they were.