Shakhtar secured their third consecutive victory at the start of the Ukrainian Premier League season, maintaining their position among the leading teams who have yet to drop any points.
Matches against Kharkiv, formerly known as Metalist 1925 until this summer, have proven to be challenging for the “miners.” These encounters have been the rare occasions where Shakhtar struggle to showcase their trademark style of football, which relies heavily on total ball control. For the second game in a row, the outcome hinged on a single decisive goal.
On Sunday, Neverton struck just 31 seconds into the match. Izaki won the ball back in the opponent’s half, quickly passing it to Neverton, who entered the penalty area and fired a shot into the near lower corner.
After that early breakthrough, Kharkiv took the initiative and arguably delivered their best performance of the current campaign. Under the guidance of Mladen Bartulović, Kharkiv did not frequently threaten Riznyk‘s goal before halftime, but they consistently forced Shakhtar to stay on the defensive. It was only after the 30th minute that the balance on the pitch began to even out.
The second half followed a similar pattern. In fact, Kharkiv managed to get the ball into Riznyk‘s net. However, emotions got the better of Itodo, who struck the ball practically on the goal line but was in an offside position. Unfortunately for the nominal hosts, this negated what would have been a deserved equalizer. Kharkiv had earned that goal and could have avoided defeat if Kogut had capitalized on a glaring mistake by Riznyk—his second error in as many matches, again occurring shortly before the final whistle.
The match ended 1-0 in favor of Shakhtar, who now have two weeks to prepare for their next league fixture against Polissya. Meanwhile, Kharkiv will begin their cup campaign next week, having reached the semifinals last season before being eliminated.
2026-27, Ukrainian Premier League
Kharkiv – Shakhtar 0:1 (0:1)
Goals: Neverton, 1 (0:1)
Kharkiv lineup: Yermakov G.; Pavlyuk E.; Krupskiy; Smolyakov; Kalyuzhny I. (Kogut I., 85); Yatsyk; Martynyuk A. (Rashitsa, 70); Shabanov; Parako (Profini, 85); Hadzhiev (Zabergdja, 80); Itodo (Castillo Seb., 80)
Substitutions: Rashitsa (from 70); Castillo Seb. (from 80); Zabergdja (from 80); Profini (from 85); Kogut I. (from 85)
Reserves: Protsenko Ya.; Varakuta; Dubko; Baptistella; Korol; Antyukh
Yellow cards: Smolyakov 50
Shakhtar lineup: Riznyk D.; Vinicius T.; Pedro Enrique (Azarov I., 81); Matviyenko N.; Bondar V.; Ochiretko; Nazarina; Alison Santana (Bondarenko A-m, 71); Neverton (Lucas Ferreira, 81); Izaki (Mendoza G., 65); Kauan Elias (Luka Meirelles, 71)
Substitutions: Mendoza G. (from 65); Bondarenko A-m (from 71); Luka Meirelles (from 71); Azarov I. (from 81); Lucas Ferreira (from 81)
Reserves: Tvardovskiy; Gram; Karavaev; Smetana; Tsukanov; Prosper; Ryan Roberto
Yellow cards: Matviyenko N. 61
