Already on Sunday evening, a new leader could well have appeared in the Ukrainian championship, and that could have been Kyiv's "Dynamo". However, the Kyivans fell a few minutes short of securing victory in the match against "Metalist" and taking advantage of Donetsk "Shakhtar"'s draw in the match against "Stal". In addition, the 9th round brought several more notable results. After a series of six defeats, Simferopol's "Tavriya" finally won, and Odesa's "Chornomorets", having defeated "Volyn" away, climbed to third place in the standings.

Results of the 9th round.

"Dynamo" - "Metalist" - 2:2 Goals: Rebrov 25, Rincon 38, Yarosh 30, Djakobiya 87 "Dynamo": Shovkovskyi, Fedorov, Rebrov (Belkevych 82), Leko (Rodolfo 51), Kleber, Rotan, Rincon, Shatskikh (Verpakovskis 62), Husyev, Nesmachnyi, Vashchuk "Metalist": Horyainov, Kucher, Varlamov, Valyayev, Slyusar, Djakobiya, Yarosh, Kuznetsov, Mrdakovic (Petrov 80), Babich, Danylov (Spyevak 68).

As expected, the match against "Metalist" was no easy walk for Kyiv. From the first minutes the Kyivans cautiously tried to break down the visitors' defense, and there were practically no dangerous attacks by either team at the start. "Dynamo" managed to open the scoring in this game thanks to the individual skill of two forwards. Kleber and Rebrov played a one-two, and the latter, going one-on-one with Horyainov, struck into the lower corner of the goal to put his team ahead.

True, "Metalist", unlike most teams that play against the Kyivans, did not close up in defense and continued to seek fortune near "Dynamo"'s goal — and found it. In the 30th minute, Djakobiya, in a struggle with three defenders, flicked the ball to ex-Dynamo player Yarosh, and he equalized with an accurate shot into the far corner of the goal.

Then "Dynamo" got a 100% chance to go ahead when Horyainov fouled Rotan in the penalty area and the referee awarded a penalty, but after Rincon's kick the ball hit the post. Trying to go ahead, the Kyivans had dangerous shots from Fedorov and Leko, but Horyainov was on top form.

And yet Demyanenko's team managed to go into the break as winners. After a measured pass from Vashchuk, Rincon struck accurately with a header, and even Horyainov could not save "Metalist". In the 44th minute Kleber could have increased the lead, but his shot from a few meters was saved by the "Metalist" keeper.

In the second half, "Dynamo" seemed to start playing to hold the score too early. "Metalist", on the contrary, decided to fight to the end. Both Shovkovskyi and the defense had to work hard to repel attacks involving Mrdakovic and Yarosh.

At the end of the duel, when the "Dynamo" players already felt themselves in the role of leader who had caught up with "Shakhtar" on points, they paid for a moment's relaxation. Djakobiya, bursting into "Dynamo"'s penalty area, fought his way through the redoubts in the form of Vashchuk, Rodolfo, Nesmachnyi and Fedorov and equalized with a shot past Shovkovskyi – 2:2.

"Shakhtar" - "Stal" - 1:1 Goals: Bielik 36, Tsymakuridze 90 "Shakhtar": Lashtuvka, Stoykan, Tolga, Hyubshman, Shevchuk, Dulyay, Matuzalem, Fernandinho (Elano 59), Jadson (Srna 73), Bielik, Vorobey (Fomin 58) "Stal": Komarytskyi, Havryushov, Khramtsov, Tsymakuridze, Gomes, Kondratyuk, Akobyan (Okano-Stazi 78), Kiritsa, Shuha, Polovkov (Akimenko 84), Sernekyi (Tretyak 67).

For Donetsk "Shakhtar", the match against "Stal" became a sort of repeat of the duel with Kyiv's "Arsenal" — and not only in terms of the drawn result. The desire to play at the limit of their abilities was greater in both "Arsenal" and "Stal", but not in the "Shakhtar" players. But unlike the game in Kyiv, in the Donetsk match the Miners should have scored much more than one goal, although they could also have conceded more than once...

Already in the sixth minute a rather dubious penalty was awarded to "Stal"'s goal. Bielik at speed burst into the visitors' penalty area and was fouled by Khramtsov. But it seemed this infringement occurred several tens of centimeters outside the penalty line.... However, referee Melnychuk gave 11 meters, and Jadson struck straightforwardly into the corner of the goal, and the goalkeeper parried this shot, and then also saved Matuzalem's follow-up.

After that "Shakhtar" continued to attack, and dangerous shots were taken by Matuzalem, Bielik and Jadson, but the defense and goalkeeper of "Stal" performed well. Moreover, the Alchevsk team lost to the hosts in skill several times and exceeded them just as many times in the desire to play football. In the middle of the half, Melnychuk could quite justifiably have awarded an 11-meter kick to "Shakhtar"'s goal. Kondratyuk, entering the Miners' penalty area, shot, then fell and, already lying down, fought for the ball after a rebound from Lashtuvka, and Tolga Seyhan, in a struggle with a "Stal" player in a half-sitting position, kicked Kondratyuk in the face with his foot... The referee ignored this episode altogether.

In the 36th minute "Shakhtar" scored. Shevchuk went down the left flank and crossed along the perimeter of the goal; the ball, having touched the goalkeeper, ended up with Bielik, who in a struggle with two defenders from a meter shoved it into the goal — 1:0. Four minutes later "Stal" took a dangerous free kick, and after Sernekyi's shot Lashtuvka saved the team.

In the second half, "Stal" had the advantage in play and in chances for a long time. True, in the first minute of the second half "Shakhtar" again should have scored. First Komarytskyi parried Vorobey's header, and a second later also saved Matuzalem's shot.

To these forays "Stal" responded with Kiritsa going one-on-one, but he shot weakly and Lashtuvka took possession of the ball, and then Lashtuvka had to pull Akobyan's header out from under the crossbar with a leap.

For "Shakhtar", Bielik produced a good scissor kick over himself, but it went just wide of the post, and in the 82nd minute Matuzalem "blasted" from about 20 meters – off the crossbar.

In the 89th minute "Stal" was rewarded for its desperate play. A cross came in from the left flank from a free kick, and after a series of deflections the ball ended up with Tsymakuridze, who turned and drove the ball into the Miners' net with a shot under the crossbar from six meters – 1:1, and Lucescu's team's second draw this season.

"Volyn" - "Chornomorets" - 0:3 Goals: Loshankov 48, Tereshchenko 58, Mityeryev 90

"Tavriya" - "Zakarpattia" - 1:0 Goal: Homenyuk 83

"Metalurh" Z - "Arsenal" - 2:2 Goals: Kryventsov 5, Andzhelkovych 48, Okoduwa 55, Mizin 62

Kharkiv - "Vorskla" - 2:0 Goals: Maksymov 2, Ribeiro 68 - from a penalty.

"Kryvbas" - "Illichivets" - 0:1 Goal: Leviha 10.

Standings: 1. Shakhtar - 23 (9 games). 2. Dynamo - 21 (9). 3. Chornomorets - 16 (9). 4. Metalist - 16 (9). 5. Metalurh D - 15 (8). 6. Illichivets - 15 (9). 7. Kharkiv - 14 (9). 8. Volyn - 14 (9). 9. Kryvbas - 12 (9). 10. Arsenal - 10 (9). 11. Tavriya - 9 (9). 12. Stal - 9 (9). 13. Dnipro - 7 (8). 14. Vorskla - 6 (8). 15. Metalurh Z - 5 (9). 15. Zakarpattia - 3 (5).