Ukraine round-up: Top two in control

FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk continue to match each other blow for blow at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League after both scored 2-0 victories on Saturday.

Bialkevich on target
Dynamo, the reigning champions, and Shakhtar are still yet to lose a match this season and are level on 46 points with eight games remaining. Dynamo saw off the challenge of third-placed FC Metalurh Donetsk thanks to two goals in two second-half minutes. Valentin Belkevich put the hosts ahead in the 55th minute and Andriy Husin added the second two minute later. Any hopes of a Metalurh comeback were lost when they had goalkeeper Andriy Nikitin sent off with just 12 minutes left.

Aghahowa strike
Shakhtar maintained their impressive pursuit of the leaders with a 2-0 home win over FC Arsenal Kyiv. Nigerian striker Julius Aghahowa opened the scoring for Shakhtar after 17 minutes, before Olexiy Haiy doubled their advantage on the hour mark.

Dnipro miss chance
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk missed the chance to move into third place after they slipped to a 1-0 home reverse against FC Metalist Kharkiv, who did move into third with the win. Vitaliy Pushkutsa scored the game's only goal after 26 minutes. FC Karpaty Lviv slipped from fifth to seventh after going down to a 1-0 defeat at lowly FC Zakarpattya Uzhgorod. Serhiy Bohatyriov's 55th-minute strike proved enough to seal all three points.

Zaporizhzhya held
Karpaty's reverse allowed FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya to consolidate sixth spot after they secured a goalless draw at FC Metalurh Mariupil. In the remaining fixtures FC Vorskla Poltava are still rooted to the foot of the table after they could only manage a 2-2 home draw against FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, while FC Tavriya Simferopol eased they relegation worries with a 1-0 win at FC Polihraftechnica Olexandria.