Dynamo Kyiv retain Ukrainian crown

Dynamo Kyiv made the most of an unexpected slip from Shakhtar Donetsk to retain the Ukrainian Premier League title with a 1-0 success against Vorskla Poltava on Sunday.

Shakhtar could only manage a 1-1 draw at Chornomorets Odesa on Saturday, and that allowed Dynamo to end the title suspense early. Júnior Moraes scored the only goal against Vorskla as the capital side took themselves seven points clear with three fixtures remaining – with one of those games representing a guaranteed three points against disbanded side Metalurh Zaporizhya.

Serhiy Rebrov's men will thus start the next edition of the UEFA Champions League in the group stage, and will be hoping to repeat this season's feat of advancing through to the knockout rounds. Dynamo have now won the Ukrainian crown 15 times, with a further 13 coming during the Soviet era.

"I want to thank all of our fans as they deserved this second title in a row," explained Rebrov. "I hope we won't lose our motivation. It wasn't easy to maintain this mentality after winning the title last year, but the guys fought until the end. I'm glad for them. It was tough competing with such worthy opponents (Shakhtar). I'm happy we were a real team throughout the season and proved it in each game."