Oleksiy Chichikov capitalized on a goalkeeper error to help amateur side Agrotech eliminate Ukrainian Premier League debutants "Epicenter" in the Ukraine Cup on August 23. The Kirovohrad region team advanced after winning 7:6 in penalties following a 1:1 draw in regular time.
"We kept pressing their defense and knew eventually they'd make a mistake. When that moment came, we were ready to pounce," a jubilant Chichikov might have said after the historic victory.
The midfielder opened the scoring in the 67th minute when he and his teammates forced an "Epicenter" goalkeeper error under pressure. Mykola Myronyuk equalized for the top-flight side in the 82nd minute with a low shot after dribbling past his opponent at the edge of the penalty area.
Interestingly, this wasn't the only upset of the day. Amateur club Dengoff from the Kyiv region also knocked out a professional team, defeating "Prykarpattya" 9:8 on penalties after a thrilling 2:2 draw.
Yevhen Mykolayuk put Dengoff ahead in the 13th minute, finishing at the far post from a right-wing cross. The professionals fought back when Vasyl Tsyutsyura equalized in the 73rd minute, followed by Myroslav Barchuk giving them the lead ten minutes later. Just when "Prykarpattya" thought they had it won, Rostislav Hurenko saved Dengoff with a tap-in from one meter out in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Not all amateur teams had their day, though. Dmytro Irodovsky's 76th-minute penalty was enough for Zaporizhzhia's "SC Metalurg" to edge past amateur side "Fazenda" from Chernivtsi 1:0 in the third match of the day.
A day of penalty drama in Ukraine! Could these amateur clubs continue their cup magic in the next round?
