Game Day. "Epitsentr" - "Metalist 1925"

November 30, 2025. Mlynovo, "Left Bank" arena. 14th round of UPL. The match starts at 15:30

Referee - Klym Zabroda (Kyiv)

Assistant referees - Stanislav Marulin (Kherson region) and Vasyl Ostapchuk (Lviv)

Fourth official - Nazariy Dord (Uzhhorod)

VAR referee - Mykola Balakin (Kyiv region)

VAR assistant - Artem Mykhailiuk (Kyiv)

VAR observer - Yuri Mazharovsky (Lviv)

UAF arbitration observer - Mykola Levko (Chernivtsi)

Live broadcast of the match on UPL.TV channel.

Preview: Kharkiv continues to be in the upper part of the standings. Mladen Bartulovich's team is in 8th place with 20 points (goal difference: 15-11). After defeating "Karpaty," the team returned to Kyiv and continued working in their usual rhythm after the weekend.

The squad situation at "Metalist 1925" before the match continues to be challenging - five players will not be able to help the team. Due to injuries, Ari, Hadzhiev, Kapinus, Protsenko, Kalitvintsev, and Martyniuk will be out of the game. They are all continuing their recovery and will miss the next match. Itodo has returned to training with the team after an injury.

"Epicenter" from Kamianets-Podilskyi currently has 10 points (13th place in the table), which is 10 points less than "Metalist 1925." It is important to note that the team has played the last 4 matches without a win. In the previous round, "Epicenter" played a draw with "Polissya" - 0:0, and Nagornyak's team last won on September 13 in a game against "Rukh." The most productive player this season is the right midfielder - Joaquin Sifuentes, with 5 goals and 2 assists to his name.

Throughout their history, the teams have only played three matches against each other. Two of them were in the previous season in the First League, where "Metalist 1925" lost twice (1:3; 1:2). The teams also met in the Ukrainian Cup in the 2021/22 season, where "Epicenter" lost to Kharkiv with a score of 0:1.

UPL, 14th round

Friday, November 28

18:00 "Obolon" - "Kolos" - 0:0

Saturday, November 29

15:30 "LNZ" - "Kudrivka" - 1:0

18:00 "Veres" - "Karpaty" - 0:0

Sunday, November 30

13:00 "Oleksandriya" - "Rukh"

15:30 "Epicenter" - "Metalist 1925"

18:00 "Polissya" - "Zorya"

Monday, December 1

15:30 "Dynamo" - "Poltava"

18:00 "Shakhtar" - "Kryvbas"

Profile - FC "Epicenter" (Kamianets-Podilskyi)

Year of foundation: 2019

Club colors: purple-blue

Home stadium: Roman Shukhevych Ternopil City Stadium, Ternopil; capacity - approximately 15,000 spectators.

President: Ivan Chernonoh

Head coach: Serhiy Nagornyak

Official website: fcepicentr.com.ua

Historical background: FC "Epicenter" is a professional Ukrainian football club representing Kamianets-Podilskyi. The club was founded in 2015 as an amateur team associated with the eponymous trading company. Initially, the team competed in the championships of the Khmelnytskyi region and amateur tournaments, where they quickly established themselves as an organized and ambitious team.

In 2019, "Epicenter" won the Ukrainian Amateur Championship, allowing the club to obtain professional status. Already in the 2020/2021 season, the team made its debut in the Second League and immediately became one of the contenders for top positions. Thanks to the stability of the management, quality squad, and club system development, "Epicenter" quickly established itself in professional football.

In the 2022/2023 season, the club earned the right to be promoted. "Epicenter" confidently entered the First League, where it continued to build a competitive team combining experienced players and young Ukrainian talents.

The culmination of years of work was the 2024/2025 season - the club secured a place in the Ukrainian Premier League. This historic achievement made "Epicenter" the first club from Kamianets-Podilskyi to enter the elite division of Ukrainian football.

Achievements:

Silver medalist of the Ukrainian Amateur Championship - 2020.

Promotion to the Professional Football League (Second League debut 2020/2021).

Promotion to the First League of Ukraine - the club consistently performed in the Second League, later earned the right to play in the First League.

Winner of the First League of Ukraine - direct entry to UPL (season 2024/2025)

Geography: The fan base of FC "Epicenter" is primarily concentrated in Kamianets-Podilskyi and the Khmelnytskyi region, where the club has formed its core fan base. The team is actively supported in neighboring regions - Ternopil, Chernivtsi, and Vinnytsia regions. With their entry into the UPL, the popularity of "Epicenter" began to grow throughout Ukraine, and the club gradually attracts the attention of a wider audience, becoming a new representative of Western Ukrainian football at the highest level.

Head coach: 54-year-old Serhiy Nagornyak.

Playing career: Nagornyak was a forward.

During his career, he played for teams such as "Vorskla," "Polissya," "Nyva," "Spartak," "Dnipro," "Shenyang Haishi," "Shandong Luneng," "Arsenal," "Jiangsu Shuntian," "Volyn," and "Metalurh." In the final seasons of his playing career, he played for the amateur club "Irpin."

Coaching career: After retiring from playing, Serhiy Nagornyak began his coaching career with the youth national teams of Ukraine, working with the U-16, U-17, and U-19 teams from 2019 to 2022.In 2022, he became the head of FC "Epicenter" (Kamianets-Podilskyi), where he continues to work to this day.

Transfermarkt: According to Transfermarkt, the total market value of the "Epicenter" Kamianets-Podilskyi squad is 6.3 million euros. The average age of players is 26.7 years. The team also includes players from Spain. The most expensive player is Igor Kyryukhantsev, whose value is 500 thousand euros.