Ukraine round-up: Metalurh eye UEFA Cup

FC Metalurh Donetsk remain ahead of FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and FC Arsenal Kyiv in the race for a UEFA Cup place after a 2-0 win against FC Chornomorets Odesa.

Altman loses to former team
With title contenders FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donestsk playing in the Ukrainian Cup final, the league focus switched to the contest to finish third, and Metalurh reinforced that position with four games to go, as Serhiy Tkachenko and Olexander Zotov scored a goal each to beat the side of their long-time former head coach Semen Altman.

Dnipro overtake Arsenal
Arsenal slipped two points behind Metalurh with a 1-1 draw at lowly FC Vorskla Poltava. Emanual Okoduwa's equaliser earned them a point but they slipped to fifth - on goals scored - behind Dnipro, who saw off FC Olexandriya 1-0. Oleh Venglynskyi scored his 17th goal of the season and now shares the lead in the scoring chart with Olexiy Bielyk of Shakhtar and Dynamo's Maxim Shatskikh.

Relegation battle
Elsewhere, FC Karpaty Lviv were held by FC Illychivets Mariupol, FC Kryvbas Kryviy Rih beat FC Tavriya Simferopol 2-1, while FC Volyn Lutsk unexpectedly fell 2-1 to FC Metalurh Zaporizhya. However, Zaporizhya are still in the bottom two, after FC Obolon Kyiv beat bottom-placed FC Metalist Kharkiv 3-1 to stay a point ahead in the relegation race.

Final games moved
Metalist are now six points adrift of safety, as FC Zirka Kirovohrad ensured a return to the top flight after securing the first division title. Meanwhile, the final set of fixtures has been brought forward five days from 23 June to Saturday 18 June.