Karpaty Battle Back Three Times to Hold Shakhtar in Six-Goal UPL Thriller

In what will surely go down as one of the most entertaining matches of the early Ukrainian Premier League season, Karpaty Lviv came from behind three times to earn a dramatic 3–3 draw against title contenders Shakhtar Donetsk.

Held at the Ukrainian stadium in Lviv, the second-round clash had it all — six goals, end-to-end action, VAR drama, and late heroics. For Shakhtar, juggling domestic duties with European commitments is already showing signs of strain, while Karpaty, still fresh and focused solely on league matches, proved once again they are no pushovers this season.

Arda Turan once again rotated his Shakhtar side heavily, with the squad stretched thin ahead of their upcoming tie against Panathinaikos. Yet the strategy paid off early, as Georgiy Sudakov finished off a clever one-two with Nevertton in the 9th minute to make it 1–0.

But defensive lapses plagued Shakhtar all afternoon. A misjudged pass by Gram and poor positioning allowed Ígor Neves to fire home Karpaty’s first equaliser in the 18th minute. Five minutes later, Yukhym Konoplia delivered his second assist of the league season, crossing for Kauan Elias to restore Shakhtar’s lead at 2–1.

Just before halftime, Mykola Miroshnychenko nearly drew Karpaty level with a stunning free-kick that crashed off the crossbar. His set-piece magic returned in the 57th minute, but a VAR review ruled out a potential goal due to Babohlo's offside interference.

Karpaty eventually found the breakthrough in the 77th minute. Kozak Karabin calmly cushioned a pass into the path of Bruninho, who beat Dmytro Riznyk with a clever finish to level the game once again at 2–2.

Shakhtar hit back almost immediately. Bondarenko cleverly set up Alisson on the edge of the area, and the Brazilian fired a low shot into the far corner to make it 3–2. It looked like the Miners had done enough to escape with all three points.

But Karpaty had one more twist in store. In the first minute of stoppage time, Konoplia failed to clear under pressure, and Krasnopyr rose highest to head into the top corner, sending the home crowd into raptures.

2025-26, Ukraine - Premier League

Karpaty - Shakhtar 3:3 (1:2)
Goals: Newerton, 9 (0:1); Neves, 18 (1:1); Kauã Elias, 23 (1:2); Bruninho, 77 (2:2); Alisson Santana, 82 (2:3); Krasnopir, 91 (3:3)

Karpaty: Domchak; Baboglo; Kostenko (Karabin, 73); D. Miroshnichenko; Pedroso; Chachua (Fedor, 85); Álvarez; Polehenko; Tanda P. (Bruninho, 46); Shakh (Fernandes Pereira, 73); Neves (Krasnopir, 56)
Bench: Klishchuk; Mysak; Adamiuk; Kyrychok; Klymenko V.; Chaban I.
Yellow Cards: Krasnopir 64; D. Miroshnichenko 97

Shakhtar: Riznyk D.; Azarov I.; Bondar V.; Ghram (Matviyenko, 79); Konoplya; Bondarenko A-m; Pedrinho (Shved M., 46); Sudakov; Marlon Gomes (Hlushchenko, 63); Newerton (Ocheretko, 63); Kauã Elias (Alisson Santana, 63)
Bench: Tvardovskyi; Fesiun; Vinicius Т.; Marlon; Pedrinho A.; Farina; Nazaryna
Yellow Cards: Azarov I. 28; Konoplya 45