Bartulovich savors historic first win for Kharkiv

Mladen Bartulovich welcomed a landmark result for Kharkiv after the club beat Veres 1:0 in the Ukrainian Premier League opener. The coach described it as the first official win under the team's new name and praised his players for handling a difficult opener. He felt the victory was deserved, with Kharkiv pushing and creating chances before Ramik came off the bench to score what should be a confidence-boosting goal. Bartulovich then went into some tactical detail. Castillo was used on the wing rather than in the middle because of the game plan, drifting inside in possession while Ilya moved higher to find space between the lines. Yatsyk had a similar brief, but Veres defended the central areas well, so Kharkiv looked for width. The coach also revealed that goalkeeper Yermakov had only joined the group a week earlier, yet he trusted him with a start and saw him justify that faith with a clean sheet. Parako, Profini and Yatsyk had been at pre-season, while Smolyakov has arrived recently and made an impact in his 15-20 minutes on the pitch. Kharkiv's coach acknowledged the team's recurring difficulty against opponents who sit deep, an issue that was visible in the second round of last season. He said the new arrivals should help solve that problem. On transfers, Bartulovich said the club will spend the month assessing whether more signings are needed. He is pleased with the current squad and the competition, particularly in attack, where different profiles are available. Itodo, who missed pre-season, is still working on his fitness and should improve with each game, according to the coach. The coach's quotes were published by the club's press service.