Denys Marchenko: I waited for this day - and the debut ended in a win

Karpaty Lviv opened the new Ukrainian Premier League season with a 4-1 victory over Kryvbas, and for Denys Marchenko the result carried extra meaning. The goalkeeper was making his official debut for the club and admitted the moment had been a long time coming. "I had been waiting for this day for a while. I really wanted to play for Karpaty in an official match. Thank God we won and got a positive result. We can enjoy this evening, but from tomorrow it is back to work," Marchenko said. There was one blemish on the night, though. Marchenko accepted that the penalty ended up in the net and that the main task was to save it, but he could not manage to do that. The keeper also talked about Karpaty's improvement after halftime. In the first half, they lacked sharpness in front of goal, but after the restart they started converting chances. Marchenko said that after the air-raid siren, the team understood how serious the situation was. With a lead, they wanted to keep hold of the ball and stay alert, knowing Kryvbas would push forward. Marchenko says settling in has been easy, almost as if he has been with the squad for years. He thanked his teammates for that and reserved special praise for the fans who made the trip and created such an atmosphere. He also made it clear that he is eager to play at the Ukraina Stadium in a Karpaty shirt.