Exiled Shakhtar wins Ukrainian league for 3rd straight year

Posted May 19, 2019 7:00 am

The Associated Press

ZAPORIZHIA, Ukraine (AP) - Shakhtar Donetsk won the Ukrainian Premier League on Sunday after a 1-0 victory at Zorya Luhansk, the third title in a row for a team exiled from its home city by the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The win, sealed by a goal from Junior Moraes, left Shakhtar 11 points clear of second-place Dynamo Kiev with three games remaining. Shakhtar is on a 26-game unbeaten run in the league dating back to August, and won the Ukrainian Cup on Wednesday with a 4-0 defeat of Inhulets Petrove.

It was Shakhtar's 12th Ukrainian league title, all won in the last 18 years. The club has not finished below second in the table since 1996.

Shakhtar has been away from Donetsk since 2014, when Russia-backed separatists took control of the city and surrounding areas. Since 2017, it has been based in the city of Kharkiv.

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