Seven Ukrainian players to score a goal in Premier League

£89m rated Chelsea youngster gets off the mark

The Craven Cottage stadium witnessed the seventh Ukrainian to ever score a goal in the Premier League. In the matchday 7 PL 2023-24 fixture between Fulham FC and Chelsea FC, the Ukrainian on whom The Blues reportedly agreed to pay up to £89 million transfer fee in the January transfer window finally gets off the mark. Although initially there were signs of him being very close to moving to Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, the deal fell through.

Even though it took Mudryk a whole lot of time to net his first goal in Chelsea kit, it makes him the seventh player from Ukraine to do so in the England first-tier game. The list already had another former Chelsea star, Andriy Shevchenko. Shevchenko last scored for the Blues in a game against Bolton Wanderers back in May 2008. Among the seven Ukrainians to have scored in the PL, five have represented a club based in London.

7. Serhiy Rebrov

In June, the Ukraine national football team announced the former striker Serhiy Rebrov as their new head coach until the 2026 World Cup ends. In his playing career, Tottenham Hotspurs gave him a big break in the Premier League in the year 2000. His introduction to goals in PL began with a brace on matchday 4 against Everton in the 2000-01 PL season. The player has also represented West Ham United for a year.

6. Andriy Shevchenko

The 2004 Ballon d'Or winner has had more success with the Italian outfit of AC Milan than that of Chelsea in London. From the year 1999 to 2006 summer, Andriy Shevchenko was shining bright with the Rossoneri. The Premier League club Chelsea went ahead and made a deal to bring Shevchenko to Stamford Bridge. In the PL, the Ukrainian forward netted 9 goals in 48 appearances. His first came against Middlesbrough FC in a 2-1 defeat back in August 2006.

5. Andriy Yarmolenko

The 33-year-old joined FC Dynamo Kyiv this summer and is back to his roots having debuted for their first team back in 2008. Andriy Yarmolenko has had the chance to sport Borussia Dortmund and West Ham United jerseys between 2017 to 2022. Although the winger only spent a season with The Black and Yellows of Germany, the 2018 summer saw him make a PL switch and join The Hammers. And by mid-September, Yarmolenko opened his PL goal account with a brace against Everton.

4. Andriy Voronin

Apart from representing the Ukraine national football team, Andriy Voronin has played for a host of big clubs in his playing days. Notably, Voronin has been in the dressing rooms of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Liverpool. In the 2007-08 PL season with The Reds, Voronin scored his first league goal in a 2-0 away win at Sunderland.

3. Vitaliy Mykolenko

After progressing through the youth system of FC Dynamo Kyiv, Vitaliy Mykolenko was called to represent the first team in October 2017. After four years of playing in the Ukrainian Premier League, English Premier League side Everton secured the left-back. The player has only scored one goal for The Toffees. Mykolenko's solo goal contribution came in a PL away fixture at Leicester City's King Power Stadium. It was in a 2-1 win on matchday 36 of the 2021-22 season.

2. Oleksandr Zinchenko

The 26-year-old left-back from Ukraine has played for two big Premier League names already. Firstly Man City and now with Arsenal. The season that saw Pep Guardiola take over the reins of The Sky Blues was also the season when Oleksandr Zinchenko was announced as the fourth summer signing of 2016. Although Zinchenko has two goals with City, his first PL goal came for the Gunners last season in a 4-2 away win against Aston Villa.

1. Mykhailo Mudryk

Mykhailo Mudryk arrived with much fanfare and was on the verge of almost associating himself with Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. Chelsea agreed to an £89 million fee including add-ons with Shakhtar Donetsk this January to bring Mudryk to Stamford Bridge. It took the 22-year-old highly rated winger 21 PL appearances to net his first goal. Scoring the opener while away to Fulham makes Mudryk the latest Ukrainian player to have scored a Premier League goal.