1987 Soviet Top League

In the 1987 season, the Soviet Top League – the top tier of football in the Soviet Union – was won by Spartak Moscow interrupting the two year championship run of the Kyiv's team. Dynamo Kyiv, the defending 12-times champions, placed sixth and failed to qualify for the European competitions, while their rivals Dynamo Moscow placed only 10th.

Soviet Top League

Season	1987
Dates	March 9 — November 16, 1987
Champions	Spartak Moscow (11th title)
Relegated	CSKA Moscow Guria Lanchkhuti
European Cup	Spartak Moscow
Cup Winners' Cup	Metalist Kharkiv
UEFA Cup	Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk Žalgiris Vilnius Torpedo Moscow Dinamo Minsk
Matches played	240
Goals scored	510 (2.13 per match)
Top goalscorer	(18) Oleh Protasov (Dnepr)
← 1986 1988 →

This season CSKA Moscow were relegated on additional criteria when they tied on points with Zenit Leningrad at the final standing.

Teams

Promoted teams

• FC CSKA Moscow – champion (returning after two seasons)
• FC Guria Lanchkhuti – 2nd place (debut)

Location

500km
300miles

Guria

CSKA, Dynamo Mo, Spartak, Torpedo

Dynamo T

Neftchi

Metalist

Žalgiris

Shakhter

Dnepr

Zenit

Kairat

Dynamo Mi

Ararat

Dynamo K

  

Locations of teams in the 1989 Top League

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Spartak Moscow[a] (C)	30	16	11	3	49	26	+23	42	Qualification for European Cup first round
2	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	30	15	9	6	42	22	+20	39	Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
3	Žalgiris Vilnius	30	14	8	8	43	29	+14	36
4	Torpedo Moscow[b]	30	12	12	6	35	25	+10	34
5	Dinamo Minsk	30	12	9	9	33	25	+8	33
6	Dynamo Kyiv	30	11	10	9	37	27	+10	32
7	Shakhtar Donetsk	30	10	10	10	29	31	−2	30
8	Ararat Yerevan	30	13	3	14	32	45	−13	29
9	Neftchi Baku	30	9	10	11	33	30	+3	28[c]
10	Dinamo Moscow[a]	30	9	11	10	27	30	−3	28[c]
11	Metalist Kharkiv	30	10	7	13	23	32	−9	27	Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round
12	Kairat Alma-Ata	30	10	6	14	27	38	−11	26
13	Dinamo Tbilisi	30	9	7	14	31	40	−9	25
14	Zenit Leningrad	30	7	10	13	25	37	−12	24[d]
15	CSKA Moscow[a] (R)	30	7	11	12	26	35	−9	24[d]	Relegation to First League
16	Guria Lanchkhuti (R)	30	5	8	17	18	38	−20	18

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Total points (If two or more teams have equal points for the first place, the winner is determined by additional single round-robin play-off on condition and place determined by the Federation); 2) Total wins; 3) Head-to-head results (3.1. points 3.2. goal difference); 4) Total games scored; 5) Total goal difference; 6) Draw lots^[1]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. 1 point deducted (10 draw limited)
2. 2 points deducted (10 draw limited)
3. Neftchi had more head-to-head points than Dynamo Moscow
4. Zenit had more head-to-head points than CSKA

Promotion

• Lokomotiv Moscow ( Russian SFSR)
• Chornomorets Odessa ( Ukrainian SSR)

Results

Home \ Away	ARA	CSK	DNI	DYK	DMN	DYN	DTB	GUR	KAI	MKH	NEF	SHA	TOR	SPA	ŽAL	ZEN
Ararat Yerevan		3–0	2–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	2–1	3–2	3–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	3–2	1–2	2–1
CSKA Moscow	1–0		1–1	0–2	1–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1
Dnipro	2–0	0–0		1–0	2–2	1–1	3–0	3–1	0–0	2–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	6–1
Dynamo Kyiv	7–0	1–2	1–2		2–0	0–1	3–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–2	0–1	3–1	1–0
Dinamo Minsk	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–0		1–0	0–0	3–0	2–0	0–0	1–3	0–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	3–0
Dynamo Moscow	5–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–1		0–1	1–0	1–0	2–2	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1
Dinamo Tbilisi	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–2	3–1	1–1		2–0	3–0	3–1	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–3	1–2	0–0
Guria Lanchkhuti	2–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–0		2–0	0–1	1–0	0–2	0–3	0–2	0–2	1–1
Kairat Alma-Ata	0–1	0–2	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–0		1–0	3–1	3–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–0
Metalist Kharkiv	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–0		0–2	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–1
Neftçi Baku	0–0	1–1	0–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	3–0	2–2	6–0	1–2		1–0	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–1
Shakhtar Donetsk	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	3–1	1–0		1–2	0–0	1–1	1–1
Torpedo Moscow	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–1		0–2	1–1	1–1
Spartak Moscow	2–0	3–1	2–2	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	4–1	3–0	1–1		3–0	1–3
Žalgiris Vilnius	2–0	3–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	4–0	3–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	0–1	5–2		1–0
Zenit Leningrad	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–2	1–1	3–1	0–3	2–2	1–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

18 goals

• Oleh Protasov (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk)

16 goals

• Arminas Narbekovas (Žalgiris)

12 goals

• Fyodor Cherenkov (Spartak Moscow)
• Sergei Rodionov (Spartak Moscow)

10 goals

• Georgi Kondratyev (Dinamo Minsk)
• Yuri Savichev (Torpedo Moscow)

9 goals

• Alexei Mikhailichenko (Dynamo Kyiv)
• Yevstafi Pekhlevanidi (Kairat)
• Ramaz Shengelia (Dynamo Tbilisi)

8 goals

• Ihor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)

Clean sheets

15 matches

• Andrei Satsunkevich (Dinamo Minsk)

14 matches

• Rinat Dasayev (Spartak Moscow)

10 matches

• Viktor Chanov (Dynamo Kyiv)

6 matches

• Vyacheslav Chanov (CSKA Moscow)

4 matches

• Dmitri Kharine (Dynamo Moscow)

3 matches

• Aleksandr Zhidkov (Neftchi Baku)
• Jurkus Vatslovas (Zalgiris Vilnius)
• Serhiy Zolotnytskyi (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Medal squads

(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

1. FC Spartak Moscow

Goalkeepers: Rinat Dasayev (29), Stanislav Cherchesov (2). Defenders: Vagiz Khidiyatullin (29 / 3), Aleksandr Bubnov (28 / 1), Yuri Susloparov (23), Boris Kuznetsov (19), Almir Kayumov (18), Aleksandr Bokiy (15), Yuri Surov (8). Midfielders: Fyodor Cherenkov (27 / 12), Viktor Pasulko (26 / 7), Aleksandr Mostovoi (18 / 6), Yevgeni Kuznetsov (17), Aleksei Yeryomenko (11 / 1), Sergei Novikov (9), Babken Melikian (8 / 1), Andrei Mitin (8), Vladimir Kapustin (3). Forwards: Sergey Rodionov (26 / 12), Valeri Shmarov (26 / 5), Mikheil Meskhi (16 / 1), Oleg Kuzhlev (3), Andrei Rudakov (2), Mikhail Rusyayev (2), Viktor Kolyadko (1). Manager: Konstantin Beskov. Transferred out during the season: Aleksei Yeryomenko (to FC Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don), Babken Melikian (to FC Kotayk Abovian), Andrei Rudakov (to FC Torpedo Moscow), Mikhail Rusyayev (to FC Lokomotiv Moscow), Viktor Kolyadko (to FC Terek Grozny).

2. FC Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk

Goalkeepers: Valeriy Horodov (28), Serhiy Krakovskyi (2). Defenders: Sergei Bashkirov (30), Ivan Vyshnevskyi (29 / 1), Oleksiy Cherednyk (29), Serhiy Puchkov (20), Oleksandr Sorokalet (17), Volodymyr Gerashchenko (2), Oleksandr Lysenko (2), Oleh Fediukov (1). Midfielders: Hennadiy Lytovchenko (28 / 6), Vadym Tyshchenko (26 / 3), Anton Shokh (25 / 3), Mykola Kudrytsky (15), Volodymyr Bahmut (10). Forwards: Oleh Protasov (30 / 18), Oleh Taran (29 / 6), Yevhen Shakhov (28 / 3), Volodymyr Lyutyi (27 / 1), Vasyl Storchak (9 / 1). Manager: Yevhen Kucherevskyi. Transferred out during the season: none.

3. FK Žalgiris Vilnius

Goalkeepers: Vaclovas Jurkus (18), Almantas Kalinauskas (13). Defenders: Vyacheslav Sukristov (29 / 6), Sigitas Jakubauskas (29 / 2), Romas Mažeikis (29), Arvydas Janonis (29), Igoris Pankratjevas (27 / 3), Vladimiras Buzmakovas (23), Robertas Tautkus (9), Arūnas Žėkas (2). Midfielders: Vidmantas Rasiukas (30 / 1), Valdas Ivanauskas (25 / 7), Algimantas Mackevičius (20 / 2), Virginijus Baltušnikas (4), Viktoras Bridaitis (4), Stasys Tamulevičius (2). Forwards: Arminas Narbekovas (30 / 16), Stasys Baranauskas (28 / 5), Kęstutis Ruzgys (23 / 1), Gintaras Kviliūnas (5), Gediminas Sugzda (2), Robertas Fridrikas (1). Manager: Benjaminas Zelkevičius. Transferred out during the season: none.

Number of teams by union republic

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	5	CSKA Moscow, Dinamo Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, Zenit Leningrad
2	Ukrainian SSR	4	Dinamo Kiev, Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk, Metallist Kharkov, Shakhter Donetsk
3	Georgian SSR	2	Dinamo Tbilisi, Guria Lanchkhuti
4	Armenian SSR	1	Ararat Yerevan
	Azerbaijan SSR		Neftchi Baku
	Belarusian SSR		Dinamo Minsk
	Kazakh SSR		Kairat Alma-Ata
	Lithuanian SSR		Zhalgiris Vilnius

References

1. "ФУТБОЛ - 1987. О ПРОВЕДЕНИЕ СОРЕВНОВАНИЙ. (Football – 1987. On conducting the competitions". Центральный стадион им. В.И.Ленина (Tsentralny Stadion imeni V.I.Lenina). Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

• Soviet Union - List of final tables (RSSSF)