After playing an away match on Saturday, 16 August 2008, against rivals Illychivets Mariupol during which Maksym Kalynychenko scored the winning goal in the 66th minute – helping Dnipro win 2:1, he was named by UA-Football as the of the two best attacking midfielders along with Constantinos Makrides of Metalurh Donetsk, of the fifth round in the Ukrainian Premier League.