Stephen Gopey’s home debut ended in defeat as Inhulets Petrove were blown aside 5-1 by FC Zorya on Monday evening.

The former Wikki Tourist star made his Ukrainian Premier League bow in style – coming off the bench to score as Serhiy Lavrynenko’s lost 2-1 at Shakhtar Donetsk in their previous match.

Thanks to his impressive debut, he was handed his first start against Muzhyky, nonetheless, he could do little as Inhulets were conceded five goals on the night.

Zorya travelled to the Inhulets Stadium on the back of a 1-0 loss to Oleksandria. This time around, they got their act right to leave with all points on offer.

Six minutes into the encounter, Vladyslav Kochergin put the visiting side ahead after capitalising on some shambolic defending to fire past goalkeeper Evgen Galchuk.

While the hosts were trying to come back into the game, Kochergin doubled his team’s advantage a minute later with Artem Gromov providing the assist.

Despite the hosts putting up a good fight, they were unable to reduce the deficit as they went into the half-time break two goals down.

Six minutes into the second half, Zorya raced into a three-goal lead with Kochergin completing his treble. This time, it was Iranian striker Shahab Zahedi who turned provider.

In the 75th minute, the Ukrainian top-flight newcomers pulled one back through Artem Sitalo who benefited from Pavlo Polegenko’s pass.

Seven minutes later, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh’s replacement Cristian restored the three-goal cushion before Ghanaian teenager Raymond Owusu completed the rout with his effort in the closing stages of the six-goal thriller.

Gopey was in action from start to finish but he could not beat goalkeeper Mykyta Shevchenko.

Manager Lavrynenko stated that his potential heavily influenced the club’s decision to sign him from the Nigeria Professional Football League.

“The first is a good age, 21 years old. The second is his ability to fight, cling to the ball, score. This player is a prospect,” Lavrynenko told media per Inhulets’ website.

“Hopefully, he will gain his optimal physical condition and will be a player of the starting lineup. It all depends on him.

“We took him to develop. I think until today's match, hardly anyone would have found him even on Wikipedia or Wyscout.”

Following this defeat, Inhulets Petrove occupy the 15th position in the log with no points from two games played so far.

They would be hoping to return to winning ways when they face Desnain their next league outing on August 9.