title: 1978 Soviet Top League
text: # 1978 Soviet Top League
  
  Statistics of Soviet Top League for the 1978 season.
  
  ## Overview
  
  It was contested by 16 teams, and Dinamo Tbilisi won the championship.
  
  Introduction of draw limit, a number of games tied during a season.
  
  ## League standings
  
  | Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Dinamo Tbilisi (C) | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 42 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
  | 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 30 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 42 | 20 | +22 | 38 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
  | 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 37 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
  | 4 | Dynamo Moscow | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 37 | 23 | +14 | 36 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
  | 5 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 33 | |
  | 6 | CSKA Moscow | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 32 | |
  | 7 | Chornomorets Odessa | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 41 | 26 | +15 | 32 | |
  | 8 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 30 | |
  | 9 | Zaria Voroshilovgrad | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 38 | 44 | −6 | 26 | |
  | 10 | Zenit Leningrad | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 31 | 46 | −15 | 26 | |
  | 11 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 26 | |
  | 12 | Kairat Alma-Ata | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 29 | 41 | −12 | 25 | |
  | 13 | Neftchi Baku | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 28 | 39 | −11 | 23 | |
  | 14 | Ararat Yerevan | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 42 | −22 | 22 | |
  | 15 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 26 | 40 | −14 | 22 | |
  | 16 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (R) | 30 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 25 | 39 | −14 | 21 | Relegation to First League |
  
  * 1 2 1 point deducted (8 draw limit).
  * 1 2 2 points deducted (8 draw limit).
  * ↑ 3 points deducted (8 draw limit).
  
  ## Results
  
  | Home \ Away | ARA | CHO | CSK | DNI | DYK | DYN | DTB | KAI | LOK | NEF | PAK | SHA | SPA | TOR | ZAR | ZEN |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Ararat Yerevan | | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
  | Chornomorets Odessa | 3–1 | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
  | CSKA Moscow | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
  | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
  | Dynamo Kyiv | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 5–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 |
  | Dynamo Moscow | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
  | Dinamo Tbilisi | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 |
  | Kairat Alma-Ata | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
  | Lokomotiv Moscow | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
  | Neftçi Baku | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
  | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
  | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
  | Spartak Moscow | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
  | Torpedo Moscow | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 2–0 | 3–0 |
  | Zaria Voroshilovgrad | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | | 4–0 |
  | Zenit Leningrad | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 5–4 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
  
  ## Top scorers
  
  ### 19 goals
  
  * Georgi Yartsev (Spartak Moscow)
  
  ### 15 goals
  
  * Ramaz Shengelia (Dinamo Tbilisi)
  
  ### 13 goals
  
  * Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)
  
  ### 11 goals
  
  * Nikolai Latysh (Shakhtar)
  
  ### 10 goals
  
  * Vladimir Klementyev (Zenit)
  
  ### 9 goals
  
  * Nikolai Kolesov (Dynamo Moscow)
  
  ### 8 goals
  
  * Aleksei Belenkov (CSKA Moscow)
  * Vakhtang Koridze (Dinamo Tbilisi)
  * Viktor Kuznetsov (Zorya Voroshylovhrad)
  
  ### 7 goals
  
  * Konstantin Bakanov (Pakhtakor)
  * Anatoliy Banishevskiy (Neftchi)
  * Yuri Chesnokov (CSKA Moscow)
  * Vladimir Fyodorov (Pakhtakor)
  * Yevgeni Khrabrostin (Torpedo Moscow)
  * David Kipiani (Dinamo Tbilisi)
  * Aleksandr Maksimenkov (Dynamo Moscow)
  * Vladimir Onischenko (Dynamo Kyiv)
  * Vladimir Ploskina (Chornomorets)
  * Andrei Redkous (Zenit)
  * Yuri Reznik (Shakhtar)
  * Vitaliy Shevchenko (Chornomorets)
  * Vitali Starukhin (Shakhtar)
  