1990 Soviet Top League
| Season | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Champions | FC Dynamo Kyiv |
| Champions League | Dynamo Kyiv |
| Cup Winners' Cup | CSKA Moscow |
| UEFA Cup |
Dynamo Moscow Torpedo Moscow Spartak Moscow |
| Top goalscorer |
(12) Oleh Protasov (Dynamo Kyiv) Valeri Shmarov (Spartak Moscow) |
| Biggest home win | CSKA – Rotor 7–0 |
| Biggest away win | Chornomorets – Dynamo K. 0–3 |
| Highest scoring | Spartak – CSKA 5–4 |
|
← 1989 1991 → | |
The 1990 Soviet Top League season was the 53rd since its establishment. Spartak Moscow were the defending 12-times champions. The league was shortened and a total of fourteen teams participated. By the start of the season both Georgian teams have withdrew followed by another withdrawal from Žalgiris at the start of competition. The league consisted of ten teams contested in the 1989 season and the Army club promoted from the Soviet First League. The representatives of the Baltic states as well as Georgia chose not to take part in the competition.
The season began on 1 March with the game between Dnipro and Rotor and lasted until 20 October 1990. The season was won by FC Dynamo Kyiv.
Participating teams
The league was reduced to 13 after first Georgian clubs (Dinamo Tbilisi and Guria Lanchkhuti) and then Žalgiris withdrew from the Soviet Top League.
Lokomotiv Moscow and the last placed Zenit Leningrad of the 1989 Soviet Top League were relegated to the 1990 Soviet First League. Lokomotiv returned to the Soviet First League after two seasons absence, while Zenit was relegated for the first time since being promoted back in 1938 through the club's merger.
Originally two teams were promoted from the 1989 Soviet First League and included PFC CSKA Moscow and FC Guria Lanchkhuti. Just before the start of new season Georgian clubs and Žalgiris left the league.
Final standings
| No | Club | GP | W | D | L | GF–GA | Pts | Rpblc | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dynamo Kyiv | 24 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 44–20 | 34 |  Ukrainian SSR |
Champions League |
| 2 | CSKA Moscow | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 43–26 | 31 |  Russian SFSR |
+ Cup Winners' Cup |
| 3 | Dinamo Moscow | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 27–24 | 31 | Russian SFSR |
UEFA Cup |
| 4 | Torpedo Moscow | 24 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 28–24 | 30 | Russian SFSR |
UEFA Cup |
| 5 | Spartak Moscow | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 39–26 | 29 | Russian SFSR |
UEFA Cup |
| 6 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 39–26 | 28 | Ukrainian SSR |
|
| 7 | Ararat Erevan | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 25–23 | 23 |  Armenian SSR |
|
| 8 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 24 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 23–31 | 22 | Ukrainian SSR |
|
| 9 | Chornomorets Odessa | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 23–29 | 19 | Ukrainian SSR |
|
| 10 | Pamir Dushambe | 24 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 26–34 | 18 |  Tajik SSR |
|
| 11 | Metalist Kharkiv | 24 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13–28 | 18 | Ukrainian SSR |
|
| 12 | Dinamo Minsk | 24 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 20–34 | 15 |  Byelorussian SSR |
|
| 13 | Rotor Volgograd | 24 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 14–39 | 14 | Russian SFSR |
Relegated after a playoff |
- + − Newly promoted
- Žalgiris Vilnius withdrew from the championship after losing to Chornomorets 1–0 in Odessa. Žalgiris' record was 0 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss with 0-1 goal difference and later was annulled. As Žalgiris withdrew, its European berth was transferred to Chornomorets.
- Guria and Dinamo never played any games in the league for the season and joined their national competition. Žalgiris joined the 1990 Baltic League which was a regional international competition.
Promotion/relegation play-off
(13th team of the Top League and 4th team of the First League)
- Lokomotiv Moscow – Rotor Volgograd 3–1 0–1
1990-11-11 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 3 – 1 | Rotor Volgograd |
|---|---|---|
Samatov  12' Rybakov 51' Zhitkov 79' |
Report | Fyodorovsky 76' |
Lokomotiv Moscow won the promotion on 3–2 aggregate
Top scorers
- 12 goals
- Oleg Protasov (Dynamo Kyiv)
- Valeri Shmarov (Spartak Moscow)
- 10 goals
- Eduard Son (Dnipro)
- 9 goals
- Mykola Kudrytsky (Dnipro)
- Aleksandr Mostovoi (Spartak Moscow)
- Mukhsin Mukhamadiev (Pamir)
- Sergei Yuran (Dynamo Kyiv)
- 8 goals
- Igor Korneev (CSKA Moscow)
- Valeri Masalitin (CSKA Moscow)
- Yuri Savichev (Torpedo Moscow)
Medal squads
(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
