September 26, 27, 28, 2020
No matches on Friday this weekend, although the return FK Minsk vs Smolevichy match is on Monday afternoon. With many sides only having 6 matches left to play it is getting close to crunch time at the top and bottom…………
Following a directive from the Belarus Football Federation, attendances are restricted to a maximum 25% of stadium capacity. However, Dinamo Minsk announced their match would be behind closed doors.
Energetik BGU Minsk vs FK Isloch Minsk ( Saturday at 12.00 UK time )
A Minsk derby between two of the smaller, less well supported sides, and it's being played in Molodechno……..A must win match for Energetik if they are to keep their faint hopes of a top 4 finish alive. With 5 wins on the bounce ( and three of them away from home ), Isloch have their eyes on a top 4 finish themselves, and with this rumoured to be Yansane’s last match for Isloch they will be aiming for him to finish on a good note. 1-2
Result : 1-1. Not the best of games. Energetik were the better team in the first half and led thanks to Jeremy Mawatu's first of the season, a delightful left footed effort from just outside the area. Isloch improved in the second half, and fittingly it was Yansane who earned them a point, heading home Yusov's cross with 10 minutes to play. Energetik created two good chances to snatch victory but were denied by excellent saves by Khatkevich.
FK Gorodeya vs FK Slavia Mozyr ( Saturday at 14.00 UK time )
With just one point out of the last 18, Gorodeya are sinking fast and even their normally solid defence has conceded three goals in each of the last three matches. Slavia halted their own slide with an unexpected win over Shakhtyor, and can be expected to confirm their own safety this weekend. 0-2
Result : 1-1. Gorodeya will be disappointed not to have taken 3 important points from this match. Slavia keeper Baronovskiy was in typically reliable form but he was left helpless when Poznyak flicked home a corner with less than 30 minutes to go. Slavia equalized after 77 minutes with virtually their first chance when Tlupov's innocuous looking low cross somehow reached the unmarked Zhuk who finished from around 5 yards. The point could prove vital for both sides.
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino vs Neman Grodno ( Saturday at 16.00 UK time )
Fourth vs Third. Torpedo are on a great run, unbeaten in 7, and will go level with Neman with a win. Neman need a win to keep the pressure on in case the top two slip up. Likely to be a cagey affair. 0-0
Result : 0-1. Neman battled to three points to keep up their unlikely title challenge, Marusic headed home Kadimyan's corner on the stroke of half-time. Torpedo fought hard in search of an equalizer but rarely looked like breaching the Wall of Grodno. Poe nearly added a late second for Neman but his curling effort came back from the bar.
BATE Borisov vs Dinamo Brest ( Saturday at 18.00 UK time )
BATE seem to have hit form at the right time, winning their last 4 matches. However, on their day Dinamo can beat anyone and have the armoury to take advantage of any wobble by BATE. On the other hand they are prone to giving goals away. 3-1
Result : 2-4. The title race took another dramatic turn as BATE lost at home in a pulsating, high tempo encounter. Dinamo were superb in the first half, cutting BATE apart with swift, flowing moves and should have had more than just Sedko's fantastic volley to show for it. Savitskiy in particular was guilty of missing two chances you would expect him to snaffle. However, in an open and end to end game BATE also missed two good chances themselves. When Savitskiy atoned for his misses in the 50th minute it looked like it was game over, but BATE showed tremendous character to level the match with 10 minutes remaining, through well worked goals by Nekhaychik and Milic. The drama wasn't over though. With both sides pressing for the winner, Dinamo regained the lead in contraversial circumstances as with over 90 minutes on the clock, Krivets ran clear and launched a left footed shot that crashed against the bar, bounced down and then out a la Geoff Hurst. Like the 1966 World Cup Final a goal was given, which may or may not have been the correct decision, there is no VAR in Belarus ! To rub salt into BATE's wounds, Tweh then broke and unselfishly tee'd up Krivets to again score off the crossbar, although this time the ball did nestle in the net.
Belshina Bobruisk vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( Sunday at 13.00 UK time )- Postponed
Another potential banana skin for Shakhtyor as Belshina attempt to continue their laudable efforts to escape the drop. Shakhtyor will be desperate to atone for last week’s dismal loss to Slavia. 0-2
Dinamo Minsk vs FK Vitebsk ( Sunday at 15.00 UK time )
The definition of mid-table mediocrity as 9th plays 10th. Vitebsk are the league’s draw specialists with 10 so far, and games involving Dinamo don’t usually have many goals. 1-1
Result : 1-0. A predictably dour match not helped by the rain and the wind, with an unnecessary soft foul giving Shikavka the opportunity to notch his 9th goal of the season. Dinamo return to their binary form
Rukh Brest vs FK Slutsk ( Sunday at 17.00 UK time )
After struggling to score in the first half of the season, Rukh have hit 26 goals in their last 8 games. Incredibly, Slutsk have taken just 5 points in their last 15 matches, and the rot in unlikely to stop here. 3-0
Result : 5-0. An embarrassingly easy victory for Rukh. After building a 2-0 half time lead thanks to goals from Sadovski and Nikiforenko and having another effort mysteriously disallowed, it seemed as if Rukh had declared at half-time. However, three goals in the last 5 minutes, two for Bogomolskity and one for Kontsevoy, re-enforced their superiority and a 5-0 scoreline their dominace deserved. It could have been a few more...... for Slupsk there were very few positives.
FK Minsk vs FK Smolevichy STI ( Monday at 14.00 UK time )
Five days after winning 4-0 in Smolevichy, Minsk should not have any problems in realistically securing their safety for the season. Smolevichy have conceded 26 goals in their last 6 matches, and are likely to ship some more. 5-0
Result : 2-1. At half-time a huge shock looked possible as Smolevichy led 1-0, the goal came in comical fashion when Minsk keeper Leonov charged outside of his area but the bouncing ball evaded his attempted header, leaving Khankevich with a tap-in. Minsk were awful in the first half, as if they almost thought they just had to turn up to get the win. Fortunately for Minsk fans they improved in the second half, twice hitting the post, before Smolevichy keeper Lozovskiy hauled down the on-rushing Yarotskiy for an obvious penalty. Vasilyev sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot. Nasibulin missed a simple header from six yards but Minsk eventually grabbed the winner in the 71st minute when Anufriev nipped between two defenders to head home from just outside the 6 yard box.
Summary :