April 9, 10 & 11 April, 2021
This week saw the return legs of the Quarter Finals of the Belarus Cup :
Tuesday April 6, 2021
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk 0-0 Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino ( agg : 0-3 )
FK Isloch Minsk 0-0 FK Minsk ( agg : 1-1 )
Wednesday April 7, 2021
Neman Grodno 2-1 Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( agg : 2-4 )
FK Vitesk 2-3 BATE Borisov ( agg : 3-5 )
The first two matches saw very uneventful 0-0 draws. Having essentially ensured their place in the last 4 after a 3-0 home win over Second Division Arsenal, Torpedo took the opportunity to rest and rotate their squad, and survived without any alarums. In fact, substitute Leonvich missed the two best chances of the game.
FK Minsk squandered a golden opportunity to reach the semi-finals, crashing out on away goals, after two matches played at their own stadium ! Isloch were reduced to 10 men in the first half after Shalashnikov was adjusted to have handled but Lopez’s weak penalty was easily saved by Vasilychek. Despite the man advantage Minsk rarely troubled Isloch, who actually created the better chances in a poor game. Anufriev hit the post and Kozyrenko shot narrowly over after running the length of the pitch. Isloch are now potentially just three matches from European football !
With a three goal cushion from the first leg, Shakhtyor took the opportunity to give a few of their fringe players a run-out, and nearly paid the price. With the Shakhtyor defence looking all at sea all game, Dzihgero opened the scoring in the 16th minutes with a left footed volley, shortly after Sadovnichiy’s free-kick had crashed against the post and Vasiljev’s follow-up had been headed off the line. Shakhtyor attempted to calm their nerves by bringing on Demboe at half-time but they would have been frayed even further when awful defending allowed Zubovich to scramble home with just over 20 minutes left to play, although any one of three Neman players could have scored. Darboe could have settled the tie but incredibly fired high over the bar from 6 yards, but Neman missed a great chance of their own with 10 minutes to go, Kouadio was the culprit. Had Neman scored they probably would have gone on to win the tie, but Darboe made amends for his miss by setting up Okehuie to score the goal to ensure Shakhtyor’s progress to the semi-finals.
After falling 2 goals behind after 15 minutes and needing to score 4 goals to progress, Vitebsk cast aside their usual safety-first tactics and in an unexpectedly open game managed to pull 2 goals back to need only 2 more goals in the last half hour. BATE had missed a host of chances but finally put the tie to bed with 5 minutes to go with a neat finish from Skavysh.
The draw for the Semi-finals pairs Isloch with Shakhtyor and BATE will play Torpedo. Isloch will need to win the Cup to prevent Dinamo Brest taking the final Europa Conference place, as Shakhtyor, BATE and Torpedo have already qualified for Europa via their league places.
Looking ahead to the weekend’s matches :
Energetik BGU Minsk vs FK Sputnik Rechitsa ( Friday at 15.30 UK time )
Energetik looked pretty decent in last week’s draw at Rukh and they should be too strong for pointless and goal-less Sputnik. 2-0
Result : 0-1. A pretty drab encounter with precious few goalmouth incidents and with little to choose between the two sides, but Sputnik won’t care about that as they got their season up and running with their first points and first goal of the season to defy the 6/1 odds offered against them to win.
Nicaraguan striker Ariagner Smith made his debut for Sputnik and his goal in the 77th minute separated the two sides. Kholodinskys’ quick long throw down the left touch-line caught Energetik dozing for Smith to run clear, round the keeper and tuck into the net past two despairing defenders. Smith could actually have had a hat-trick, earlier missing two easier chances, but his composed finish augers well for Sputnik, for whom Djouhary and Rudenok again impressed. If Djouhary can add goals to his midfield promptings, he again missed a great chance in the first half, then mid-table safety may beckon for Sputnik.
Energetik were disappointing and only showed some urgency after falling behind. Only Mawatu’s long range shot troubled the Sputnik keeper in the first half, forcing an athletic tip over the bar. They could have taken the lead in the 65th minute but substitute Zulfikarov shot weakly at Rudenok after latching onto a long ball over the top of the Sputnik back four. Sovpel should have equalised with just under 10 minutes to play but his close-range shot hit Rudenok on the head as he bravely spread himself to block, and in the last minute Sovpel turned Vasiljev’s through ball to the near post wide from just over 6 yards out.
However, Sputnik held on for an important win and to make the relegation battle a lot more interesting !
FK Isloch Minsk vs Rukh Brest ( Saturday at 12.00 UK time )
Isloch looked solid with 10 men in the Cup against Minsk, and despite their heavy loss last week in Soligorsk, they should be capable of holding a Rukh side who appear to be transforming from last season’s entertainers to this season’s draw specialists. 1-1
Result : 0-1. Unbeaten Rukh achieved their first win of the season in a match short of entertainment and low in quality. Rukh were poor and Isloch were even worse.
The only moment of note in a desperately dull first half came in the 38th minute when Isloch’s Patotskiy ran from halfway, cut inside and then blazed high and wide.
The game briefly came alive in the 65th minute when Rukh woke-up for a few minutes. First Savitski mis-hit a volley into the ground but the ball hit Laptev and was scrambled clear by the Isloch defence. A minute later Tweh’s free-kick sailed beyond the far post, hit Isloch defender Shalashnikov and fell to Grechikho but his shot from a narrow angle was blocked by the Isloch keeper. However, from the subsequent corner, Grechikho flicked on at the near post for Rakhmanov to volley left footed into the roof of the net from about 4 yards.
Isloch immediately responded with a similar move to Rukh’s goal but unfortunately for them, Myakish blazed left-footed over the bar from 6 yards. The match fizzled out after this as both sides continued to give the ball away to each other and Isloch lacked the guile to create any more chances. Rukh’s Pechenin did send a 20 yard effort wide with 10 minutes to go but another goal never really looked likely.
FK Slutsk vs Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino ( Saturday at 14.00 UK time )
Slutsk have looked better than many pundits expected, but Torpedo have won their last two matches 1-0, and a repeat is possible here. 0-1
Result : 2-0. A fully deserved win for Slutsk on their artificial grass pitch against a Torpedo side hardly looking like candidates for a top 4 finish. Despite the results from their first three matches, Slutsk had looked better than expected, and again they confirmed that impression. They should have led at half-time but Sasin saw two good efforts saved by Bushma, and Alfred’s near post header was crowded out.
The opening goal finally came in the 53rd minute, Alfred turned and shot left-footed from inside the penalty area, and Bobko got a touch to deflect past Bushma. Alfred capped an outstanding display with another assist in the 77th minute, playing a clever pass to release Sasin, who rounded the advancing keeper to roll the ball into the empty net. A third goal should have arrived in the 80th minute when Vergeychik ran onto a through ball but after being forced wide by Burko he put his shot into the side-netting.
Torpedo rarely threatened Branovets in the Slutsk goal, and have now been outplayed in two away matches this season. Coach Yuri Puntus has his work cut-out to turn this around
Dinamo Brest vs Dinamo Minsk ( Saturday at 18.00 UK time )
The Dinamo “derby” features two sides yet to concede this season, and that record could well be extended on Saturday evening. It could be a tough watch ! 0-0
Result : 1-1. Unexpectedly this was a cracking game, top quality, very entertaining and roared on by a large and vocal crowd. Dinamo Minsk deservedly led 1-0 at half-time, and it could have been more, but Dinamo Brest fought back in the second half, and after Minsk’s Selyava was shown a second yellow card, the home side looked like they could snatch all three points. However, the share of the spoils was a fair result.
Ex-Brest player Kislyak gave Minsk the lead in the 15th minute, firing between the legs of Affi after a slight fumble by DB keeper Stepanov, but he commendably refused to celebrate in front of his former fans.
Minsk keeper Khatkevich was forced to make a smart save from Gajduchik’s athletic bicycle kick before Kislyak nearly added his second, but Stepanov made a slightly fortunate block to keep out his 20 yard pile-driver. Stepanov also made important save from Klimovich and Poe shot narrowly past the post, to leave the visitors only one goal ahead at the break.
Stepanov also had to be alert to make a brave save from Davyskiba shortly after the interval before Brest grabbed an equaliser in the 69th minute. Minsk keeper Khatkevich could only parry Shestyuk’s volley into the air but Bilenkyi was the quickest to react to side-foot home the equaliser. After the slightly harsh red card to Selyava DB dominated the closing stages but failed to create any clear-cut chances, and Stepanov had to be alert to make a smart diving save to prevent Naumov’s header being the winner for Minsk.
Overall, both sides remain unbeaten and did enough to confirm they will be amongst the contenders come the end of the season !
FK Minsk vs BATE Borisov ( Sunday at 12.00 UK time )
BATE scored three times in mid-week at usually frugal Vitebsk in the Cup and have scored 3 in 2 of their 3 league games. Minsk are looking stronger defensively this season but BATE should prevail. 1-2
Result 2-2. A tremendous match marked by a spirited fight back from BATE to score twice in the last 10 minutes, albeit in slightly dubious circumstances, to snatch a point. For Minsk it was the reverse of their previous home match where they came from 0-2 behind to grab a draw.
BATE had over 65% of the possession but floundered against Minsk’s new found defensive resilience and swift counter attacking. BATE dominated the first half, but Minsk keeper Prishivalko’s handling was assured, Skavysh was denied twice, and Milic twice went near but not near enough. BATE had been warned though as a swift Minsk break created a good chance for Zinovich but Chichkan made the save.
Minsk took the lead in the 2 minute of the second half, another swift move enabled Bogomolskiy to set-up Kasarab, whose first time left-footed strike snuck just inside Chichkan’s left-hand post. The lead was doubled in the 64th minute when another incisive move saw Evdikimov lay the ball back for Zinovich to rifle into the net from the edge of the are. With two bad misses by Schramchenko after the BATE defence had again been carved open, BATE could easily have been 0-4 behind.
The introduction of Umarov, last week’s super-sub for BATE didn’t make much impact, although BATE did pull a goal back with 8 minutes left on the clock, Milic headed on a cross for Rybak to bundle the ball over the line at the back post. Minsk appealed for handball, and the TV replays suggested the ball may have hit Rybak’s knee then arm on its way into the net. However, the referee was in no position to judge, and with no VAR the goal stood.
If Minsk felt hard done by with that decision it got worse in added on time as a BATE player attempted a bicycle kick and crashed to the floor after making a small degree of contact with a Minsk defender standing his ground. However, the referee harshly deemed this to be an infringement, it could so easily have been deemed instead that the Minsk defender had been kicked, but Skavysh converted the penalty to seal BATE’s come-back.
FK Gomel vs Neman Grodno ( Sunday at 14.00 UK time )
Probably the hardest match to predict this week-end. With their enterprising approach so far this season, newly promoted Gomel are rapidly turning into everyone’s second favourite team. Neman gave a good performance against an under strength Shakhtyor in the Cup, and will be tough for Gomel to break-down. 2-0
Result : 2-0. A convincing win for the Premier League new-boys, who do not look out of place in this Division, and may even be contenders for a top 6 finish.
Both Gomel’s goals were scored by Andrei Solovei, last season’s top scorer in the Pershaya liga now heads the BPL scoring chart on 5 for this season. His first came in the 10th minute, running onto Gomza’s clever fleck to confidently finish past Malevskiy, and his second in the 33rd minute was similar, running clear of the defence to beat Malevskiy at his near post. On another day Solovei may have scored three or four.
Neman were fortunate to go to the break only 2 goals behind, and whilst they improved in the second half, they rarely troubled the Gomel defence, one mass scramble aside. A tough season lies ahead for them.
FK Slavia Mozyr vs FK Vitebsk ( Sunday at 16.00 UK time )
Between them they have scored only one league goal this season, but Vitebsk have had a tough fixture list and found the net twice against BATE in the Cup. Possibly another tough watch in prospect. 0-1
Result : 0-2. Having found a map with the route to goal during their mid-week cup-tie, Vitebsk again made good use of it to record their first league goals of the season, thanks to a brace from Teverov.
Vitebsk led 1-0 at the break through Teverov’s dinked header as Slavia keeper Shishlov and centre-back Shestilovskiy both hesitated. The half-time scoreline was harsh on Slavia, who twice hit the bar with decent efforts from Barsukov and Raevskiy and Shestilovskiy forced a smart tip over the bar by Vitebsk keeper Gushchenko.
Teverov extended the lead 2 minutes into the second half, latching onto long ball and then shooting between the legs of Shishlov. Vitebsk were content to sit on their lead for the rest of the match, inviting Slavia to come at them. Chukhley went close on two occasions and in injury time Sliusar rounded Gushchenko but his shot was blocked by a covering defender. A second yellow card to Chukhley for a foot-up just about summed up Slavia’s day.
Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs FK Smorgon ( Sunday at 18.00 UK time )
After a goal and a point at Slavia, Smorgon are likely to be brought back to earth against the Champions. 3-0
Result : 3-0. Smorgon went into this match as 16-1 underdogs, which apparently would have been a record for the Belarus Premier League had they won. The odds were quickly lengthened after Szoke’s header crept into the net, although the keeper and two defenders between really ought to have prevented the goal.
The floodgates though didn’t open, and Smorgon should have gone in at the interval on level terms. Dao’s shot struck Szoke on the arm as he slid in to try and block, and a penalty was awarded. Valkaev sent Gutor the wrong way, but unfortunately for the Smorgon captain his Panenka sailed over the bar.
Smorgon were still in the contest but the game took a decisive turn in the 72nd minute. First, Zadi went to ground in attempting to make a tackle and whilst on the floor the ball unwittingly made contact with his arm. Referee Denis Scherbakov deemed this worthy of a second yellow card to the Ivorian, and to add insult to injury, Antic’s free-kick found the top corner for 2-0.
There was still time for Darboe to miss a sitter, and Ivanovic’s header put a slightly mis-leading picture to the score.
Summary :