May 14, 15 & 16, 2021
Week 9 sees another of week with several matches between evenly matched sides with the outcomes difficult to predict. Whilst Dinamo Minsk look on paper to have a straightforward fixture, leaders Shakhtyor face a potential banana-skin at Neman and BATE have a tough looking encounter against a Rukh side still to play at their full potential. The aspirations of Dinamo Brest and Gomel will be tested when they face each other.
Elsewhere, Torpedo and Isloch meet looking to climb the table, whilst Vitebsk will be looking to score another goal !
FK Sputnik Rechitsa vs FK Slavia Mozyr ( Friday at 16.00 UK time )
Slavia seem to slowly getting better and deserved their late equaliser to draw with Dinamo Brest last weekend. They should probably have enough to see off rock bottom Sputnik. 1-2
Result : 0-2. Sputnik’s troubles continued. Forced to play this match in Mogilev, over 200km from Rechitsa, the number of people watching appeared to be significantly fewer than the published attendance.
This was a dull match and low in quality, but decided by two top drawer finishes in the second half by Francis Narh, out of keeping with the rest of the game. The Ghanaian perhaps doesn’t score as many goals as he should, but here two thumping shots gave Rudenok no chance, and gave Slavia three important points
For Sputnik, Kontsedailov forced Slavia keeper Baronovski to make two decent saves, but the type where the keeper would be expected to save.
Dinamo Minsk vs FK Smorgon ( Friday at 18.00 UK time )
Home banker. Dinamo are looking impressive at the moment and should comfortably overcome a game but limited Smorgon side. 3-0
Result : 2-0. A predictably routine victory for Dinamo, and the margin would have been much greater but for an outstanding display by Smorgon keeper Pavel Scherbachenya, who made astonishing saves to deny Lozhkin, Mbengue and Dinga as well as several other good saves. However, even he was unable to keep out headers from Mbengue and Lozhkin from pin-point crosses from Batsula from the left.
Smorgon kept battling and Camara should have grabbed a consolation goal in the last minute but he put the ball wide with only Khatkevich to beat.
Neman Grodno vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( Saturday at 12.30 UK time )
Neman kick-started their season with their first win of the season at Smorgon, but the champions with a 100% record will be a much sterner test. 0-1
Result : 1-2. Shakhtyor were out of sorts in the first half and were very fortunate to go into the interval on level terms. Neman took the lead in the 14th minute, Kouadio stretched to steer the ball onto the underside of the bar, and it clearly bounced over the line before Gutor could grab it. Dzighero’s curling left-footed effort came back from the post in the 34th minute and when the ball was played back into the Shakhtyor penalty area, Begunov clattered into Zubovich to concede a penalty. Shakhtyor had a let off though when Kantaria’s spot-kick hit the underside of the bar and bounced kindly for Begunov to clear.
Neman were made to pay for the miss three minutes later, Szoke slid athletically to guide the ball across the goal to leave Okeuhie a simple tap-in at the back post from 2 yards, His Peter Beagrie style celebration though was a little over the top all things considered.
Skahtyor started the second half much better, and Darboe was put clear in the 53rd minutes, but keeper Malevskiy made a brave block. However, the Neman shot-stopper quickly went from hero to villain by carelessly bringing down Okeuhie for an obvious penalty 4 minutes later. Kendysh smashed the kick down the centre of the goal.
Shakhtyor controlled the last 30 minutes, and Neman never really looked like getting the equalizer. A second yellow card to Gavrilovich 5 minutes from the end for scything down Podstrelov sealed Neman’s fate.
FK Vitebsk vs Energetik BGU Minsk ( Saturday at 14.30 UK time )
With the SatNav on the Big Blue Bus having found the route to goal, and their Brazilians seemingly now allowed to cross the half-way line, Vitebsk could sneak a second victory of the season against struggling Energetik. 1-0
Result : 3-2. Vitebsk’s conversion from bore draw specialists to the league’s entertainers looks almost to be completed, with 11 goals now in their last two games.
Energetik looked sharp in the early stages, and two goals in a minute put them into a strong postion mid-way through the first half. Artem Vasiljev converted a penalty after Julio Cesar was adjudged to have handled, and Bashilov’s shot took a deflection to leave keeper Gushchenko stranded. Energetik were full value for their half-time lead and arguably should have been further ahead.
Vitebsk’s unlikely come-back started three minutes into the second half when Teverov glanced home Diego’s cross to the edge of the six-yard area. The game then became particularly feisty after Vitebsk saw a handball appeal turned down a few minutes later, and the TV cameras completely missed Teverov’s equaliser in the 56th minute. Wanderson’s towering header from a corner completed the Vitebsk fight back with three goals in just over 10 minutes.
The last half-hour was a bit of an anti-climax as Energetik struggled to put Vitebsk under any sustained pressure, and the home side held on reasonably comfortably for just their second win of the season. However, both sides deserved credit for putting on an entertaining spectacle on such a poor surface.
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino vs FK Isloch Minsk ( Saturday at 16.30 UK time )
Likely to be a tight encounter between two mid-table sides with aspirations of moving higher. Home advantage to prevail. 2-1
Result : 3-3. A draw was probably the fair result in this pulsating encounter but Torpedo were indebted to substitute left-back Denis Grezhevskiy with two goals, including one in added on time, for their point. Grezhevskiy had previously played only one minute for the Zhodino side, having signed from Sputnik in the close season.
It took Torpedo just over 2 minutes to open the scoring, Klenye reacted the quickest to flick home a loose ball in the 6 yard area. In a frenetic end-to-end start to the match. Isloch were level on 8 minutes, Torpodo keeper Bushma fumbled a long range shot and Komarovskiy was alert to turn the ball back across the goal to give Mozorov a simple finish. Despite the non-stop action, we had to wait until the stroke of half-time for the next goal, Komarovskiy thumping home from the penalty spot for Isloch after the ball struck Klenye’s hand.
Mozorov thought he had extended Isloch’s lead early in the second half after heading a Komarovskiy cross past Bushma, but he was at least two yards offside, before Grezhevskiy hammered home left-footed from 20 yards off the inside of a post to level the match in the 60th minute.
7 minutes later Mozorov headed home another Komarovskiy cross but this time the goal stood as Isloch took the lead again. Torpedo came close to equalising on a couple of occasions, finally doing so in the 4th minute of stoppage time, Grezhevskiy drilling home from 10 yards through a crowd of players.
BATE Borisov vs Rukh Brest ( Saturday at 18.30 UK time )
Rukh have ground out two consecutive wins without looking too convincing. BATE will be looking to bounce back from losing at Shakhtyor to maintain their title challenge. 2-1
Result : 3-2. Another tremendous game, with BATE’s winner coming 8 minutes from the end after they had twice been behind. Slightly against the run of play, Evgeni Shevchenko put Rukh ahead in the 19th minute, running onto Tweh’s return pass, and Kontsevoi then missed a great chance to make it 0-2.
Nekhaychik made it 1-1 with 25 minutes played, arriving at the back post to volley Umarov’s cross into the roof of the net but Rukh responded immediately with Grechikho’s stunning 30 yard effort putting them back in front. BATE pounded the Rukh goal in search of the equaliser and Pavlyuchenko made two fine stops to deny Nekhaychik, and Dragun hit the bar. At the end other end Kontsevoi and Laptev both hit the post.
The equaliser for BATE arrived in the 72nd minute, Dragun slamming home a loose ball from 12 yards with his left foot for his 5th of the season, and the first that wasn’t a header. Pavlyuchenko made another top save to again keep out the unfortunate Nekhaychik but he probably could have done better with Willumsson’s speculative 25 yard winner which bounced just in front of the Rukh keeper. However, after making several fine saves to keep Rukh in the game it would be a bit harsh to put too much blame on the keeper.
FK Slutsk vs FK Minsk ( Sunday at 14.30 UK time )
A match-up between two sides not quite getting the results that perhaps their performances deserved, and this could be a repeat. 2-2
Result : 2-2. An open and entertaining game with the draw probably being the right the result. Minsk could have snatched the win in the 95th minute but Zenkovich was unable to react quickly enough to a rebound and missed a virtual open goal.
Minsk took the lead in the 36th minute. Slack defending from Slutsk left Shramchenko in far too much space from a short free-kick, and under no pressure he delivered the perfect cross to the far post for Chagovets to head home from close range.
Two goals in three minutes at the start of the second half turned the game around in Slutsk’s favour. First Alfred’s diving header levelled the scores, and then Glebko fired home from 15 yards after a low cross hadn’t been probably dealt with, to make it 2-0 after 51 minutes.
Shortly after, Aldred had a great chance to make 3-1 after Chagovets had been caught in possession by Glebko, but he dithered and was crowded out.
Dreadful defending by Rashchenya almost let in Shramchenko, but when the ball fell to Zinovich to finish, he was clearly offside. However, the same combination did conjure the equaliser when another smart pass from Shramchenko gave Zinovich the opportunity to shoot first time from 8 yards.
Dinamo Brest vs FK Gomel ( Sunday at 18.30 UK time )
Probably the game of the weekend between two high flying sides, with enterprising Gomel likely to find a disciplined and organised Dinamo side difficult to break-down. 1-1
Result : 1-0. An entertaining game despite the lack of goals, with Dinamo maintaining their unbeaten record and the best defensive record in the League. Sedko’s free-kick mid-way through the second half was the difference between the two sides.
In a vibrant match, both sides were guilty of missing a number of chances, and on another day it could have been a 5 or 6 goal thriller. Shestyuk missed a great chance for Dinamo, whilst Gomza miss-kicked in front of an open goal for Gomel
Summary :