Review : Belarus 2021 Women’s Premier League – Week 9

May 19 & 20, 2021

May 19, 2021

FK Minsk 6-0 Neman Grodno ( att : 30 )

FK Vitebsk 1-3 Dnepr Mogilev ( att : 150 )

May 20, 2021

Region of Gomel 0-4 ABFF U19 ( att : 20 )

Dinamo Brest 0-16 Dinamo BGU Minsk ( att : 100 )

Zorka BGU 3-1 Bobruichanka 8-0 ( att : 30 )

The match of the round beforehand appeared to be Neman Grodno’s visit to FK Minsk, with third placed Neman hoping to give a stern test to second placed Minsk, similar to the narrow 0-2 defeat they suffered at leaders Dinamo BGU Minsk. However, Minsk were emphatic winners and demonstrated the gulf between the top 2 sides and the rest in the Belarus Premier League.

Pinchuk gave Minsk the lead in the 13^th minute and the home side increased their lead in the 20^th minute when Tatrin volleyed home Pobegailo’s cross. Unfortunately, Tatrin plays for Neman and it was a spectacular own goal ! 

 

Neman actually responded well to this set-back and looked the better side for the rest of the half. Dudko slipped a shot just wide of the post and Kachan forced Maleeva to make a decent stop. However, a clever chip by Sas over the advancing keeper on the stroke of half-time gave Minsk a 3-0 lead at the interval.

Surovtseva claimed a 10 minute hat-trick at the start of the second half, two of which were tap-ins, but the second was a lovely finish after cutting in from the left and shooting across goal into the corner of the net. Neman’s heads didn’t drop though and they matched Minsk for the rest of the game.

Vitebsk hosted Dnepr Mogilev in their indoor dome in front of the league’s second highest attendance of the season and the home crowd were no doubt happy to see their side take the lead in the 22^nd minute, Igrusha prodded home inside the 6 yard box after Dnepr keeper Svidunovich had dropped a corner.

Dnepr were back on level terms 10 minutes later when Artishevskaya’s left-footed free-kick went round the wall and into the corner of the net with Vitebsk keeper Kozlova slow to react, and they took the lead in the 40^th minute when Nizhegorodova’s 30 yard free-kick sailed over Kozlova and into the roof of the net.

A highly competitive game with plenty of robust challenges, with the referee surprisingly showing only 2 yellow cards, was finally settled 15 minutes from time when Artishevskaya’s shot hit the bar, bounced down and up against the bar again before finally crossing the line.

For Vitebsk it was another encouraging performance and they have come a long way since the thrashings they received in their first three matches, and Dnepr continue to look good for a top 5 or higher finish.

Gomel might have had some hopes of getting a good result against ABFF U19, but they fell behind after only 6 minutes when Yakusik was left completely free to turn home a cross from 12 yards. Wayward finishing prevented ABFF U19 from adding to their goal tally until the last 15 minutes, when they scored three times. Firstly, Yakusik was put clear to slide home past the advancing keeper, Nestyukovich pushed the ball past one side of a defender, ran around the other side before shooting home, and Fomchenko skipped past her marked to add a fourth. Frankly, the winning margin should have been much higher.

 

Zorka recorded a fairly comfortable 3-1 victory over Bobruichanka. It took 34 minutes for the opening goal to arrive but it was a fine goal by Diana Bakum, who nutmegged the defender and the calmly finished. Benkevich made it 2-0 in the 48^th minute with a curling lob  over a crowd of players from just outside the penalty area, and Mirashnichenko made it 3-0 in the 63^rd minute with a left footed shot drilled into top corner from just outside the area. Zorka also hit the wordwork three times, but Bobruichanka grabbed a consolation goal four minutes from time when the Zorka keeper dropped a long range free-kick and Emuobor Preshes was the first of three players Bobruichanka who could have put the ball over the goal line to do so. 

 

In the other match bottom side Dinamo Brest, played outdoors again at the ground used by BOTSOR last season, and were predictably thrashed 16-0 by leaders Dinamo BGU Minsk.