August 13, 14 & 15, 2021
The Belarus Premier League resumes after a week’s break for the last 16 round of the Belarus Cup, which produced some notable performances.
Pride of place goes to Gomel, who caused the upset of the round with a 2-1 win in extra time at Shakhtyor, after being reduced to 10 men. The Brest derby was again a cracking match, but this time Dinamo were deserved 2-0 winners over Rukh, in front of 5,631 spectators.
BATE needed a 94th minute goal to eliminate Slavia in Mozyr, whilst there were two 4-0 away wins. Dinamo Minsk obtained immediate revenge after being held a week earlier by Slutsk, and Neman emphasised their turn-around in form and luck by thrashing Energetik, watched by a crowd of just 50 in Borisov.
The two Pershaya Liga sides in action both held Premier League sides after 120 minutes, but succumbed in penalty shoot-outs after 0-0 draws away from home. Lokomotiv Gomel lost out to Torpedo, whilst Arsenal went out to Vitebsk, who at least showed they can score from the penalty spot, if not from open play ! There is still one lower league side left in the competition though, Dnepr Mogilev received a walk-over after Sputnik folded.
The Cup competition resumes next March !
Rukh Brest vs FK Isloch Minsk ( Friday at 17.00 UK time )
With the departure of coach Kirill Alshevsky for “non-footballing” reasons, and their cup-exit in the Brest derby, Rukh will be looking to respond with a win to keep up their hopes of a top 3 finish. Isloch have won just once in their last 11 league matches, and that was against Smorgon. 2-1
Result : 7-1. Alshevskiy may have been sacked for “non-footballing” reasons, but it may not necessarily have been a bad thing as Rukh appeared to be released from their previously imposed defensive shackles. However, it was difficult to tell how well Rukh played as whilst Isloch looked quite decent going forward, they looked abysmal at the back.
Rukh established a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes of total pressure, Kiki heading home after 12 minutes and Rakhmanov added a second helped by a deflection. Isloch played some nice possession football without really threatening to get back into the game. Laptev added a third in the 30th minute after Isloch keeper Pankratov fumbled a free-kick from Noyak, perhaps surprised it wasn’t heading for row Z
Matters got worse for Isloch when Dibango deflected a cross from Kiki into his own net three minutes after the break, Kontesevoy added a fifth on a counter before Greichiko volley home in the 60th minute to make it 6-0.
Isloch had some temporary respite when they were awarded a penalty after 70 minutes, which Morozov converted, but William restored Rukh’s 6 goal advantage 10 minutes from time with an unopposed header at the back post.
FK Vitebsk vs FK Slavia Mozyr ( Saturday at 13.30 UK time )
The new look Slavia are unbeaten in two league games, and look to have shored up their leaky defence. Vitebsk will fancy their chances of another scoreless game. 0-0
Result : 2-2. Four goals in a game involving Vitebsk ! Narh gave Slavia a half-time with a snap-shot from 20 yards that beat Vitebsk keeper Soroko at his near post. Wanderson thumped a left footed shot into the roof of the net to equalise for Vitebsk, and Teverov rose through a crowd of players to head Vitebsk into the lead with 25 minutes left. Zhuk scored a deserved equaliser for Slavia, after running past some statuesque defending to shoot past Soroko. Vitebsk clocked up their 9th draw of the season.
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino vs FK Slutsk ( Saturday at 15.30 UK time )
Torpedo haven’t been in great form but were “less worse” in beating Vitebsk last time out. Slutsk battled hard for their point against Dinamo Minsk. 1-1
Result 0-1 : An important win for Slutsk in their efforts to move away from the relegation play-off zone, with the deciding goal coming in the 60th minute. Butarevich was put in space by a great diagonal pass by Kontsedailov, and ran into the area to shoot through Torpedo keeper Bushma, who will probably feel he could have done a lot better to prevent the goal. Bushma though, had made a good save to prevent Sasin from opening the scoring when clean through in the first half.
Torpedo responded to going behind by bringing on the returning Veleso, who made ai immediate impact with an incisive pass that saw Antilevski brought down for a penalty. Unfortunately for Torpedo, Antilevski sent the spot-kick high over the bar. Despite Veleso’s promptings, Slutsk held out for the three points.
Dinamo Minsk vs Dinamo Brest ( Saturday at 17.30 UK time )
Potentially the tie of the weekend. Dinamo Brest’s good run ended with a surprise loss at home to Neman but bounced back with victory over Rukh in the Cup. Dinamo Minsk’s run of victories ended with a draw at Slutsk. 2-1
Result : 2-0. A win for Dinamo Minsk despite the absence of Selyava and Putsilo through suspension and Mbengue for reasons unknown. Batsula has often being their most creative player this season and Minsk took the lead from his in-swinging left-footed free-kick, which Klimovich steered into the far corner. Sedko had a great chance to equalise for Dinamo Brest, but guided his left-footed effort the wrong side of the post.
5 minutes from time, Brest were reduced to 10 men when Naumov went to the floor near the half-way line, and despite there being no contact. Bilenkyi was shown a second yellow card for the “foul”.
Minsk clinched the victory two minutes from time with a break-away goal after Brest keeper Stepanov had gone up for a corner, and from the clearance, Lozhkin played in Bakhar to run clear and put the ball into the empty net.
FK Smorgon vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( Sunday at 13.30 UK time )
Despite their dodgy recent displays, it is unthinkable that Shakhtyor would fail to beat doomed Smorgon. 0-3
Result : 2-2. Well, the unthinkable nearly happened……To paraphrase another writer, there is something rotten in the state of Soligorsk.
Two goals in a 2 minute spell gave Smorgon a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, thanks to a softly awarded penalty converted by Leonovich, and then a smart finish by Pasevich to put a bouncing cross into the roof of the net. Shakhtyor were so bad they presumably thought they were playing a European match. However, Darboe gave Shakhtyor some hope on the stroke of half-time with a clever back-heel to make it 2-1 at the break.
The second half was almost a game of attack versus defence, and although Pejic prodded home to level the scores with 12 minutes left, Smorgon put their bodies on the line to hold onto a deserved point.
Smorgon showed they still have some life left in them, but yet again failed to hold onto a half-time home lead. They probably wouldn’t be bottom of a half-time league table.
Shakhtyor remain unbeaten, but their recent performances have given hope to their challengers that the title race is far from over.
BATE Borisov vs FK Minsk ( Sunday at 16.30 UK time )
BATE have been unconvincing recently but apart from their disaster in Europe against Dinamo Batumi, they have been getting the results. They should get past mid-table Minsk. 1-0
Result : 1-0. BATE ground out another home win. To be fair they did start like the proverbial train and could have scored four times in the opening 20 minutes. Bessmertny struck a post and 30 seconds later forced a fine diving save from Prishivalko, Signevich saw a goalbound shot blocked by a defender, Yablonski headed straight to the keeper, and a number of long-range efforts rained in on the Minsk goal. However, the visitors survived the bombardment and gradually got into the game, and reached the interval still on level terms.
BATE finally made the breakthrough in the 67th minute. Umarov was clumsily brought down by Kontsevoj, and although Signevich saw his penalty blocked by the legs of Prishivalko, he was alert enough to react and head home the rebound. Umarov then thumped a shot against a post with Signevich unable to deflect the rebound into the gaping net, afterwhich neither side looked like adding to the score.
Neman Grodno vs FK Gomel ( Sunday at 18.30 UK time )
Resurgent Neman, with two league wins and a thumping cup win, will be a good test for Gomel, despite the visitor’s win at Shakhtyor in the cup. 1-1
Result : 1-0. Neman’s luck has certainly changed and proved the old adage that it evens out over a season. If they had period titles in Belarus then Neman could be in line for one after three consecutive wins.
Yakimov’s swerving 30+ yard free-kick decided this encounter, with Gomel keeper Ivanenko unable to change direction fast enough. Ivanenko made partial amends though, making a point blank save from Gribovskiy to keep the score to 1-0 at half-time.
Gomel dominated possession in the second half and twice hit the post, but the newly erected “Wall of Grodno” stood firm and rode its luck to keep a clean sheet and earn three valuable points in Neman’s move away from the bottom of the table.
Summary :