August 27, 28 & 29, 2021
The season moves on to week 21, and all neutral supporters will be hoping Rukh can become the first team to beat Shakhtyor in the league, and so keep interest in the title race for at least a little bit longer.
The other sides in the top 5, BATE, Gomel and Dinamo Minsk, all look to have winnable fixtures so should close the gap should Rukh do them a favour.
At the bottom, there is potentially a pivotal match in the battle to avoid the relegation play-off, where Slutsk could ease their worries by beating Slavia and establishing a 7 point margin between the two sides. A loss though would leave Slutsk just one point ahead of Slavia. Smorgon will be awarded a 3-0 win over defunct Sputnik, and would be just one point behind Slavia if they lose in Slutsk.
Rukh Brest vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( Friday at 16.30 UK time )
If Shakhtyor win this then the title might as well be given to them there and then. Shakhtyor thrashed Rukh 4-1 early in the season. However, 3rd placed Rukh are unbeaten at home, with 8 wins and 2 draws from 10 matches. 1-1
Result : 1-0. Rukh deservedly inflicted Shakhtyor’s first defeat of the season and they should have won by a lot more. Shakhtyor were poor and could have received a pasting similar to the one given to Rukh in Soligorsk but for a string of misses by the home side, and some fine saves by Shakhtyor keeper Chernik.
It was goal-less at the break, with the best chance falling to Laptev, but on the stretch he volleyed over from just over 6 yards. He made amends with the only goal of the game in the 58th minute, a flicked header of the top of his head after Begunov had slipped and keeper Chernik was too far away to have any hope of getting a punch to the ball before Laptev could make contact.
Laptev, Kontsevoy ( twice ), Yuzepchuk, and Pechenin all missed great chances for Rukh in the second half, and Noyok caused his traditional damage to the advertising hoardings with a wayward blast. The Shakhtyor defence, and Begunov in particular, looked all at sea.
Skavysh came close to getting an underserved equaliser for Shakhtyor in the 95th minute but Pavlyuchenko managed to get a hand to the loose ball and the ball rebounded off Skavysh for a goal kick.
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino vs FK Gomel ( Saturday at 14.30 UK time )
Torpedo have lost three out of their last 4 matches, and have lost more at home than they have won. Gomel’s flair should be enough to see them to victory. 1-2
Result : 0-1. A functional victory for Gomel, who looked like the only side trying to win the match. It was goal-less at the interval although Gomel had gone close on several occasions. Nekrasov swept a shot against a post from close to the penalty spot, Vaskov shot horribly wide after jinking past his marker, Batyschev’s long range effort was tipped over by Bushma and Vaskov headed Solovei’s bouncing volley over the bar.
Gomel’s winner came from the penalty spot on the hour mark, which from a Torpedo point of view was an incredibly soft one to conceded. There was no need for Yashin to attempt to pull Solovei’s arm, and although there was slight contact, the Gomel forward crashed to the floor and the referee pointed to the spot. Solovei sent Bushma the wrong way with his kick.
Neither side looked like scoring once Gomel were in the lead
Dinamo Minsk vs FK Minsk ( Saturday at 16.30 UK time )
Dinamo beat FK 3-1 in the first Minsk derby and should comfortably triumph again over a side that has lost three in a row without scoring. 3-0
Result : 2-0. A game decided by two penalties within three minutes of each other just after the hour mark, but overall, it was a fair result in a mundane game.
Firstly, Kasarab’s attempt to clear only resulted in him kicking Bakhar’s ankle, and Bykov converted the penalty. Then Davyskba was too quick for Lutskiy, who ended up tripping the Dinamo forward, and this time Bakhar stepped forward to make it 2-0. Poe almost added a third but after a shimmering run his shot struck the bar,
Until then it had been typical of FK Minsk’s recent performanaces, organised, looking pretty secure at the back, but hardly any threat going forward. Dinamo had a couple of chances in the first half. Klimovich headed wide early on and Lozhkin had a shot bravely blocked on the line by Kasarab, but it had been a sterile affair.
BATE Borisov vs FK Isloch Minsk ( Saturday at 18.30 UK time )
BATE cling on to a faint hope of the title should Shakhtyor implode. They won the return fixture 4-1, and also beat Isloch in the Cup Final. Isloch have been in moderate form since the biggest match in their history. 3-1
Result : 2-2. BATE’s defensive frailties again meant they failed to capitalise on Shakhtyor’s slip up by dropping points in a game of four penalties. Isloch lead 2-0 at half time thanks to two penalties from Ghanaian striker Daniel Sosah, both arising from blunders from BATE keeper Chichkan.
In the 22nd minute Patotskiy delivered a delicious curling cross into the BATE area but as Sosah went to control on his chest he was needlessly flattened by Chichkan. The BATE custodian compounded this error 15 minutes later when his attempted pass out from the back went straight to Kozyrenko, and then he dived at the Ukranian’s feet and brought him down for another penalty. Sosah’s finish second time around was even more emphatic.
Filipovic nearly pulled one back for BATE before the break but his looping header hit the top of the bar.
Unsurprisingly BATE put Energetik under tremendous pressure in the second half. Nekhaychik sent a free-kick against the outside of a post before BATE inevitably scored in the 52nd minute. Umarov’s deft chip enabled the admirable Nekhaychik to arrive at the far post and strongly head home.
Isloch resisted stoutly until 10 minutes from the end when a poor challenge from Myaksh brought down Yablonski for a penalty. Unfortunately for BATE, Nekhaychik spoilt his copy-book when Pankratov pushed his effort onto a post but Umarov managed to get to the rebound first only to be fouled by Kozyrenko. This time Yusov took the penalty, and levelled the scores. Isloch though held on for an unexpected but probably deserved point.
FK Slutsk vs FK Slavia Mozyr ( Sunday at 14.00 UK time )
A huge game for both sides as they strive to avoid the relegation play-off place. Both sides suffered disappoint loses last time out. This could go either way. 1-1
Result : 2-1. A huge result for Slutsk to open up a seven point margin over their rivals for the relegation play-off slot. The result though was a little harsh on Slavia who probably deserved a point, and were the better side in the first half. Narh forced a fantastic diving save from Gomelko and Esin saw a header cleared off the line.
Whatever was said in the Slutsk dressing room at half-time certainly did the trick as they quickly won a penalty for an imaginary foul by Bugulev on Potapenko, which Sasin despatched, and Butarevich then sent a stunning 20 yards effort into the top corner.
Slavia quickly pulled one back when Esin reacted the quickest to head home after Gomelko could only parry a free-kick from Dros. However, Slutsk held on for a crucial three points.
FK Vitebsk vs Dinamo Brest ( Sunday at 16.00 UK time )
Dinamo are a different side away from their raucous fans, but have lost only twice on the road. Vitebsk have 6 draws from 10 home matches, with just one loss. Their 8th league 0-0 draw looks possible ! 0-0
Result : 3-1. With the score being 0-0 at half-time the cynics might have concluded it was a typical Vitebsk performance. However, they had been much more the inventive side and were unfortunate not to be going into the interval with the lead. However, the situation completely changed with three goals in 13 minutes after the break as Krasnov shot home with the aid of a deflection of Affi, after which Teverov tapped in at the far post from a cross by Krasnov, and then Teverov cut inside Shapoval to make it 3-0
Sanusi pulled a goal back for Dinamo after being left unmarked at the back post but Dinamo’s hopes of making a comeback were de-railing by a ridiculous second yellow card to Affi to reduce them to ten men, which probably summed up the standard of refereeing this weekend.
Neman Grodno vs Energetik BGU Minsk ( Sunday at 18.00 UK time )
Neman have won 4 consecutive games, conceding just once and also recently hammered Energetik 4-0 in the Cup during that run. Hard to see any other result than a home win. 3-0
Result : 3-0. A fifth win in a row for Neman who now seem to back to their 2020 best. They took the lead in the 8th minute when Yakimov’s shot took a fortunate deflection off Svirepa and past keeper Makavchik, who probably would have saved.
Neman added two more in the five minutes before the interval. Despite being surrounded by Energetik defenders, Legchilin was free to head home a cross as the Energetik defenders ball watched, then Legchilin followed through on a headed flick on from Zubovich to force the ball over the line from close range.
Energetik were better in the second half, where neither side really looked like adding to the scoreline.
Summary :