October 1,
2 & 3, 2021
With games
running out, it’s crunch time for Dinamo Minsk this weekend, as they host Shakhtyor,
and need a win to keep their faint title hopes alive. BATE will receive the
default win over Sputnik so may close the gap with Shakhtyor should the Miners
fail to win in Minsk.
Rukh face a
tough looking task in their bid for a top three finish at Neman, who have won
their last 5 home matches.
At the
bottom, Slavia will do well to get anything at Gomel, whilst Slutsk could extend
the distance between them and Slavia with a home win over Energetik.
Neman Grodno vs Rukh
Brest ( Friday @ 15.30 UK time )
A match between two
in-form sides. Rukh are unbeaten in 14 matches whereas Neman have won 6 out of
their last 8, It should be close. 1-1
Result : 0-1. An
important win for Rukh despite not playing particularly well. They took an
early lead when Kontsevoy was put clear in the 6th minute and shot through
keeper Dudar, after which Rukh never looked like scoring again.
Although Neman had
over 60% of the possession, they generally looked toothless and lacked the
guile to break down Rukh’s excellent defence. Yakimov did hit the post with a 20
yard shot, but apart from that, Rukh keeper Pavlyuchenko had one of his easiest
days of the season until the closing moments when he fumbled a shot from
Suchkov, and Shukurov shot across the face of the goal.
Dinamo Minsk vs
Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( Friday @ 17.30 UK time )
Dinamo are probably in
the last chance saloon when it comes to winning the title. However, Shakhtyor
appear to have arrested their wobbles under new coach Baga. 0-0
Result : 1-2.
Shakhtyor can start ordering the open top bus and all the bunting after a
victory that was more comprehensive than the final score-line suggests. Dinamo
did not seem up for the challenge and their title hopes ended in lame fashion
in front of their highest attendance of the season.
Darboe sprung the
offside trap to go clear on goal in the second minute for the sort of chance he
would have buried in the first half off the season, but Khatkevich was able to
save with his legs. Dinamo’s respite was only brief though as from the
resulting corner a flicked header at the near post by Begunov, outjumping
Bykov, nestled into the far corner to give Shakhtyor an early lead. Dinamo had
no-one on the back post, who would have cleared have they been in that
position.
Darboe cut through the
Dinamo defence on several occasions but had left his shooting boots at home.
Batsula and Lozhkin went close for Dinamo before Shakhtyor doubled their lead
in the 25th minute. Ivanovic ran at the defence, shot from 20 yards
and his effort went under Khatkevich, who should have done better.
Shakhtyor controlled
the game thereafter, with Dinamo restricted to a handful of long range
pot-shots, whereas Shakhtyor had chances to add a third. In added on time
Putilo missed a sitter for the home side, shooting over from around 6 years
before Davyskiba did claim a consolation goal with a smart volley from just
inside the edge of the penalty area with virtually the last kick of the match.
Dinamo Brest vs FK
Minsk ( Saturday @ 12.00 UK time )
Two sides who put an
end to their recent poor spells at the weekend. As Dinamo have scored only once
in their last 4 games, and Minsk three in their last 7 it is unlikely to be a
goal-fest. 1-0
Result : 2-2. A
surprisingly open and entertaining game in which both sides will feel they
should have won. Minsk took the lead in the 6th minute through Semen
Penchuk, who was making his first start of the season after playing a total of 10
minutes in three substitute appearances. He reacted the quickest to force home
at the second attempt after Stepanov could only parry a shot from Bogomolskiy.
Dinamo’s normally solid defence looked shaky and they offered very little going
forward and Minsk possibly should have been more than 1 up at the interval.
Dinamo introduced winger
Potorcha at the start of the second half and last season’s top scorer for
Sputnik when they won promotion immediately made a difference. In the 57th
minute he crossed for Shestyuk to head against the bottom of the post. However,
Bilenkyi collected rebound, took his time and fired home the equalizer.
Parity only lasted
three minutes though as Bogomolskiy was able to get a pass away to Penchuk to
shoot across goal into opposite corner for a nice finish and his second goal of
the game.
Dinamo dominated the
last half hour as they probed for another equalizer, with just an occasional
lively counter from Minsk. Potorcha twice went close before Dinamo were awarded
a penalty nine minutes from the end. Bilenkyi’s cross from the by-line struck
an arm of sliding defender and for a moment it looked like the referee wouldn’t
give the penalty, but after Bilenkyi’s furious reaction he pointed to the spot.
The Ukrainian calmly stroked the penalty home for his 10th goal of
the season
Bilenkyi came close to
getting his hat-trick two minutes later but his shot was deflected wide after
good run by Potorcha
FK Vitebsk vs FK
Isloch Minsk ( Saturday @ 14.00 UK time )
With 11 points from
their last 6 games Vitebsk look like claiming 6th spot in the
league. Isloch are in reasonable form but Vitebsk have lost only once at home.
1-0
Result : 0-4. A huge surprise
with the notoriously mean Vitebsk defence conceding four times after being
ripped apart by an impressive performance from Isloch. Dibango had already twice
gone close for the visitors before Stepanov was on hand at the back post to
prod home from a couple of inches to give Isloch the lead in the 11th
minute, after a header had hit the post and rolled along the goal-line.
Ksenofontov made a
couple of decent runs down the left for Vitebsk but there was no end product,
so it remained 0-1 at half-time. It took Isloch less than a minute to double
their lead, when Julio Cesar was caught in possession as Vitebsk tried to play
out from the back, and Kozyrenko was left with a simple finish.
Kozyrenko added his second
in the 64th minute with a stunning, swerving left-footed shot into
the top corner from around 25 yards and the Ukrainian had an assist for Isloch’s
fourth goal, rolling the ball into the path of the advancing Dibango to hammer
home left-footed from 10 yards.
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino
vs FK Smorgon ( Saturday @ 16.00 UK time )
Although Torpedo have
only won once in their last six games, the change of coach at Smorgon has been
disastrous and anything but a heavy defeat is unthinkable. 4-0
Result : 7-1. An embarrassingly
easy victory for Torpedo and it should have been by more. Smorgon’s defending
was non-existent as Torpedo tore through them at will. It looked grim at 7-0
with only 60 minutes played but Torpedo eased up in the last half hour. Aussi
and Gabovda both scored twice, the Antilevski brothers grabbed one each and
Samiev added the 7th as they all improved their goal scoring
statistics for the season.
Smorgon played well in
the first 4 minutes and Pasevich missed two good chances. However, after Aussi
opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a glancing header it was
virtually all one way traffic. Pasevich did hit the post in the second half, and
Frantsev’s late header was hardly a consolation.
Smorgon have conceded
17 goals in their last three matches. At least Sputnik are only “losing” 0-3
each week !
FK Gomel vs FK Slavia
Mozyr ( Saturday @ 18.00 UK time )
A match between two
sides in desperate need of points for different reasons. However, Gomel are
unbeaten at home and should be too strong for Slavia. 2-0
Result : 3-0.
Ultimately a comfortable win for Gomel but the score line was a little harsh on
Slavia. There were only occasional flashes of Gomel’s sparkling one touch passing
and off the ball running but enough to keep them in the mix for a top 3 finish.
Slavia started brightly
and after just 15 seconds Barsukov’s header forced a decent save from Kovalyov
and Narh thumped an effort against the bar 12 minutes later. Gomel were awarded
a soft penalty 10 minutes before half-time when Pobudey turned and appeared to
run into Bugulov, but Solovei’s penalty was too close to Baronovski who made the
save.
However, Gomel took
the lead 2 minutes before the break when a well worked move saw Borodin lay off
to Gomza to open the scoring. Gomel’s second came from a typically flowing move
with Borodin again getting the assist, feeding Pantya to score in the 58th
minute
Myshenko hit the bar
with three minutes remaining but Gomel wrapped the game in added on time when
Chikida unselfishly laid-off to give Solovei his 15th goal of the
season
FK Slutsk vs Energetik
BGU Minsk ( Sunday @ 12.30 UK time )
Despite their lowly position, Slutsk have a decent record at home, and being in need of the points should have more to play for than mid-table Energetik. 2-1
Result : 2-0. A vital win for Slutsk to extend the gap
between and Slavia to 4 points. Energetik played some neat football at times but
had only one shot on target, Ubaydullaev’s long range free-kick was tipped
round the post by keeper Branovets.
Slutsk took the lead in the 41st minutes after
a neat build-up and Kontsedailov’s lay off similar to Carlos Alberto’s goal in
the 1970 World Cup Final, although Butarevich’s finish was nowhere near as
powerful and Rusanov should have saved.
The decisive second goal arrived 4 minutes from the end.
Sasin outmuscled Sokol to head on Kontsedailov’s chipped ball forward, and then
lashed a volley from an acute angle past Rusanov. Again, the Energetik
custodian probably should have kept out Sasin’s effort.
Slutsk nearly added a third which would have given an
unflattering slant to the score but Vergeichik’s goalbound attempt was cleared
off the line by Strelkovskiy
Summary :
Neman Grodno 0-1 Rukh Brest ( att : 480 )
Dinamo Minsk 1-2 Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( att : 3,909 )
Dinamo Brest 2-2 FK Minsk ( att : 2,024 )
FK Vitebsk 0-4 FK Isloch Minsk ( att : 743 )
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino 7-1 FK Smorgon ( att : 490 )
FK Gomel 3-0 FK Slavia Mozyr ( att : 6,000 )
FK Slutsk 2-0 Energetik BGU Minsk ( att : 452 )
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G_5oKHeszk
Comments
Shakhtyor’s relatively untroubled victory over
Dinamo Minsk virtually wraps up the 2021 championship, leaving them requiring
only 11 points from their last seven matches. More than ever, it is their title
to lose.
Wins for Rukh and Gomel kept up their challenges
for a top three finish and with several matches between the top 5 still to be
played, there is likely to be more twist and turns in the battle for a European
place.
Despite their 0-4 home loss, Vitebsk remained in 6th
place although only 7 points separates them from Neman in 12th
place.
At the bottom, games are running out fast for
Slavia, and they have to play BATE and Dinamo Minsk in their last 6 fixtures. In
addition, Slutsk still have the virtual three point gimme of a home match
against Smorgon
In the 7 matches, there were 25 goals, one red card and two penalties.
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