Belarus Football 2021 – Week 27

October 22, 23 & 24, 2021

Just four more rounds of fixtures to be played in the season, and with Shakhtyor likely to move even closer to claiming the title, the most interesting fixtures this week involve sides at the bottom. Slutsk could virtually ensure survival for another year with a home win over Smorgon, whilst FK Minsk and Slavia meet in a proverbial “six-pointer”. A victory for Slavia would potential drag three or four sides into the relegation play-off mire, including Minsk, whereas defeat would leave them odds-on to be in the play-off.

Elsewhere, BATE have a tough task at Neman if they are to remain in second place with Dinamo Minsk being this week’s recipient of the walk-over win over Sputnik.

Neman Grodno vs BATE Borisov ( Friday @ 18.00 UK time )

Neman had won 4 consecutive home matches without conceding a goal until a 0-1 defeat to Rukh last time out. BATE have only one win in their last 5 away, and are now struggling to even finish second. 1-1.

Result : 0-2. An important and deserved victory for BATE, who showed a lot more defensive resilience than in recent weeks. The best chance of an even first half went to Neman, but Zubovich missed horribly after Jimoh’s cross fell kindly for him.

BATE took the lead in the 60^th minute when Yusov rose above Jimoh to head Bessmertny’s cross into bottom corner, and Bessmertny should have doubled their lead 5 minutes later but he blazed his effort over the bar from close to the penalty spot.

Neman thought they had equalized in the 69^th minute when Saroka headed Jimoh’s cross past Chichkan but the striker looked on in disbelief when Jakov Filipovic somehow managed to head off the line. Neman wasted another good chance 5 minutes later when Varaksa fired over after weak block by Chichkan.

BATE were relatively untroubled after those misses, and clinched the three points three minutes from full-time when Yablonski stabbed home on the goal-line after a corner had been flicked on at the near post.

FK Slutsk vs FK Smorgon ( Saturday @ 11.00 UK time )

A big chance for Slutsk to move to safety, especially with 3 points still to come from their match against Sputnik. However, if Smorgon repeat their form from the win against Vitebsk it won’t be a forgone conclusion. 2-1

Result : 2-1. A far from impressive performance from Slutsk but a vital win. Smorgon will feel hard done by to have not taken at least a point from this game.

After an even start to the match, Slutsk took the lead in the 26^th minute from the penalty spot. Intsoen’s high challenge made contact with Sasin’s chest and Slutsk’s Russian striker went down as if shot by a sniper in the stands. Sasin recovered sufficiently to make no mistake from the spot.

Balanovich came close to doubling Slutsk’s lead before half-time, and Alfred forced two saves from Scherbachenya after the interval, before Smorgon drew level in slightly fortunate circumstances in the 65^th minute. Pasevich’s cross was met by Savostyanov but his header was in totally the wrong direction. Fortunately for Smorgon it hit the unfortunate Zhevnerov and looped gently into the opposite bottom corner before Branovets could get to it.

If there was any feeling that the Slutsk keeper had been slow to react, Branovets redeemed himself in the 78^th minute. Pasevich easily skinned the Slutsk right back and delivered a fine cross to the back post for Frantsev to head towards the goal from around 4 yards. However, Branovets’ outstretched leg blocked the effort at the expense of a corner but quite frankly though, Frantsev should have buried the chance.

The miss proved to be costly as Slutsk won the match with a goal three minutes later. Gvazava got to the by-line and pulled back into the Smorgon area where the unmarked Kontsedailov swept home from close to the penalty spot.

With a minute to go Smorgon’s Camara was put clear but with a 3 on 1 but his attempt to pass to Zadi was intercepted by Bylinkin and a glorious chance was wasted. 

FK Vitebsk vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( Saturday @ 13.00 UK time )

With Vitebsk seemingly already mentally in the Belarus equivalent of their summer holidays ( winter dachas perhaps ? ), and Shakhtyor back on top form its hard to see anything other than an away win. 0-3

Result : 1-2. Shakhtyor edged even closer to reclaiming their title in a match in which they did just enough to deserve the win.

Shakhtyor took a fortunate early lead when Satara’s shot from just outside of the area deflected off two defenders to give keeper Gushchenko no chance. Vitebsk hit back immediately with Teverov’s clever steer from Ermakovic low cross bringing them level after 17 minutes. However, Shakhtyor were back in the lead in the 25^th minute when Igor Ivanovic ran at the defence, took a return pass from Ahmedi and calmly stroked the ball into the net.

Neither side came close to scoring again after such a lively start until Shakhtyor’s task was made easier with a second yellow card to Cesar for a clumsy trip on Skavysh with ten minutes remaining.  Djordje Ivanovic hit the post in the closing stages and Stasevich forced a good save from Gushchenko, but Shakhtyor were unable to extend their lead

FK Gomel vs Energetik BGU Minsk ( Saturday @ 15.00 UK time )

Energetik have won only once in their last 8 matches so should not be any match for an enterprising Gomel side who are still unbeaten at home. 2-0

Result : 4-0. A straight-forward victory for Gomel who remained unbeaten at home, having now scored 31 goals in the process.

Abdukhalikov actually hit the bar in the first 10 minutes for Energetik but a real comedy own goal put Gomel into the lead in the 14^th minute. As Myshenko bore down on goal for Gomel, Rylach’s sliding tackle succeeded in not only taking the ball away from the Gomel player, but also past Energetik keeper Makavchik and towards the goal. Miroshnikov managed to get back to cover but unfortunately for him, his attempted clearance hit the post and went over the line before Makavchik could clear. The own goal was credited to Miroshnikov.

Gomel then bombarded the Energetik goal with their dynamic football but the visitors looked like being able to hold onto just a one goal deficit at the break until centre-back Sokol slipped when a pass was played in his direction, and Solovei swooped to run forward and calmly put the ball past the Energetik keeper. It was 2-0 at half-time with Energetik having shot themselves in the foot for both goals.

Once Myshenko prodded home a third from around 14 yards in the 51^st minute, it became a question of how many, although Gomel had to wait until the 87^th minute before Gomza added the fourth.

For Energetik, Strelkovsky hit the top of the bar with a close range header.

Dinamo Brest vs FK Isloch Minsk ( Saturday @ 17.00 UK time )

With 11 points from their last 6 games, Isloch are making a strong bid for the 6^th place finish that looked to belong to Dinamo at the end of July. However, one win in their last nine has put that in jeopardy and with three goalless draws in their last 5 they are turning into the new Vitebsk. 0-0

Result : 1-0. An important win for Dinamo in a game of relatively few chances.

Isloch dominated the early stages of the first half and Kovalev, Sanoh and Gorbachik all missed good chances to give Isloch the lead, but Dinamo managed to get to half time on parity. The home side took the lead in the 52th minute when Isloch keeper Vasilyuchuk made an horrendous hash of attempting to collect Bilenkyi’s harmless free-kick and Oreshkevich headed the rebound into an unguarded net. It was probably their only shot on target, and once Dinamo had the lead, Isloch never really looked like equalizing.

FK Minsk vs FK Slavia Mozyr ( Sunday @ 11.30 UK time )

A big game at the bottom and a chance for Slavia to drag Minsk into danger if they can repeat their form from their win over BATE. Minsk have stopped the rot though and are now unbeaten in three. 1-1

Result : 0-6. An astonishing result which makes Slavia increasingly likely to avoid the relegation play-offs, and puts Minsk in real jeopardy.

Minsk started brightly and they thought they had taken the lead in the 10^th minute, but Lopes’ header was ruled out for offside. Shortly after Schramchenko forced Baronovski into a decent diving save and Kasarab headed against the bar, but that was about as good as it got for the home side. Once Slavia took the lead in the 26^th minute, when Zherdev ran onto a ball over the top from Narh to finish past the exposed Prishivalko, the result never really looked in doubt. Another ball over the square Minsk back four put Kurbanov in space and he easily lifted the ball over the advancing Minsk keeper to give Slavia a two goal lead at the break.

The game was effectively finished as a contest when Minsk threw every outfield  player forward for a corner in the 48^th minute, and when it was headed clear, Zherdev had a free run the length of the pitch to make it 0-3 with every Minsk player close to the Slavia penalty area. Shortly after, Vlad Malkevich shot into the top corner from 20 yards to make it 0-4.

More shocking defending by Minsk saw Kurbanov add his second with 8 minutes remaining after Raevskiy had flicked on a corner, and it got even worse for Minsk when Prishivalko could only fumble Barsukov’s free-kick against a post and over the line.

Torpedo BelAz Minsk vs Rukh Brest ( Sunday @ 13.30 UK time )

Torpedo have lost 5 out of their last 8 matches, and Rukh will be smarting from losing their long unbeaten record in controversial circumstance against Dinamo Minsk. 0-1

Result : 3-3. Another six-goal thriller but this time with honours even. Rukh led 2-0 at the break and 3-1 after 52 minutes, but Torpedo fought back for a point that could prove vital for them to stay in the division for next season.

For once, a Noyok shot didn’t find row Z or the corner flag, but it needed a deflection to divert it away from keeper Bushma and into the corner for the opening goal to Rukh. Savitskiy bravely slid in to propel Pechenin’s low cross over the line to extend Rukh’s lead just before half-time but took a nasty blow for his troubles.

There were four goals in first 15 minutes of the second half. One minute in, Torpedo’s Premudrov sent an impressive 20 yarder into the top corner but Tweh restored Rukh’s two goal advantage, heading home from close range after Bushma had parried Bakaj’s free-kick and Kontsevoy turned the rebound across the face of the goal. Yashin was then left unmarked at the back post from corner to reduce the deficit with a header from about three yards.

Nikolaevich volleyed Torpedo level from close to the penalty spot after Pavlyuchenko could only punch a shot out to him.

Both sides missed a stack of chances and it could easily have finished 6-6 !

Summary :

Neman Grodno 0-2 BATE Borisov ( att : 620 )
FK Slutsk 2-1 FK Smorgon ( att : 312 )
FK Vitebsk 1-2 Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( att : 511 )
FK Gomel 4-0 Energetik BGU Minsk ( att : 3,500 )
Dinamo Brest 1-0 FK Isloch Minsk ( att : 1,268 ) 
FK Minsk 0-6 FK Slavia Mozyr ( att : 173 )
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino 3-3 Rukh Brest ( att : 530 )

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknnnj0NIWk

Comments

After their win at Vitebsk, Shakhtyor now need just three points from their last 5 matches to retain their title, and they could wrap up their triumph with a victory at Gomel on Wednesday night. BATE recorded an important win at Neman to stay in second place ahead of Dinamo Minsk who added three points from the forfeited game against defunct Sputnik.

Gomel pulled level with Rukh in joint fourth place but stayed 5 points behind Dinamo Minsk, albeit with a game in hand. They may well have beat Shakhtyor twice in their remaining games if they are to claim a place in the top three. By dropping points at Torpedo, Rukh are virtually out of the running for a top three finish.

Dinamo Brest’s win over Isloch put them back in pole position for 6^th place but Vitebsk and Isloch could still take that position by winning their last three matches, and Vitebsk still have three points to come from the Sputnik default.

At the bottom, Smorgon are now officially relegated, but Slavia’s renaissance continued with their remarkable 6-0 win at FK Minsk, which means that everyone from ninth placed Neman downwards remain in danger of the relegation play-off. Slavia play their game in hand at Torpedo next Saturday, and a victory would see them leap-frog Slutsk, FK Minsk, Energetik and Torpedo into 10^th !

In the 25 matches, there were 16 goals, one red card and one penalty.