November 5, 6 & 7, 2021
With just
three weeks remaining in the Belarus Premier League season there are a number
of key matches this weekend in spite of the destination of the title and the
automatic relegation places being known.
BATE and
Dinamo Minsk meet in a match between 2nd and 3rd, with a
defeat for Dinamo potentially opening the door for Rukh or Gomel to still sneak
into third place.
At the
bottom, a win for Slavia over Neman would not only take them above Neman and
out of the relegation play-off slot, but probably also above Slutsk, who can’t
expect to get anything from a visit to Soligorsk, as well as the loser of FK Minsk
and Energetik should their encounter not end in a draw.
Smorgon
against Dinamo Brest is the only fixture with little riding on it.
Rukh Brest vs FK
Vitebsk ( Friday @ 15.00 UK time )
Rukh’s hopes of a top
three finish are now faint but a visit by a Vitebsk side who have lost their
last three is possibly the ideal fixture. 2-0
Result : 2-0. An efficient
performance from Rukh to clock-up the three points. Vitebsk started brightly and should have taken
the lead in the 14th minute, but Glinskiy slashed dreadfully wide when
clear on goal.
That miss proved
costly as 4 minutes later Rukh took the lead. Noyok’s downward header from a
corner was only pushed up into the air by Gushchenko, and Shevchenko rose the
highest to head home the rebound from close range.
Thereafter, Vitebsk
never really looked like being capable of creating an equalizer, with their
best chance falling to Krasnov in the 55th minute, but he slid wide
after a good build-up.
Rukh wrapped up the
victory in added on time when Pechenin broke after a Vitebsk corner, and intelligent
movement from Sadovskiy enabled him to escape his marker to receive the pass
and tap into open goal.
Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs
FK Slutsk ( Saturday @ 14.00 UK time )
Slutsk’s plight is not
yet desperate, as they still have the default three points from Sputnik to add
to their tally, so can play with freedom against the champions. They are likely
to get tonked though. 4-0
Result : 1-1. An unexpected point for Slutsk to ruin
Shakhtyor championship home-coming party. As a result, Slutsk should now just
about be safe from the relegation play-offs.
Shakhtyor took the lead
on the stroke of half-time when Skavysh was given time to turn and shoot into
the roof of the net from inside the 6 yard area. They should have put the game
beyond Slutsk’s reach five minutes from time but Kolobaric’s close range header
from Stasevich’s cross hit the post and Podstrelov headed the rebound over.
In a dramatic finale, in
the second minute of added on time, Vergeichik rose the highest to get his head
to Bocherov’s in-swinging free-kick to give Chernik no chance, leading to wild
celebrations from the Slutsk players and their coaching staff.
BATE Borisov vs Dinamo
Minsk ( Saturday @ 12.00 UK time )
A key match in the
battle for automatic qualification for European football. BATE haven’t been
playing well but have usually been able to grind out results. Dinamo have won 5
out of 6 and ended their jinx against top 5 sides with their controversial win
at Rukh. 1-1
Result : 1-1. Dinamo
will be kicking themselves for letting slip the opportunity to leap-frog BATE
and move into second place in the table. In a match of very few clear-cut
chances, it looked as if Klimovich’s 67th minute clinical finish from
just inside the penalty area would be enough to give Dinamo the three points.
Although Yusov and
Signevich missed half-chances for BATE, Dinamo seemed to holding on with relative ease.
However, they were unable to defend against some basic route one football, where the ball was headed three times before
falling to Aleksandr Filipovic to smash home the equalizer through the legs of
keeper Khatkevich in the an 89th minute.
It could have been even
worse for Dinamo, but Yusov missed badly in added on time from about 8 yards
out when left completely unmarked.
Energetik BGU Minsk vs
FK Minsk ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )
A huge game that
neither side can afford to lose. Neither side are playing well, it could be scrappy,
and could be the lowest crowd of the season. A must watch ! 1-0
Result : 1-1. Time
will tell if this was a vital point each or a wasted opportunity. It was a poor
game. Scrappy, low on quality, poor first touches, mis-placed passes, needless
fouls, many wrong options taken, some dodgy goal-keeping, some dreadful
free-kicks by Ubaydullaev, and even foul throws. There were very few chances,
but it was compelling viewing !
Minsk took the lead in
the 6th minute. Shramchenko set-up Penchuk for a shot. Energetik
keeper Makavchik looked to be partially unsighted and reacted late but he was
able to get a hand to the effort and push it away. However, Bogomolskiy reacted
the quickest to tap in from 4 yards.
Energetik dominated
possession after this set-back but were unable to created many clear cut
chances. Ubaydullaev had a shot and Girs a header beaten away by Prishivalko, and
an Ubaydullaev free-kick was punched over bar by flying Minsk keeper.
Six minutes before half-time
a mis-hit free-kick reached Abdukhalikov towards the near post but he could
only flick weakly high and wide.
Energetik equalized in
the 50th minute. A determined run along the by-line by Papariga took
him past two defenders, and his mis-hit cross was stabbed in at near post by substitute
Bulychev.
Minsk should have
regained their lead 6 minutes later but after good play by Penchuk, Shramchenko
somehow put the ball over the bar from 4 yards with the goal at his mercy.
Energetik continued to
dominate possession but rarely created any danger. A chance to win the match occurred
in the 90th minute when a good run and pass from Mamadu put Ubaydullaev
in space. However, he dithered but eventually got a shot away only to see it
pushed away for a corner.
FK Isloch Minsk vs FK
Gomel ( Sunday @ 10.00 UK time )
Gomel need a win to
maintain their pursuit of European football next season but Isloch will be a
tough nut to crack and are themselves chasing a 6th place finish.
1-1
Result : 1-2. A hard
fought win for Gomel in an entertaining game but Isloch will feel aggrieved they
didn’t take at least a point.
Isloch took the lead in
the 41st minute after a devastating length of the pitch counter
attack, with first time passes from Dibango, Sosah, Patotskiy and Lisakovich putting
Gorbachik clear on goal. With Gomel keeper Kovalyov advancing to meet him,
Gorbachik unselfishly rolled the ball across to Sosah to tap into the empty
net. Isloch could easily have doubled their lead at the end of the half, but
Kovalyuk made a good block to keep out Komarovskiy’s shot on the turn.
Gomel started the
second half strongly, and after several near misses, Levitskiy got to a corner
before Isloch keeper Pankratov to head the equalizer. It was from another
corner that Gomel took the lead in the 70th minute, this time Pobudey
evaded his markers to stick out a leg and steer home from inside the 6 yard
area. In between Gorbachik had missed a golden opportunity to restore Isloch’s
lead and Sanoh had struck the post with a curling shot from outside the area
that Kovalyov could only stand and watch
Isloch pressed hard
for an equalizer in the closing stages. Kovalev should have buried a header
from an inviting cross from Dibango, and in added on time another great cross
from Dibango found Sosah at the back post, but his first time snap-shot was
blocked close to the line by the legs of Yudenkov.
FK Smorgon vs Dinamo
Brest ( Sunday @ 12.00 UK time )
Neither side have much
to play for. Dinamo have drawn their last two away games 0-0 but ended their
goal drought in beating Isloch 1-0 at home. 0-1
Result : 1-1. A 14th
draw of the season for Dinamo but they were lucky to take a point from this
game. Dinamo got off to a promising start by opening the scoring in the 16th
minute. Olekhnovich’s shot across the face of the goal was met at the back post
by Bilenkyi for a side-footed finish.
Smorgon drew level in
the 49th minute, Pasevich’s cross from the right was met by Savostyanov
who easily headed home from 6 yards with Stepanov rooted to his line. Spurred on
by this Smorgon dominated the rest of the match and Stepanov was forced to make
decent saves from Camara, Pasevich and Leonovich and with just under 10 minutes
to go Pasevich hit a post. However, Smorgon were unable to force a winner and
Dinamo hung on for the draw.
FK Slavia Mozyr vs Neman
Grodno ( Sunday @ 14.00 UK time )
A crucial game for
Slavia where a win would propel them above Neman and out of the relegation
place-off place. Slavia had been in decent form until their loss at Torpedo but
Neman have lost their lost three. It could go either way. 1-0
Result : 1-1. Slavia will have mixed feeling over this
result, getting what could be a crucial a point after having trailed for most
of the match, but will probably feel the three points were there for the
taking.
Neman took the lead from the penalty spot in the 12th
minute after a handball. The ball did strike Begunov’s elbow but from very
close range and there wasn’t much the Slavia player could do to get out of the
way. However, his arm was bent, and Gribovskiy made no mistake from the
spot.
Slavia struggled to get a foothold into the match
and Neman deservedly led at the break. However, with a desperate need to get
something from the game, Slavia worked hard in the second half and put Neman
under a lot of pressure, but failed to make any real inroads against the
determined Neman rear-guard. With time running out, a long free-kick was only
partially cleared to Tymonyuk who lashed home on the bounce into top corner
for a spectacular equalizer.
Slavia pressed for the
winner and had a big appeal for a penalty in added on time when Kantaria
appeared to foul Essongo when attempting to make a clearance. To the
frustration of the Slavia coach Martinovich and his players the referee was unmoved.
Summary :
Rukh Brest 2-0 FK Vitebsk ( att : 340 )
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1-1 FK Slutsk ( att : 2,670 )
BATE Borisov 1-1 Dinamo Minsk ( 4,006 )
Energetik BGU Minsk 1-1 FK Minsk ( att : 100 )
FK Isloch 1-2 FK Gomel ( att : 110 )
FK Smorgon 1-1 Dinamo Brest ( att : 250 )
FK Slavia Mozyr 1-1 Neman Grodno ( att : 1,075 )
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOHiq9BpfhA
Comments
With 5 of the matches finishing 1-1 there was
little change to the table.
At the top, Dinamo missed the opportunity to move above
BATE after being unable to hold onto their one goal lead. Dinamo now have to
hope BATE slip-up in one of their final two games if they are grab second
place. With Gomel and Rukh being the only winners over the weekend, both sides
closed the gap to third place to three points, and ready to take advantage should
either BATE or Dinamo drop points in the run in.
The situation at the bottom remained the same, with
Slutsk perhaps being the happiest as their unexpected point at Shakhtyor
together with the default three points from their Sputnik fixture still to be
added, they should be just about safe from the relegation play-off with 32
points. The draw between Energetik and FK Minsk moved both of them a little
closer to safety but both still have work to do. Slavia’s late equaliser kept
their hopes alive, but they will almost certainly need to win at Energetik in
their next game rather than relying to get something from a visit to Dinamo
Minsk on the last day.
In the 7 matches, there were 15 goals, one penalty
and no red cards.
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