Belarus Football 2021 – Week 29

November 20, 2021

After the international break, where the Belarus national side suffered a 1-5 defeat to Wales in Cardiff, thanks to a combination of dodgy goal-keeping, individual mistakes and good play from the Welsh, followed by a shrewdly arranged home fixture to protect/improve their FIFA ranking with a 1-0 home win against higher ranked Jordan, the penultimate round of the Belarus Premier League is played out this weekend.

At the top, BATE and Dinamo Minsk will be looking to register victories to stay in the top three positions, whilst Rukh and Gomel will be looking to keep up the pressure. With a visit to Torpedo, BATE have the toughest fixture of the round out of the top five.

There are also some crucial matches at the bottom to avoid the relegation play-off, with perhaps the key match being the Energetik vs Slavia tie, from which the loser would be deep in the mire. Elsewhere, Minsk still need a point or perhaps two, and will be hoping to ensure their safety against Isloch.

Slutsk still to have three points for the Sputnik default to be added to their total, so should be safe on 32 points even if they lose to Rukh. Should a series of unlikely results occur, Neman will also still have another week to avoid the third bottom place should they lost at Dinamo Minsk.

All matches are scheduled to kick-off at the same time, namely 13.00 local time, 10.00 am UK time, so it may require a lot of switching between the Bet365 streams to keep up with developments !

Dinamo Minsk vs Neman Grodno ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )

A must-win for Dinamo if they hope to finish in second place, and whilst Neman might still need a point to stay clear of the relegation play-offs, they should be safe. 2-0

Result : 2-0. Two goals in the first 15 minutes by Po with assists from Putilo settled any anxieties Dinamo may have had. Neman responded positively and had a good go at Dinamo, Gribovskiy had an effort ruled out for offside and Zubovich struck the crossbar.

However, Dinamo maintained their led to half-time and in the second half seemed content to hold to what they had. Indeed, the main highlights of the second period were a couple of fouls !

Dinamo Brest vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )

Dinamo have little to play for so the champions’ class should prevail. 0-1

Result : 0-3. After Djordje Ivanovic gave Shakhtyor an 8^th minute lead, the Champions strolled to victory over a subdued Dinamo side lacking the energy and fight from the first half of the season. Igor Ivanovic added another before the break after good work from Darboe, and Djordje added his second just after the restart to make it Dinamo 0 Ivanovic 3…….

Energetik BGU Minsk vs FK Slavia Mozyr ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )

Probably the match of the day, being virtually a must win for Slavia to avoid the play-off and a must not lose for Energetik. Will be tight and tense. 1-1

Result : 2-3. A vital win for Slavia to take them above Energetik in the table, but the result still left both sides in trouble with one more game to play. Some slack marking allowed Barsukov to give the visitors a second minute lead, and Slavia looked the more purposeful side and deserved to be ahead at the half-time break. They extended their lead 2 minutes into the second half through Malkevich’s close range effort but Energetik struck back with a minute later with a calm finish from Papariga. However, Barsukov scored again soon after for a third goal in a four minute spell to give Slavia a 3-1 lead.

Energetik strove to get back into the game, and Ubaydullaev’s penalty 10 minutes from time gave them a life-line. Slavia though saw out the rest of match without any undue alarms to take three important points.

FK Minsk vs FK Isloch Minsk ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )

Another key game at the bottom. Whilst Isloch are now safe, Minsk still need a point or two to be assured of avoiding the play-off. This could also be tension packed. 1-1

Result : 1-0. A huge win for Minsk in a scrappy game that sees them now safe from the relegation play-off, thanks to a better head-to-head record with Energetik. Bogomolskiy’s finish on around the half-hour mark was enough the settle the match, running onto a through ball and scoring from a tight angle.

Two minutes before, Isloch’s normally dependable Komarovsky had missed from the penalty spot after a handball had been spotted, smashing his kick down the centre of the goal but Prishivalko hadn’t moved and was able to block with his arms. Although Isloch had the majority of the possession they rarely looked like grabbing an equalizer.

FK Gomel vs FK Smorgon ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )

A win for Gomel is essential if they are to maintain their hopes of finishing in third place, and whilst relegated Smorgon should be competitive, the home side should prevail. 3-1

Result : 0-0. A proverbial coupon buster as Smorgon again showed their battling spirit against the odds. They might even have snatched a remarkable victory had the normally reliable Pasevich not put a penalty high over the bar. Predictably, Gomel dominated the match but created very little against a determined and packed defence, with their best chance falling in the 94^th minute, but Nekrasov snatched at the chance and put the ball wide from close range.

Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino vs BATE Borisov ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )

A crucial game for BATE who need to win if they are finish second, but it is the type of match they have recently been struggling to win . Torpedo are in decent form and are aiming to finish 6^th. 1-1

Result : 0-3. After an even and competitive first half, in which both sides missed good chances, the most notable being by Torpedo’s Aleksey Antilevski, BATE took the lead in the 57^th minute from a header by Signevich from a free-kick by Umarov. At first it looked like he had to be yards off-side and Torpedo protested furiously, but finally a decent TV angle was found which confirmed he had timed his run perfectly.

Torpedo pressed for an equalizer, and Aleksey Antilevski squandered another good chance. With 12 minutes remaining, Yusov’s ball across the face of the Torpedo’s goal left Signevich a simple finish for his second goal of the game, and Yusov added the third three minutes later to make the score-line a little flattering to the visitors.

FK Slutsk vs Rukh Brest ( Saturday @ 10.00 UK time )

Rukh have to win to stay in the race for a top three finish and with Slutsk virtually assured of their safety, the visitors should have a greater will to win. 0-2 

Result : 3-0. Slutsk confirmed their place in the top flight for next season with a surprisingly easy victory over a lack-lustre Rukh side in windy conditions. Butravich gave them the lead just before the interval after an exaggerated dummy by Semenov to Alfred’s low cross gave him the time and space to control and score. After Bakaj was shown a second yellow for an unnecessary challenge 6 minutes into the second period, goals from Sasin and Alfred wrapped up the three points for Slutsk, who could have easily have won by a bigger margin.

Summary :

Dinamo Minsk 2-0 Neman Grodno ( att : 1,307 )
Dinamo Brest 0-2 Shakhtyor Soligorsk ( att : 1,518 )
Energetik BGU Minsk 2-3 FK Slavia Mozyr ( att : 80 )
FK Minsk 1-0 FK Isloch Minsk ( att : 200 )
FK Gomel 0-0 FK Smorgon ( att : 4,100 )
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino 0-3 BATE Borisov ( att : 1,360 )
FK Slutsk 3-0 Rukh Brest ( att : 538 )

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N38ZCZqJPn4

Comments

There were several unexpected results this week, but at the top, wins for BATE and Dinamo Minsk confirmed both sides would now finish in 2^nd and 3^rd place, with the order to be decided by their final games. BATE are in pole position with a one point advantage and home fixture with Vitebsk to come.

Gomel were amazingly held at home by relegated Smorgon but Rukh’s lifeless showing at Slutsk leaves Gomel one point ahead in 4^th place. Both sides face tricky fixtures to finish the season, Gomel visit champions Shakhtyor whilst Rukh have a Brest derby to contend with.

At the bottom, Energetik’s loss at home Slavia saw them slip into the relegation play-off position, but they can still save themselves with a last day win at Isloch, who only have pride left to play-for. Slavia are far from safe and may well need to get something from their home tie against Dinamo Minsk. Neman’s defeat at Dinamo Minsk means they might need to beat Torpedo at home, but Slutsk’s victory means they are now safe, as their default 3 points from Sputnik puts them clear on 35 points. After their victory over Isloch, FK Minsk are also now mathematically safe.

The Belarus FA YouTube channel had a live show, moving from match to match as the action happened, a welcome return of live action on the official channel. Hopefully they will show something similar for the final set of fixtures next week !

In the 7 matches, there were 17 goals, three penalties ( two missed ) and one red card.