The match of the 28th round of the Russian Premier League, held at the RZD Arena, ended with a score of 1:1.
This time, Rolan Gusev opted for a traditional two-man central defense, deploying Milan Majstorović on the left flank. Daniil Fomin returned to the defensive midfield, while Arthur and Yaroslav Gladyshev were chosen on the flanks.
The match started with Dynamo slightly in control, but the first dangerous moment occurred near the Blue-Whites' goal. Alexey Batrakov found Danil Prutsev in the penalty area, whose cross was intercepted by Maksim Osipenko. The ball went into the net, and only Kurban Rasulov's reaction saved the team from a goal.
At the opposite goal, Konstantin Tyukavin earned a promising free kick, from which Luis Chavez fired over the target. Majstorović then fired a powerful shot from the corner of the penalty area, but a defender saved it. And then, from a corner, Bitello, playing his hundredth match for Dynamo, accurately passed the ball onto the head of Nicolas Marichal – the eighth goal for the Brazilian, the fifth goal for the Uruguayan in this championship!
The Railwaymen tried to exploit the speed of their attacking line, and it paid off on a couple of occasions. First, Dmitry Vorobyov raced towards the goal and hit the post (though an offside was later called), and then he cleverly passed the ball to Batrakov, whose shot was saved by Rasulov. Otherwise, Dynamo's defense dealt with the opponent's attacks admirably.
At halftime, Artur was replaced by Nicolas Ngamaleu, and the hosts brought on Zelimkhan Bakayev. He was the one who dragged the ball into Dynamo's penalty area in the 53rd minute, after which Vorobyov passed the ball to Batrakov, who saw an unmarked Artem Karpukas fire past Rasulov. Lokomotiv could have taken the lead immediately: Bakayev got away from Maistorovich and passed it to Vorobyov, who fired it into the post.
Ultimately, Dmitry Skopintsev was called upon to bolster the left flank of the defense, and Danil Glebov replaced Chavez in midfield. The substitutions thwarted Lokomotiv's offensive momentum, and the white-and-blues could have taken the lead again after a corner kick – Marichal once again won the air and fired into the bottom corner, but this time Anton Mitryushkin saved his team.
For the final 20 minutes, Dynamo switched back to three central defenders after David Ricardo's introduction. The end of the match saw both sides attacking, but each team managed only one shot on target, and none of those shots were particularly dangerous. In stoppage time, Gladyshev's shot from a good position hit the referee and was then given to the defenders. The result was a 1-1 draw.
Dynamo will play their next match on May 7 away against Krasnodar in the return leg of the RPL FONBET Russian Cup final. Read our article to find out how to get to that match.
