The meeting of the 25th round of the World of the Russian Premier League, held at VTB Arena, ended with the victory of Dynamo with a score of 3:1.
After the energy-consuming cup match on Wednesday, Marcel Licka changed four positions at once. Nicolas Marichal came out in the center of defense next to Fabian Balbuena, Dmitry Skopintsev took the left flank, Diego Laxalt appeared in the defensive zone, and a choice was made in favor of El-Mehdi Maouhoub at the forefront of the attack.
The blue and whites have increased their speed from the very beginning of the match, forcing opponents to foul quite often. By the tenth minute, Egor Teslenko and Mirlind Daku received yellow cards. However, there were no dangerous moments at the goal of Kazan for the time being.
In the 15th minute, Dynamo unsuccessfully played a corner, Dardan Shabankhadzhai ran with the ball from his penalty area to the other one and shot into the far corner – Andrei Lunev saved the team. Soon the most dangerous free kick in the opposite half was taken by Daniil Fomin, and already Yevgeny Staver parried a tight shot.
After that, the teams exchanged not moments, but goals. First, Yaroslav Gladyshev, who played his hundredth match for Dynamo, opened up in the penalty area, received a timely pass from Juan Caceres and sent the ball into the far corner in touch. But already a minute and a half later, Daku, in a fight with two defenders, managed to execute a cross on the far post, from where Ruslan Bezrukov, who was not covered by anyone, hit the net – 1:1.
The rivals continued to exchange attacks, delighting numerous fans in the stands. In the end, Dynamo managed a cool attack – Bitello played out with Skopintsev, who brought the Brazilian into free space with a heel pass, and he shot at the near post, from where the defender almost cut the ball into his own goal.
After the break, Gladyshev continued to be active: first, his shot to the near corner was repelled by Staver, then Yaroslav figured out in the penalty area and made a cross to Maouhoub, who was overtaken by the defender. Finally, in the 62nd minute Skopintsev rocked his opponent on the left flank and crossed to the center of the penalty area, where Gladyshev emerged from behind the defenders and head-butted the ball into the net.
Then it was time for the VAR referees to work. Nikola Chumich realized a one-on-one chance, but the goal was canceled due to a slight offside. Then the chief referee of the match, Sergei Cheban, awarded a penalty to the guests' goal after the ball hit Igor Vuyachich's hand, but after watching the video replay, he changed his decision, considering that the hand was pressed to the body. Finally, Maouhoub realized his chance, and again the score did not change – another offside.
But the most interesting thing was waiting for the audience after the 90th minute. Daku received a second yellow card for excessive emotions and left the field. In the 5th added minute, Cheban awarded a free kick in Lunev's penalty area, after the goalkeeper picked up the ball from Nicolas Ngamaleu's foot. Fortunately, Valentin Vada's shot at point-blank range hit the post. The Cameroonian forward of Dynamo improved already at the last minute, when he assisted Bitello, who set the final score in the match.
Dynamo scored 46 points and occupy the fifth place in the standings. In the next round, they will host Zenit St. Petersburg at home on April 26. Buy tickets on our website.
