The match of the 20th round of the Russian Premier League, held at the VEB Arena, ended with the victory of our team with a score of 4:1.
Roland Gusev was forced to make some changes to his lineup once again. Juan Cáceres returned from suspension, but Andrey Lunev and Anton Miranchuk missed the game due to minor injuries. Ultimately, Kurban Rasulov took over in goal, Bitello moved to center, and Artur came on as the left attacker.
The game began at a furious pace, and Bitello tested Igor Akinfeev early on with a powerful long-range shot, which the CSKA captain saved. After a well-played corner, Daniil Fomin shot from inside the penalty area, but a defender blocked the ball. This match was special for the Dynamo captain – it was his 200th in our club jersey!
In the 13th minute, the set piece finally paid off: Bitello crossed from the corner, Nicolas Marichal won the aerial challenge and sent the ball into the right corner – 1-0. Three minutes later, Dynamo gained a numerical advantage. Luciano Gondu raised his leg very high and hit Maksim Osipenko in the shoulder with his studs. After a video review, Sergei Ivanov changed the yellow card to a red one.
Dynamo didn't force the game, but they had a steady stream of shots on goal: Bitello and Rubens volleyed from outside the penalty area wide, while Ngamalyo fired more accurately, but into Akinfeev's hands. Konstantin Tyukavin was the center of attention twice: first, he sent a beautiful overhead kick just wide of the post with a beautiful dive, and a little later, he was finishing a fast attack, but Matheus Reis managed to dive in front of it.
The Army Men occasionally managed to penetrate our penalty area, but the Blue-Whites' defenders were impeccable there, and late in the half, Rasulov secured their spot-up, outscoring the nimble Kirill Glebov. Dynamo's lead doubled in the fourth minute of stoppage time, again after a set piece. Bitello rolled a free kick to Caceres, whose shot was blocked, as were two of Tyukavin's attempts, but Marichal sent the ball home on his fourth attempt. Niko's first career brace, and what a momentous one!
Dmitry Skopintsev made way for Leon Seidenzall at half-time, and 13 minutes later, the double substitution from the previous cup derby was repeated: Timofey Marinkin and Yaroslav Gladyshev came on for Rubens and Arthur, but this time with the score 2-1. Following a corner, Rasulov saved a point-blank shot from Moises, but the Brazilian defender was not relentless and intercepted the rebound.
Then Dynamo launched a brilliant attack, which Marinkin finished with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but it went over the bar. Gladyshev, however, was involved in the next goal: he intercepted a poor pass from Reis, passed it to Tyukavin, who passed it to Bitello, and the Brazilian beat Akinfeev in close combat – 3-1!
Soon, Seidenzal suffered an injury and was replaced by Kutitsky, while Ivan Sergeev came on for Tyukavin. CSKA visibly tired late on and conceded another goal. Cáceres played a one-two with Bitello and sent a perfect cross to Sergeev, who fired home from three meters.
Ivan could have scored a second goal when he beat Akinfeev and fired into the net from a tight angle. Rasulov also scored before the end of the match, saving his team with a beautiful dive after a shot from Enrique Carmo.
Dynamo ultimately secured their third major victory in a row and earned 27 points, moving up to a provisional seventh place in the standings. They will play Rostov away in their next round on March 14.
