The match of the 1st round of the group stage of the Russian Cup, held in Voronezh, ended with the victory of our team with a score of 1:0.
Sandro Schwarz made a nearly complete rotation of the starting lineup, leaving only Daniil Fomin as captain. Igor Leshchuk took over in goal, Rubens moved to the left side of defense this time, and Viktor Okishor and Ulvi Babayev covered the attacking flanks.
The White-Blues started the match briskly and could have opened the scoring as early as the seventh minute. Timofey Marinkin delivered a superb cross into the penalty area, Okishor got ahead of Darko Todorović, and sent the ball over the crossbar with his left foot. A little later, Viktor got past several opponents and fired from the edge of the penalty area, giving Igor Obukhov more work to do. The home team's goalkeeper made good on that, as he did on two long-range shots from Rubens.
In the 20th minute, the Voronezh team was saved again by the goal frame – Ivan Sergeyev skillfully received the ball in the penalty area and rolled it into the half-circle to Marinkin, whose shot shook the left post. In another incident, Babayev responded to a long ball, but Obukhov came out of his goal just in time to prevent it from going over. He also made a fine play in stoppage time, diving to parry Fomin's dangerous free kick.
Leshchuk, however, was clearly bored in the first half, only coming into play after set pieces, and once provided cover for the defenders with a header outside the penalty area.
The second half began with another crossbar, and this time it was Dynamo's turn – after a cross from the right flank, Nicolás Marichal nearly deflected the ball into his own net. The hosts became more active, taking several set pieces, but there were no further significant challenges.
By the midway point of the half and the water break, Dynamo's attack had completely revamped: Bitello and Konstantin Tyukavin appeared in the 60th minute, Dmitry Skopintsev and Yaroslav Gladyshev a little later. It was Skopintsev who created the Brazilian's first chance, but his shot went straight into Obukhov's hands. Juan Cáceres then sent a brilliant cross to Tyukavin's head, and the ball flew over the crossbar.
And yet, Dynamo finally put the squeeze on their opponents in the final minutes. First, Tyukavin perfectly rolled the ball to Gladyshev, whose shot from 10 meters was followed by another impressive save by Obukhov. And in the second minute of stoppage time, Bitello's corner kick proved the difference – the ball hit Igor Yurganov's head and bounced right into the corner. Their first win of the season!
The white-and-blues will host Dynamo Makhachkala in their next match on August 9. Buy tickets for VTB Arena on our website.
