The main time of the opening match of the BetBoom Dynamo Global Challenge tournament, held in Abu Dhabi, ended with a score of 2:2, and the blue and white were stronger in the penalty shootout (5:3).
Roland Gusev fielded almost the strongest squad available to him: Roberto Fernandez was placed on the left in defense, and Rubens already habitually came out in the support zone. The three attackers were Ulvi Babaev, Konstantin Tyukavin and Nicolas Ngamaleu.
Chinese football players who received gifts in the form of Dynamo ear flaps from the hands of Victoria Lopyreva before the match "thanked" the Muscovites with a very quick goal. Already in the second minute, the attack from the right flank ended with a canopy that reached Rafael Ratao, who shot Andrei Lunev's goal.
However, the blue and white quickly gathered and responded with a similar attack: Daniil Fomin noticed Juan Caceres on the right flank, the Paraguayan made a shot along the goal, which was closed by an uncovered Bitello at the far post – 1:1 for the first five minutes!
After such a bright start, the game calmed down somewhat and went with the territorial advantage of the silver medalist of the Chinese championship, in which the ex-Liverpool player Joao Teixeira stood out. Rubens looked great in the center of the field for the blue and white, regularly picking up balls and launching attacks.
Dynamo earned several promising standards, but could not derive much benefit from them. In the 35th minute, a corner still played: Bitello hung in, Nicolas Marichal won the air and Tyukavin did his job by sending the ball into the goal with his heel! Unfortunately, the referee's whistle cut off the celebration – offside. But the goal was not canceled by the heel of the Chinese club: Saulo Mineiro broke through on the left flank and gave it to captain Wu Xi, who sent the ball into the net.
After the break, Dynamo had a completely fresh squad on the field, which equalized the score after 40 seconds. Young Dynamo players chewed out the ball in the center of the field, Georgy Tikhomirov quickly threw Ivan Sergeev into a breakthrough, and he sent the ball into the goal in touch. Soon the Muscovites could come forward: first, Sergeev, after a discount by Gleb Miroshnichenko, hit the defender, and after a rebound, Viktor Okishor struck above the crossbar.
"Shanghai" also did not sit out in defense – Yang Jiessian, after a cross from the right flank, almost sent the ball to the nine with his knee, literally a dozen centimeters were missing. In the 66th minute, the Chinese took the ball right from our penalty area, Liu Chen was completely alone against Igor Leshchuk, but forgave Dynamo, punching higher.
The blue and white team was not inferior in movement to the opponent, held the ball well and, on occasion, found options for continuing the attack. Maxim Balakhonov adjusted well to a long pass and shot Sergeyev in touch, but the goalkeeper of the Chinese club took the ball off his foot. Next, Miroshnichenko famously missed on Okishor, received a pass from him and punched tightly from the left – again the goalkeeper played above all praise.
As a result, the main time ended in a draw, and everything was decided in a penalty shootout. Anton Miranchuk, Sergeev, Miroshnichenko, Alexander Khubulov and Okishor made their attempts, and one of the opponents' punches went over the crossbar.
The winner of the tournament will be determined based on the results of the next match, in which Dynamo will play against Chengdu Rongchen on January 26.
