The meeting of the 20th round of the Russian Premier League, held at VTB Arena, ended with the victory of the blue and whites with a score of 4:0.
Seven players of the main team could not take part in the match for medical reasons, and Marcel Licka had to seriously reshape the lineup. In the center of defense, Fabian Balbuena was paired with Alexander Kutitskiy, 19-year-old Egor Smelov made his debut in the RPL in the center of the field, while Arthur and Yaroslav Gladyshev came out on the wings of the attack.
Dynamo players went to the pre-match formation in T-shirts in support of Konstantin Tyukavin, who underwent knee surgery last week. Instead, El-Mehdi Maouhoub was at the forefront of the attack and he very quickly opened the scoring in the match. In the 7th minute, Juan Caceres swirled the ball into the penalty area, Maouhoub jumped out from behind the defender and hit the goal with his head.
Makhachkala players were also not going to sit in the defense. Hussem Mrezig received the ball in the penalty area, turned around and shot dangerously over the crossbar. Gamid Agalarov was on the edge twice, but first Igor Leshchuk was ahead of him, and in the next attack the striker missed the goal after a pass by Jan Japo.
A pleasant impression was left by Smelov, who took the game on himself and did not hesitate to disperse the attacks. In one episode, he made a great hit from outside the penalty box, but the ball hit the defender and flew to the corner. A little later, Caceres once again made a great cross, and Balbuena almost hit the far corner.
The pace of the match was brought down by an episode in Leshchuk's penalty area, when the VAR referees considered getting the ball into Maouhoub's hand for almost five minutes, but eventually saw the Makhachkala's forward offside. The teams could not create anything more dangerous until the end of the half.
But in the first minute of the second half, our team doubled the advantage. Smelov actively worked on the right flank and crossed into the penalty area, the defender knocked the ball on Gladyshev's foot, and Yaroslav put it perfectly into the corner of David Volk's goal.
The guests, after conceding a goal, became more active again, creating a couple of good chances. First, Mohamed Azzi, who came on as a substitute, demonstrated dribbling and shot from close range, and a little later Kirill Zinovich closed the cross with his head at the far post – Leshchuk acted perfectly both times. Then Agalarov even sent the ball into the net, but from an offside position.
Licka carried out the planned changes after 60 minutes of the game, replacing Smelov and Jorge Carrascal with Danil Glebov and Bitello. It was the Brazilian who soon dispersed the attack, passed to the center on Fomin, and Daniil powerfully charged from 25 meters – Volk touched the ball with his fists, from which it flew into the corner!
Five minutes before the end of the meeting, the captain of the blue and whites made the score completely indecent. Bitello made a pass into the penalty area to Gladyshev, who cross it on the far post, where Balbuena hit the ball with his head. In the remaining time, the guests were close to scoring, but first Abakar Gajiyev shook the crossbar, and in the very end Leshchuk stopped Serderov's dangerous shot.
Dynamo scored 39 points and occupy the fourth place in the standings. On Wednesday, March 12, the blue and whites will play in an away cup match with CSKA. Sectors 215 and 216 are provided for Dynamo fans, tickets for which can be purchased at the following link.
