The match of the 18th round of the Russian Premier League, held at the Lukoil Arena, ended with a score of 1:1.
For the final match of the year, Roland Gusev fielded an attacking lineup that closely resembled the one that decisively defeated Dynamo Makhachkala. The only changes were in defense: Nicolas Marichal was sent to the right flank of defense, while Dmitry Skopintsev was deployed on the left.
Dynamo started the match very actively and scored in the sixth minute. Marichal threw a long throw into the penalty area, where the ball rebounded to Bitello, who one-timed it to Konstantin Tyukavin, who fired home. Unfortunately, the linesman flagged a microscopic offside, and the VAR referees upheld his decision.
Gradually, the hosts regained control and began creating danger near Andrey Lunev's goal. Marquinhos entered the penalty area from the left flank and rolled the ball to Manfred Ugalde, who fired over the bar. In the 19th minute, in a quick attack, Pablo Solari passed the ball past Roberto Fernandez, after which he crossed to the far post, and Maxim Osipenko unsuccessfully cut the ball into the near corner - 0:1.
Osipenko soon made a save, diving to block a close-range shot from Gedson. The second half was spent with both teams attacking unsuccessfully, with a high percentage of errors.
At halftime, Osipenko was replaced by Juan Cáceres. The blue-and-whites had a chance to equalize in their first attack: Bitello found Tyukavin with a good pass, Kostya crossed into the penalty area, where Ivan Sergeyev failed to push the ball past Alexander Maksimenko. Spartak responded with a dangerous free kick, after which Nail Umyarov shouldered the ball into the crossbar. However, the referee subsequently called offside.
The teams continued to trade blows. Igor Dmitriev weaved through several Dynamo defenders and crossed to Ugalde, who was just a hair short of a successful shot. Tyukavin immediately received the ball in the penalty area and with his second touch shot at the ball hanging in the air, but Daniil Denisov managed to get in his way.
Finally, in the 61st minute, the score was leveled: Ngamaleu brilliantly dealt with his marker and passed to Skopintsev, who passed to Sergeyev, who scored into an empty net. After conceding a goal, the hosts perked up and had several dangerous attempts. Ezequiel Barco twice curled corners straight into the net: first, Juan Cáceres cleared the ball off the line, and then Lunev was able to reach it.
The final 15 minutes passed with the Blue-Whites clearly in the lead. Ngamaleu was particularly active on the left flank, and El Mehdi Maouhoub was also making a good start. Sergeyev set him up for Maksimenko's goal at an angle, but the Moroccan's shot was off-target.
The key moment of the entire match occurred in the 85th minute. Bitello took the free kick, Sergeyev collected the ball and returned it to the center of the penalty area, Maouhoub passed it to Fernandez, who was beaten by Maksimenko, after which Marichal sent the ball into the net. Dynamo's jubilation was interrupted by another VAR review, and again the goal was disallowed for offside – this time for Maouhoub.
As a result, their second draw with Spartak this season allowed Dynamo to finish the first half of the season in 10th place in the league table with 21 points.
