The full time of the second match of the BetBoom Dynamo Global Challenge tournament, held in Abu Dhabi, ended with a score of 1:1, and in the penalty shootout, Chinese football players were more accurate (4:3).
This time, Rolan Gusev decided to try a two-forward formation, pairing Konstantin Tyukavin, who was wearing the captain's armband, with Ivan Sergeyev. Twenty-year-old Kirill Isaev joined Nicolas Marichal in central defense, while Kurban Rasulov appeared in goal.
Dynamo started more energetically and could have earned a penalty as early as the fourth minute: Juan Cáceres spotted Sergeyev's run, which seemed to outpace the goalkeeper and sent him crashing to the ground after contact, but the local referee's whistle remained silent. In the next attack, Nicolas Ngamaleu fired a dangerous shot from outside the penalty area, and again the Chengdu goalkeeper was able to save his goal.
The blue-and-whites attacked hard and eagerly, but at times they were clearly too clever. First, Bitello, instead of shooting from a good position, decided to make a cross to the far post, and a little later Tyukavin did not perform his signature backheel, but decided to pass the ball to Bitello, but a defender got there first.
The Brazilian was the most prominent figure in the first half. Around the 20th minute, he had two shots on goal in quick succession: the first from outside the penalty area was confidently blocked by the Chengdu goalkeeper, and a chip from a superb pass from Roberto Fernandes went just wide of the post. A little later, Bitello pounced on a rebound in the penalty area and seemed certain to head the ball home, but again, Ran Wenfeng's hand blocked the ball.
A goal was clearly brewing, but it defied logic and went into the wrong goal. Chengdu's first massive attack ended with a beautiful curling shot from 20 meters by Matheus Joussa, right into the left corner. Having scored, our opponents, as usual, retreated and began to contain Dynamo's attacking impulses, often with fouls. The score was tied in the 39th minute. After a protracted attack, Anton Miranchuk rolled the ball to the free Caceres, who curled it into the far corner with his left foot – 1:1.
At half-time, the blue-and-whites completely changed their lineup, with El-Mehdi Maouhoub and Viktor Okishor taking center stage. It was also worth noting the appearance of Dmitry Skopintsev, who hadn't played in the first match of the tournament. He scored the first dangerous shot from distance, nearly catching the goalkeeper off guard as the ball went just wide of the post.
Ulvi Babaev had three good chances. First, his swerving shot was saved by the goalkeeper, then Okishor got ahead of Wenfeng and rolled the ball out for him to shoot, but a defender made a clever save. In the 70th minute, Timofey Marinkin delivered a brilliant pass into the penalty area, which Ulvi controlled with two touches and lobbed over the goalkeeper – unfortunately, just wide of the target.
Maouhoub made many openings, but was repeatedly caught offside. Andrey Kudravets also had to make several appearances, handling them all with confidence. But his real challenge lay in the penalty shootout. Unfortunately, he failed to save a single one. Dynamo's Maouhub, Maksym Osipenko, and Gleb Miroshnichenko converted their attempts, after which Leon Zaydenzal, Okishor, and Marinkin were unable to score.
This concludes the team's first training camp. The players will have two days off, after which they will resume training on Thursday.
