The 11th round match of the Russian Premier League, which took place at the VTB Arena, ended with a 5:3 victory for the visitors.
Juan Cáceres returned to the starting lineup after serving his suspension, but the rest of the field featured the same players who started the game in Samara in the previous round.
The match started off with a cold shower for the white-and-blues: in the very first attack, Dmitry Barinov found Dmitry Vorobyov with a long pass, who crossed into the penalty area, and Danil Prutsev fired past Andrey Lunev from 11 meters.
Dynamo took five minutes to recover, then began to pile pressure on the opponent's penalty area. El-Mehdi Maouhoub pressed Yegor Pogostnov, advanced toward the goal at an angle, and shot straight at Anton Mitryushkin. A dangerous corner from the left flank then resulted in a dangerous header from Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov, which flew over the crossbar.
The pressure grew with each passing minute. Bitello rolled the ball into the penalty area to the onrushing Caceres, who moved the ball under his left foot and fired over. Immediately, a perfect attack, initiated by Danil Glebov with a backheel pass and continued by Mauhoub, was finished off by Ivan Sergeyev, but his point-blank shot was miraculously saved by Mitryushkin. In the next episode, Sergeyev rounded the visiting goalkeeper, but his shot off the goal line was blocked by a defender.
The blue-and-whites finally pressed their opponents and immediately scored twice. First, Cáceres' cross was headed in by Sergeev, who dived in, and four minutes later, Juan's cross found Ivan's feet again. He skillfully rolled it to Bitello, who made a clean sweep from five meters out – 2-1!
Lokomotiv could have quickly equalized if not for the selfless efforts of Zainutdinov and Lunev, who blocked shots from close range by Alexei Batrakov and Vorobyov. However, the visitors finally equalized late in the half: Cáceres lightly pushed Alexander Rudenko in the penalty area, and Batrakov confidently converted the penalty.
After the break, Dynamo continued to dominate. Bitello cleverly shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Mitryushkin dived to save the ball. Pogostnov cut back Bitello's cross, and once again the red-green goalkeeper was alert. Glebov combined brilliantly with substitute Dmitry Skopintsev and curled the ball into the far corner, just over the line.
Lokomotiv scored again from a set piece. This time, Batrakov crossed into the goal area, where Nikolai Komlichenko leaped higher than anyone else and sent the ball into the net. Anton Miranchuk could have scored against his former club soon after, but, in a favorable position, he decided to pass the ball to Sergeyev, who was beaten to the post by a defender.
Shortly after, Konstantin Tyukavin replaced Maouhoub and Nicolas Marichal replaced Glebov, with Zaynutdinov moving to the left flank and Skopintsev moving up front. Dynamo rushed forward and missed a quick counterattack: Montes passed the ball to Komlichenko, who passed it to Vorobyov, who found himself one-on-one with Lunev and converted his chance.
A fiery finish lay ahead. Five minutes before the end of regulation time, Tyukavin was brought down in the penalty area by Pogostnov, and Maxim Osipenko reduced the deficit from the penalty spot. Yaroslav Gladyshev, who responded to Skopintsev's cross, could have equalized, but his shot whistled over the crossbar. And then Lokomotiv sealed the match: Batrakov passed the ball to Prutsev, whose cross was converted into a goal by Rudenko.
Dynamo will host Akhmat Grozny in their next match on October 19. Purchase tickets for VTB Arena on our website.
