The meeting of the 23rd round of the Russian Premier League, held at the VEB Arena, ended with a score of 3:1 in favor of the hosts.
After a great game in the last round, the starting lineup of Dynamo has hardly changed. Only Fabian Balbuena recovered from his injury and replaced Roberto Fernandez, who was disqualified due to 4 yellow cards. Also on the bench was Arthur, who missed the match with Orenburg due to a shoulder injury.
The snow, which started at night, intensified just before the match, and it was decided to play with a red ball. Dmitry Skopintsev came out very charged for the game, having received a yellow card from Sergei Karasev already in the third minute, after which he earned a corner kick with his active actions, which, however, did not end in anything dangerous.
Dynamo had more possession of the ball, actively pressing on the opponent's half of the field, but it didn't come to dangerous moments. And in the 15th minute, the score changed in favor of the hosts: Sekou Koita found Tamerlan Musaev in the penalty area, he removed the Balbuena on the swing, and Skopintsev, trying to knock the ball out, hit the near corner of Andrei Lunev's goal.
Our players did not sprinkle ashes on their heads and quickly recouped. Musaev interrupted Juan Caceres' shot in his penalty area with his hand, and Jorge Carrascal confidently scored from the penalty. Immediately Daniil Fomin threw the ball into the penalty area, Yaroslav Gladyshev received the pass and shot from the left – Igor Akinfeev saved his team.
The special danger, as always, came from set pieces. First, the corner of the hosts ended with the most dangerous blow of Igor Diveev next to the bar. Then, Bitello earned the foul in front of the goal and executed it himself – also centimeters from the post. The end of the half passed with the advantage of CSKA, and in one of the episodes Lunev repelled a dangerous blow from Abbosbek Fayzullaev.
During the break, Skopintsev was replaced by Diego Laxalt, and the stadium workers removed the snow that had fallen on the field. And in the very first minute of the second half, our team had a great combination: Carrascal brought Danil Glebov to the strike position, he sent the ball past Akinfeev, and Milan Gajic saved the army team.
At the opposite goal Lunev neutralized two shots of Saul Guarirapa, after which the game calmed down for a while. But all the fans were able to hear the announcement that Alexander Ovechkin became the best goalscorer in the history of the NHL, and chant the name of the famous hockey player.
Dynamo's attacking potential was boosted by the substitute of Fomin for El-Mehdi Maouhoub. The blue and whites ran forward and missed a quick counterattack. Igor Diveev took the ball from Carrascal at his penalty area, threw Kirill Glebov into the breakthrough, who shot into the penalty area, and Guarirapa hit the net.
In the last minutes, our team attacked even more intensely. Arthur, who came on as a substitute, almost hit the corner, but Akinfeev parried a difficult shot, after which an offside was recorded. In added time, Karasev awarded another penalty, but already to Lunev's goal, after Alexander Kutitskiy hooked Glebov's leg. Ivan Oblyakov didn't leave any chances for our goalkeeper.
Dynamo with 42 points occupy the fifth place in the standings. In the next match, Dynamo will play away against Pari NN on April 12, after which it will try to take revenge on the army team in the home Cup match on April 16. Buy tickets to VTB Arena on our website.
