The match of the 26th round of the Russian Premier League, held at VTB Arena, ended with a score of 0:1.
Compared to the match in Nizhny Novgorod, there were three changes in the starting lineup of the blue and white: David Ricardo came out in the center of defense instead of Maxim Osipenko, Danil Glebov instead of Rubens in the support zone, and Yaroslav Gladyshev instead of Arthur on the right edge of the attack.
Kazan players started the match very actively and created three good moments in the first 5 minutes. First, Igor Leshchuk pulled Ruslan Bezrukov's shot into the left nine, then, after a corner, Veldin Khoja sent the ball over the crossbar, and finally Jacques Sive beautifully punched through himself next to the bar. The blue and white team responded even more sharply – Dmitry Skopintsev brought Gladyshev one-on-one with the goalkeeper with a cutting pass, but the ball missed the far post after his strike.
In the 19th minute, the guests opened the scoring. After an interception in his own half of the field, the ball was brought to Nazmi Gripsha, who led Siva to the goal in a beautiful arc, and the Kazantsev forward threw Leshchuk.
Having missed Dynamo, they rushed to recoup and could score three times in a couple of minutes. After a cross from the corner, Nicolas Marichal sent the ball into the corner with his head – Evgeny Staver saved Rubin, Skopintsev aimed at the far nine with the second tempo – a little past, Bitello rolled off the next corner kick to Juan Caceres – again the goalkeeper of the guests was good. At the opposite gate Leshchuk also dragged a difficult long-range shot of Hoxha.
At the end of the half, the blue and white created another killer moment - Bitello ambushed a rebound from someone else's penalty area, Staver repelled his lashing blow, the Brazilian was the first to pick up and dropped the ball to Gladyshev, who lacked a couple of centimeters to reach him.
After an eventless first six minutes of the second half, Roland Gusev made a double substitution: Gladyshev and Glebov were replaced by Arthur and Timofey Marinkin. And again, the young midfielder was close to his debut goal – Bitello decided to take a free kick from 30 meters, Staver hit back in front of him, and the defender knocked out Timofey, from whom the ball almost flew into the goal.
The visitors were even closer to doubling their advantage: Ignacio Saavedra reached the penalty area and made a cross pass, Ilya Rozhkov shot past Leshchuk, but David in a selfless jump took the ball off the line! It is worth noting that this was not the last such rescue of the Brazilian defender in the match. However, Leshchuk did not stand aside either, neutralizing Hodja's one-on-one exit.
Soon Ivan Sergeev and Luis Chavez, who missed the whole season due to a cruciate ligament rupture, appeared on the field, and a little later Ulvi Babaev. However, there was no more sharpness at the gates of Rubin. I remember only two moments after the canopies, when Artur and Konstantin Tyukavin struck near the left bar.
In the next match Dynamo will host Sochi on April 26. Buy tickets to VTB Arena on our website.
