The match of the 24th round of the Russian Premier League, held in Samara, ended with the victory of our team with a score of 3:2.
After the cup match in Moscow, Andrey Lunev, Juan Cáceres, Roberto Fernández, Rubens, and Bitello remained. Igor Leschuk started in goal for the first time this year, Nicolás Marichal appeared on the unfamiliar right flank of defense, and Anton Miranchuk came on behind the lone center forward, Ivan Sergeev.
In the first 15 minutes, while Dynamo was establishing their connection, the hosts launched several promising attacks. First, Maxim Boldyrev received a cross from the right flank and unleashed a stinging spinning shot that whistled past Marichal's knee, just wide of the post. Then Maxim Kuzmin and Roberto Fernández tried to catch Leschuk off guard with powerful long-range shots, and Igor was not disappointed.
In the 17th minute, Sergeev pounced on a mistake by Kuzmin near his own goal, played a pass to Miranchuk, and fired an unopposed shot from 12 meters out, but Vitaly Gudiyev saved it. Miranchuk then took a corner, Rodrigo Escoval stopped the ball with his hand, and immediately heard the referee's whistle – a penalty! Ngamaleo shot straight down the middle, Gudiyev didn't hesitate, but he couldn't save his team.
Dynamo were clearly enjoying themselves. Sergeev made a brilliant tackle in the opposing penalty area, Miranchuk crossed, Ngamaleu shot past a defender, and Timofey Marinkin was first to the rebound, coming close to scoring his first RPL goal, but Gudiyev again selflessly dove in front of the shot. Miranchuk then beat a defender with a flick and curled the ball into the post from 18 meters out.
The hosts occasionally made some interesting moves – in one attack, they brought Yomar Rocha into a scoring position, and only a desperate dive by David Ricardo saved Dynamo's goal. But defensive errors nullified all their efforts. In the 33rd minute, Ngamalyo picked up an opponent's poor back pass, raced down the right flank, and sent a perfect pass to Arthur – 2-0!
Akron's players kept their composure and managed to pull one back before the break: Boldyrev crossed into the penalty area, Artem Dzyuba chested it down, and Stefan Loncar fired home. Late in the game, Ngamalyo also suffered a painful blow to the knee and left for the locker room limping. Fortunately, he was able to return for the second half, while David Ricardo was replaced by Leon Zaydenzal.
The hosts started the second half noticeably more energetically. Dmitry Pestryakov rolled a shot toward Lončar, who nearly pierced Leshchuk, but our goalkeeper blocked the ball on his second attempt. Following a corner, Dzyuba dangerously headed just wide of the post. Rolan Gusev responded to this start with a triple substitution: Ngamaleu, Marinkin, and Sergeyev were replaced by Yaroslav Gladyshev, Danil Glebov, and Konstantin Tyukavin.
The fresh players almost scored right away – Tyukavin elegantly chipped a defender, Glebov received the ball in the penalty area, but his close-range shot was off target. A little later, Kostya made a powerful effort from outside the penalty area, Gudiyev blocked it in front of him, and Artur, alone on the rebound, sent the ball over the bar.
A couple of minutes later, Zaydenzal elbowed Benshimol in the face in his own penalty area, and the referee, after reviewing the video replay, awarded a penalty. Leshchuk touched the ball after the injured player's shot from the spot, but it still darted into the net.
Leon could have made amends right then, firing a powerful shot into the top corner, but Gudiyev deflected the ball out for a corner. Gladyshev, with his trademark curling shot, nearly found the far corner of the hosts' goal, but it went wide. And yet, the blue-and-whites snatched three points thanks to a combination exactly similar to the one that led to Tyukavin's goal against Krasnodar. Fortunately, this time there was no suspicion of offside, and Kostya, after a pass from Maxim Osipenko, legally scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time!
Dynamo has 34 points and is seventh in the league table. Their next match will be away against Pari NN on April 18.
