The first friendly game at winter VTB training camp in Doha ended in a 2:1 win for the White-Blues.
Marcel Licka divided the footballers into two squads, and most of his men played 45 minutes. Two youngsters came out as starters – Ivan Lepsky formed a centre-back tandem with Fabian Balbuena, while Aleksandr Chupayov appeared at the forefront of the attack.
Being under serious loads, the White-Blues conceded already in the 4th minute. Tigran Barseghyan shot low from the right wing, and the Georgian central midfielder Jaba Kankava fired into the top corner. The ball found a hole in the net, slightly embarrassing commentators Ilya Shelogurov and Yevgenia Medvedeva, who flew to Doha to support the White-Blues.
Dynamo pulled themselves together quickly and started playing more often on the opponent's half of the pitch using intense pressure. Fedor Smolov registered the first shot this year – the Slovaks' goalkeeper Milan Boryan made a good save. Then, Denis Makarov tried to beat the Canadian keeper twice, but the latter was on guard both times.
Finally, in the 20th minute, our team scored an equaliser. Smolov assisted on Luis Chavez, who approached the penalty area and drilled the ball into the far top corner from 20 meters distance!
Both sides played with great desire, and by the end of the first half hour of the game, this resulted in a red card for Slovak captain Vladimir Weiss, who quarreled with Balbuena and left his team ten-men. Following the tradition of friendly encounters Slovan could release a new player instead of the son of their head coach.
Bitello looked very active and had a good chance to score from a free kick, but Boryan showed his skills again. Anton Shunin did the same by denying David Strelec's close range effort.
Nevertheless, Dynamo players put more pressure on the opponent's goal. In the 40th minute, Makarov robbed the Slovan defender and rolled the ball to Chupayov, who confidently scored his debut goal in the first team! A couple of minutes later, a mirror situation almost happened – Luka Gagnidze made a mistake near our penalty box, Strelec ran one-on-one with Shunin, but struck near the post.
During the break, the coaching staff of Dynamo team almost completely changed the line-up – only Bitello, Dasa and Shunin stayed on the pitch. And in the very first minute of the second half, the White-Blues' goalkeeper saved the team again, selflessly rushing under the strike of Kankava. Dynamo responded with a beautiful bicycle kick by Konstantin Tyukavin. However his cool attempt was not successful.
The game became fast and full of chances. Jaromir Zmrhal missed the target from inside the penalty area. A little later, Marko Tolic beat Leon Zaydenzal and went one-on-one with Ilya Kuptsov, who managed to save the Moscow side. The young goalkeeper played well in the next episode, turning the ball over the crossbar.
Dynamo could also extend their lead. Jorge Carrascal was not able to beat the goalkeeper with a smart shot. A cool chance was created by Yaroslav Gladyshev, who made a pass to Daniil Fomin. Dynamo central midfielder struck into the near corner – the goalkeeper of the Slovak side made a bright save once again.
In the end, Tolic had two great opportunities to equalise. First, after his free kick, the crossbar saved Dynamo, and then Kuptsov prevented the Croatian midfielder from making a difference in the last period of the game.
In the next match, our team will face the Qatari side Al-Wakrah on Thursday, January 25.
