The final friendly encounter at winter VTB training camps ended in a 2:1 win for the White-Blues.
For Saturday's derby, both coaches fielded squads as close as possible to the competitive ones. Sergey Parshivlyuk appeared as a left-back, while Diego Laxalt, Luis Chavez and Daniil Fomin formed a triangle in the midfield.
The start of the match was marked by average speed and Dynamo playing advantage. In the 11th minute, Konstantin Tyukavin intercepted the ball on the opposite half of the pitch, Laxalt gave it to Denis Makarov, who fell inside the penalty box after the contact with Moises. However, the referee's whistle was silent.
Laxalt then organized the next offensive and dragged the ball well to the penalty area, where Willian Rocha met the Uruguayan roughly. Bitello got the ball and fired over the crossbar. Few minutes later, Tyukavin made an unexpected backheel pass to Chavez, but the Mexican midfielder also lacked accuracy.
The Armymen seized the initiative during the second part of the half. Igor Leshchuk was the main character in this period. Dynamo goalkeeper consistently chose a great position on the goal line and denied the efforts of Ivan Oblyakov, Abbosbek Fayzullayev and Rocha. The most dangerous chance came in the 41st minute, when Viktor Davila crossed into the penalty area, from where Fedor Chalov hit the crossbar.
The second half also started with the Armymen's chance. Davila received the ball inside the penalty box, and only Leshchuk's timely exit did not allow the Chilean striker to open the score – he struck near the post. The Red-Blues enjoyed their advantage, but they could not capitalise on ball possession.
For the last half hour of the match, Jorge Carrascal, who had recovered from a minor injury, appeared on the pitch. The Colombian replaced Fomin and immediately showed his famous dribbling skills. Dynamo became more active and began to approach more often to the opponent's half of the pitch. Laxalt dragged the ball to the CSKA penalty box, where Tyukavin picked it up and shot tightly into the near corner – Vladislav Torop barely converted it to a corner in the fall.
And yet, after a positional attack held in the 72nd minute, the Armymen took their lead – Victor Mendes dropped the ball to Milan Gajic, and the Serbian sent it powerfully right next to the post. Soon the full-back could have scored a brace, but this time his shot from the same distance was denied by Leshchuk.
Marcel Licka reacted to the conceded goal with four substitutions, and one of them turned out to be decisive. Carrascal assisted on Vyacheslav Grulev, who levelled the match with a magnificent shot to the top corner. In one of the last attacks, Dynamo were able to pull out a victory – Chavez found Carrascal in the penalty box, and Jorge netted the game winning goal against his former club. The fiery ending of the match continued after the final whistle in the stands, where numerous fans of both teams staged a colorful fire show.
Dynamo will return to Moscow tomorrow and will continue preparations for the first official game of 2024 against Lokomotiv, which will be held on Sunday, March 3.
