The meeting of the 16th round of the World of the Russian Premier League, held in Voronezh, ended with a score of 1:1.
Marcel Licka fielded 7 players who had not been to the national teams and were systematically preparing for the championship match in the starting lineup, and of those who had made transatlantic flights, only Luis Chavez and Nicolas Marichal came out. This time, El-Mehdi Maouhoub appeared at the forefront of the attack, while Konstantin Tyukavin started the match on the bench for the first time this season.
The first 15 minutes were spent in the usual struggle for matches in Voronezh and were remembered only for Dylan Mertens' inaccurate long-range strike, after which Luis Chavez also missed the target with his header, closing a cross from Daniil Fomin.
Gradually, Fakel took the advantage and almost opened the scoring. Mohamed Brahimi found Alexei Kashtanov in the penalty area with a long cross, who headed Igor Leschuk's goal from point-blank range. Fortunately, the referee called offside. A couple of minutes later, Kashtanov pushed Alexander Kutitsky away from the ball and from a good position missed the target.
And then the oldest football law kicked in. The Dynamo players carried out a protracted attack, Artur passed the ball to Fomin in the center, and the captain of the white-blues curled the ball into the top corner from more than 20 meters with a magnificent shot!
After the goal, the game ignited with renewed vigor, there were a lot of emotions – especially from the hosts, who often appealed to the referee. The coach of Voronezh Dmitry Pyatibratov even received a yellow card. The really dangerous situation at Leshchuk's gate arose only once, when Kashtanov again struck above the gate from outside the penalty area.
The second half began with a tight long–range strike by Vyacheslav Yakimov - Leshchuk confidently repelled it with his fists. Dynamo responded with a quick counterattack, in which Maouhoub could not take Fomin one-on-one, giving too weak a transfer. In a tight fight in all areas of the field, Dynamo players were not inferior to the opponent.
Roberto Fernandez should have increased the advantage of the blue and white when, after a corner, Kutitskiy clipped the ball to the far post, but the Paraguayan defender did not hit the target from the goalkeeper's line. Leshchuk immediately dragged Mertens' shot from behind the penalty area.
At the end of the half, Tyukavin and Dmitry Skopintsev replaced Maukhub and Yaroslav Gladyshev, and Dynamo switched to playing three central defenders. It took five minutes for Kostya to make the first strike – after Arthur's overhang, he punched his head over the crossbar.
In the 77th minute, the Dynamo defense line became even more experimental: Diego Laxalt dropped to the place of Kutitskiy who was injured, and Dmitry Alexandrov, who made his debut in the Premier League, entered the defensive zone. Jorge Carrascal also appeared on the field, who executed a promising free kick right in the center of the goal, but hit the wall.
In the end, the hosts managed to create serious pressure, and Leshchuk saved the team twice, repelling dangerous blows from Yevgeny Markov and Irakli Kwekveskiri. Even the home goalkeeper joined the attack on the corner, and Tyukavin almost punished him with a blow from the center of the field – he was separated from the goal by centimeters. Already in the 99th minute, with seven added, the Fakel leveled the score - Nikolai Giorgobiani closed the canopy from the right flank.
Dynamo scored 31 points and occupy the fifth place in the standings. Now the blue and white will play in an away cup match with Lokomotiv on November 28.
