The encounter of the Mir Russian Premier League 18th round that was held at Voronezh, ended in a 1:1 draw.
For the last match of the year, Marcel Licka fielded Anton Shunin as a starter. The 36-year-old goalkeeper registered his 300th RPL match in Dynamo jersey. Roberto Fernandez returned to the starting line-up after suspension, while Daniil Fomin replaced Diego Laxalt in the defensive zone. Yaroslav Gladyshev came out on the right wing of the attack.
It was snowing all weekend in Voronezh, so the footballers played with an orange ball, which stood in stark contrast to the white-green-brown pitch. In such weather, it was important to score an early goal. In the 4th minute Bitello broke through down the left channel and crossed to Konstantin Tyukavin, who hit the post from the sharp angle.
A little later, Kostya struck low from more promising position, and Vitaly Gudiyev was able to turn the ball away to a corner. In his turn, Shunin did not stay out of work – Ruslan Magal shot from 10 meters without any resistance, but Anton jumped to the near corner and grabbed the ball.
As the quality of the pitch became worse, teams began to use long passes more often focusing on the speed and fighting spirit of the forwards. There were a lot of tackles in all areas of the pitch, in which Bitello got the most. In one episode, the Brazilian was fouled on by Irakli Kvekveskiri, who received a yellow card for his action, as well as Jorge Carrascal, who stood up for the teammate.
Dynamo found their chance by the end of half an hour of the game: Dmitry Skopintsev crossed to the penalty box from the left wing. Tyukavin headed the ball to the far post, where Gladyshev handled it technically and rolled it into the left bottom corner – 1:0. Soon, Tyukavin could extend his goalscoring streak in a fast attack, but one of Fakel defenders prevented him from scoring in the sixth match in a row.
After the break, both sides faced problems in creating something interesting in attack, but even in such conditions the White-Blues managed to demonstrate their skills. Gladyshev was close to make a brace. However, his long-range effort was denied by Gudiyev. In the next offensive Carrascal outran two defenders and delivered the ball to the penalty area, where it was intercepted by the opponent at the last moment.
The White-Blues looked solid in defense, stopping the Voronezh team on the approaches to the penalty box. The hosts created the first dangerous chance in the 73rd minute, when Fedor Kudryashov fired from 13 meters – fortunately, Fernandez blocked this effort. The hosts added in pressure and the referee awarded Fakel a controversial penalty in the 78th minute. Fabian Balbuena elbowed Andrey Mendel's head slightly, and Maksim Maximov converted an eleven-meter attempt.
Licka reacted to the conceded goal with a double substitution – Gladyshev and Carrascal were replaced by Denis Makarov and Nicholas Marichal. It was Denis who could restore Dynamo lead soon – he got a pass inside the penalty area, dribbled the opponent and almost curled the ball into the far top corner. A little later, Kudryashov pushed Tyukavin in the back, who fell down inside the penalty box, but this time the referee's whistle was silent.
Thanks to the 18th round draw which extended Dynamo winless streak in all tournaments to 12 matches, the White-Blues collected 32 points and finished the first part of the championship in third place.