The second friendly game that was held at winter VTB training camp in Doha, ended in a 9:2 win over Al-Wakrah.
This time, Igor Leshchuk started as a goalkeeper. Fedor Smolov played the playmaking role, while three youngsters Ulvi Babayev, Yaroslav Gladyshev and Konstantin Tyukavin established themselves in the attacking group.
Dynamo started the match confidently and created a dangerous chance soon. In the first minute Smolov shot along the goal, after which Dmitry Skopintsev fired next to the post from inside the penalty area. And then the real goalscoring boom began. First, Gladyshev crossed from the right wing and Daniil Fomin scored a brilliant header.
A couple of minutes later, using a through-ball, Yaroslav sent Tyukavin one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and our forward won this duel calmly. Next, Kostya made a return favor to Gladyshev, who scored Dynamo's third goal. So, by the 12th minute, Dynamo were leading by 3:0.
Then a significant event happened: Dmitry Skopintsev assisted on Ulvi Babayev, who broke through to the penalty area and hit the far corner, scoring his debut goal for the first team. In the 24th minute, Gladyshev registered an assistant hat-trick, rolling the ball to Tyukavin's foot. The talented striker fired into the top corner in one touch.
Only after that, the White-Blues slowed down a little and let the opponent hold several attacks. It is worth of remark that Al-Wakrah could not count on 5 key players being involved in the Asian Cup and the African Cup of Nations. By the end of half an hour of the game, the Qataris managed to score their opener: Stanislav Bessmertnyi made a mistake near Dynamo's penalty box, and Ayub Assal surprised Leshchuk sending the ball into an empty net.
The end of the half turned out to be bright for our team. First, the referee awarded Dynamo a free kick inside the Al-Wakrah penalty area for the goalkeeper's actions who picked up the ball after a defender's pass. Smolov converted this attempt nicely assisted by Luka Gagnidze. By the half-time whistle Fedor made a brace curling the ball into the right bottom corner. As a result, an incredible 7:1 in 45 minutes of play!
After the break, the coaching staff changed the squad almost completely – only Leshchuk, Skopintsev and Fomin stayed in action. At the same time, Dynamo continued to dominate and create chances with enviable regularity. Aleksandr Chupayov missed the target from a killing position, but the most active player of Al-Wakrah Assal benefited from his opportunity beating Leon Zaydenzal in the penalty area.
Then, Ilya Kuptsov, celebrating his 22nd birthday, replaced Leshchuk at the goal. Looking ahead, let's say that Ilya, as in the first encounter, kept the clean sheet during his half hour, although he had little work.
After a couple of minutes, our team restored the lead: Denis Makarov hit the far corner with his trademark curling shot from outside the penalty area. Then, Denis made an assist in another goal. The ball ricocheted off the defender into the net, but the referee canceled this action because Makarov couldn't leave the ball in game. In the end, Dynamo still scored the ninth goal: Gladyshev registered the fourth assist in the match, and Chupayov converted it into the back of an empty net.
The first winter VTB training camp came to an end. Our team will return to Moscow on Thursday, and on January 31st Dynamo will fly to Turkey for the second training camp.
