The encounter of the Mir Russian Premier League 13th round that was held at VTB Arena, ended in a 2:1 win for Dynamo.
After several winless games Marcel Licka returned to Fedor Smolov – Konstantin Tyukavin tandem in the attack. Denis Makarov found himself on the right wing and Bitello shifted to the left where he replaced the injured Nicolas Ngamaleu. Anton Shunin and Sergey Parshivlyuk remained on the bench for the first time after missing the last matches.
The teams started the game cautiously. The first 10 minutes were remembered for Eli Dasa's excellent play who wiped Eric Bicfalvi off the ball inside Dynamo penalty area and Bitello's curling shot from 20 meters, which has been denied by Ilya Pomazun.
Bitello shifted constantly to the midfield and led his team's attacking play. In the 13th minute, the Brazilian showed good connection with Smolov, Fedor dragged the ball to the penalty box and passed it to a free Tyukavin. However, Ibrahima Cisse got in the way of his strike. Dynamo played a corner cunningly, and Emmerson had to clear the ball after Fabian Balbuena's header.
The White-Blues did not hesitate to shoot from distance: Dmitry Skopintsev almost caught Pomazun by surprise with an insidious strike, Smolov shot a little higher from the penalty line and Luis Chavez fired wide aiming at the far corner. A big advantage in ball possession and pressure brought a positive result to the hosts by the end of the first half.
In the 42nd minute, Skopintsev earned a corner kick and then crossed perfectly into the penalty area, where Tyukavin won the aerial battle against Emmerson and sent the ball into the back of the net.
The Yekaterinburg side was active at the beginning of the second half, creating a couple of dangerous chances. Denis Kulakov crossed the ball to the far post from the corner flag along an intricate trajectory, and it landed on top of the crossbar. A little later, Timur Ayupov beat Balbuena and struck from 11 meters – Igor Leshchuk put his left hand out in time and saved the team.
At the same time, free zones began to appear in the defense of the Ural team, which Dynamo players enjoyed using. Makarov, Tyukavin and Skopintsev ran away to one defender, but in the end they did not benefit from this chance, leaving the ball to each other. In the next attack, Makarov wanted to take Smolov out one-on-one with Pomazun. However, the centre-back guessed this maneuver. In his turn, Diego Laxalt made a clever pass to Tyukavin who struck to the goalkeeper in the fall.
In the 61st minute, Dynamo extended their lead. Smolov made an interception in the midfield and after a few touches made a hidden pass to Bitello. The Brazilian playmaker outran Emmerson and struck low – the ball touched the defender's leg and flew into the near top corner!
Dynamo succeeded in play, so the coaching staff did not interfere practically and by the 75th minute made only one change – Jorge Carrascal replaced Makarov as a winger. But still, fatigue gradually began to take its toll. So, Bitello, being under pressure, made a bad pass back and Andrey Yegorychev forgave the hosts, firing over the crossbar. A little later, Bicfalvi hit the post with his header from a few meters.
In the end, Leshchuk did everything to keep the clean sheet for the fourth consecutive match – he interrupted several dangerous crosses and denied a powerful header by Italo ... but at the last minute Ilya Ishkov scored through a stunning long-range shot to the left top corner – 1:2.
Dynamo collected 21 points and climbed to the fourth spot in the table. On November 2, our team will face Pari NN at home in the final group stage match of the Fonbet Russian Cup RPL Path.