Dynamo head coach Marcel Licka answered journalists' questions after the Cup match with Krasnodar (1:1, 2:4 – on penalties).
— In the first half and during the first 15 minutes of the second one, our team played well both defensively and offensively. We had good balance, fast transitions, which we managed to finish with strikes. Unfortunately, the opponent had a very good goalkeeper, who helped his team a lot. The weather is different from Moscow – the heat is under 30 degrees, and after such an active football shown for 60 minutes, fatigue was felt. The opponent scored a nice equaliser, and a penalty shootout is always 50/50. Krasnodar were better on penalties.
— Is it a big problem that your team leads in the score regularly and then misses a win?
— It is clear that we already have a series of games in which we lost points in the end. We are trying, talking, working on it. Today, leading by 1:0, we could have scored 2-3 more goals. Unfortunately, we failed to save the score and keep the clean sheet. We need to score more goals and that's our problem.
— Did you notice that the pitch was too difficult for your team?
— The pitch was dry, but this is most likely a consequence of the hot weather. For Krasnodar, as well as for us, it caused also a problem, because they like to play fast football through a short pass.
— We saw that Diego Laxalt asked for being substituted by the end, but they were no more options. Is there any information on his condition?
— Everything is fine. There is no injury, he's just tired. We planned to replace Diego by the end, but Kutitsky asked for being substituted, and Laxalt didn't see his turn come. Diego is well done, he played the match until the final whistle.
— What is the reason for Luis Chavez's mistake, which led to a conceded goal?
— It happens sometimes. I never blame my players who want to play football. In such situations, when we play through a short pass, there are ball losses. We can't just kick the ball out of our own half of the pitch. Fans don't want to see this kind of football. Luis understands that he made a mistake. We need to forget about it as soon as possible and show everything we can in the match against Spartak on Saturday.
— Why did Konstantin Tyukavin and Fedor Smolov perform the first two penalties in the penalty shootout?
— I asked my players who wanted to perform a penalty, and those who expressed desire got this chance. Tyuka asked to be the first, Smol – the second, Moumi – the third, and Bitello had to perform the fixth one. Then Fabi said that he would be fourth. So we made this decision together with the players.