Licka's master class and Zaydenzal's nice goal: Dynamo beat 2DROTS at VTB Arena

Marcel Licka could count only on a dozen outfield players, so a large group of Dynamo-2 footballers, as well as their coach Vladimir Rykov and Amkal founder German El Classico joined the team.

The performance of popular rapper Obladaet and a fiery pre-match show in the style of Mortal Kombat stirred the players and fans before the match. After such a show, Dynamo and the Samurai side simply could not play a boring match and leave 22 000 fans without a football spectacle.

In the first minutes, all attention was focused on the coaches of two teams – Marcel Licka and Dmitry Kuznetsov, who came to the pitch in the starting line-ups. Marcel, as he himself told previously, took the role of Fedor Smolov and directed his team's play. Already in the second minute, he sent Konstantin Tyukavin one-on-one with the goalkeeper with one-touch pass, but the referee flagged for offside.

Dynamo head coach also tried to play for the sake of the public – his chest pass to 18-year-old Yegor Nazarenko or ball saving in a tackle were worth to be noticed. As a result, Licka spent 8 minutes and a half on the pitch. Then he was replaced by Bitello and immediately took part in a flash interview outside the pitch.

The Brazilian central midfielder added beauty and sharpness to Dynamo's play immediately. He started a brilliant combination, which Daniil Lesovoy finished with a shot at the defender. In the next episode, Roberto Fernandez intercepted the ball on the other half of the pitch and assisted on Lesovoy, whose cross was stopped by 2DROTS goalkeeper.

The Paraguayan centre-back liked to go on the attack, and in the 24th minute he opened the score by heading the ball finely into the bottom corner after a cool cross by Bitello from the right wing. The visitors started moving more actively, but they managed to create dangerous chances only from the set-pieces – for example, Vladislav Semenov and Vladislav Oslonovsky could beat Anton Shunin twice, but both times the ball flew near the post.

Dynamo players continued to take courage in the attack: Bitello demonstrated excellent technique, Tyukavin made backheel passes, while Daniil Fomin almost sent the ball over the goalkeeper from the center of the pitch. For the last 5 minutes of the first half, German El Classico came in, and then Dynamo conceded unexpectedly. Fomin lost the ball at his own penalty area, Gavucho made a pass forward. Stanislav Manayev ran one-on-one with Shunin and rolled the ball into the far corner.

For the second half, Dynamo came out in a squad consisting of half of the players of the first team and Dynamo-2. The young footballers were eager to establish themselves, and one of them scored a game winning goal. Leon Zaydenzal, who was very active as a right-back, received the ball from Bitello, shifted to the center and hit the back of the net with a stunning ricochet from the post.

2DROTS could have come from behind very quickly: Gavucho penetrated into the penalty area and shot into the far corner – just wide. Next, a dangerous 20-meter free kick ended goalless with a strike to the wall and finishing into the sky. After that, Dynamo calmed down the game and didn't allow the visitors to approach their goal.

15 minutes before the final whistle, Rykov made an appearance to the applause of the fans, and Ilya Kuptsov replaced Shunin at the goal. At the same time, Vladimir moved to the unusual position of a striker, and another 18-year-old debutant Kirill Isaev took his place in the center of defense. In the 84th minute, Rykov could have punished the Samurai side by putting his foot under a long-range shot, but the ball bounced off the post.

As a result, the regular time ended by 2:1, after which shootout series started. Before each pair of shots, it was determined by lot whether the players would execute penalties or shootouts. Dynamo won here too by 4:3. Yaroslav Gladyshev and Ivan Zazvonkin converted their penalties in a Panenka style, Ivan Lepsky shot from the penalty spot into the corner, and Zaydenzal executed the decisive shootout.

Next Saturday, November 25, our team will face CSKA in an away derby, which will open the second round for both clubs.