The encounter of the Mir Russian Premier League 20th round that was held at VTB Arena, ended in a 2:0 win for the White-Blues.
The game started without any probing. Dynamo players moved forward sturdily. On the 4th minute, Konstantin Tyukavin established himself on the left wing of the attack and crossed to Jorge Carrascal, who headed the ball over the top corner. Akhmat responded even more dangerously: Mohamed Konate assisted neatly on Yevgeny Kharin, who hit the post from the penalty line.
Then, Giorgi Shelia truly saved his team twice, denying a long-range shot from Tyukavin and a close-range header by Marichal after a corner kick. Right after that, Denis Makarov outran two defenders, but he couldn't hit the near corner by his weaker right foot.
Akhmat attacked less, but did so effectively – Konate had good chances to score, staying alone when shooting twice from the center of the penalty area, but fortunately, both times the ball flew past the post. In another episode, Lechi Sadulayev carried the ball down the left wing and made a pass to Camilo – again, off target.
After a brief lull, Dynamo players organized a classy quick attack – Chavez shook off his opponent, saw Bitello's run, who entered the penalty box, took the ball under control, and shot at the near corner – Shelia was vigilant again. But the Grozny side goalkeeper was powerless on the 39th minute, when Chavez received the ball 25 meters from the goal, worked it onto his left, and delivered an incredible strike into the left top corner!
The interesting events in the first half did not end there. First, the visitors almost managed to equalize: Marichal missed the ball in his own penalty box, and Igor Leshchuk succeeded in denying a close-range shot from Darko Todorovic. In the last minute, the Grozny team stayed ten men – Kharin received a second yellow card for evident simulation.
From the very beginning of the second half, the White-Blues pinned their opponents back into their own penalty area and began to methodically bombard Shelia's goal. After a slight deflection Tyukavin's shot went close to the post, the Grozny goalkeeper denied Eli Dasa's effort, and the defenders did not allow Bitello to take a targeted shot.
However, the visitors were not ready to give up – Todorovic failed to capitalize on two nice opportunities in a row, first hitting the post and then later missing the corner from a promising position. Tyukavin punished the Grozny side for prodigality. Kostya benefited from Shelia's first mistake and rolled the ball into the empty net from the goal line – 2:0.
Having doubled their lead, Dynamo footballers started to play more cautiously at their own goal, and substitutions added freshness to the attack – Yaroslav Gladyshev, Fedor Smolov, and Dmitry Skopintsev came onto the pitch. By the end, our team was closer to making the score bigger, but there was a lack of accuracy in the final third.
Dynamo collected 38 points and stay third in the league table, 2 points behind the leading Zenit. In the next match, both sides will meet in Saint Petersburg on March 13th as part of the Fonbet Russian Cup RPL Path quarterfinals.
