BATTLE OF LOSERS
“Wings of the Soviets” and Moscow “Dynamo” can be called the losers of the start of the RPL championship or the Russian Cup. The blue and whites, together with their new helmsman Marcel Licka, needed to change course and break the unfortunate streak of two straight losses.
Samara, after the defeat in the Russian Cup, of the newcomer to the championship Baltika, it was necessary to win in a brilliant game, which was to show that with the constant loss of a large number of players in the offseason, the club remains at float and can squeeze the most out of any set of performers.
GOAL 106 BY FEDOR SMOLOV
Surprisingly, with an even game overall, a big score on the scoreboard late in the first half didn’t surprise anyone. Dynamo acted like a cold-blooded football assassin. From the minimum contributed by the blue and white owners, the capital club squeezed the absolute maximum. Somehow calmly and without particular nerves, the Muscovites pointed to the Volzhans instead. Arsen Zakharyan, as if reassured by rumors about the imminent transfer to the field of Roman “Lazio”, built the first goal, beating the “Wings” goalkeeper Bogdan Ovsyannikov, who clearly made a mistake at the start. In addition, Konstantin Tyukavin habitually doubled the score in the match with the transfer of the same Zakharyan.
FC Dynamo (Moscow)
But Dynamo also could not afford to play fair, having made a serious mistake in defense, the guests returned the intrigue to the game for a while. Fernando Costanza “thanks” to another ridiculous error by Daniil Fomin was left alone in front of Anton Shuninin and calmly returned a ball. The joy of Igor Osinkin’s wards was not long in coming, the capital’s guests scored the third goal. This time, Fedor Smolov did not forgive the mistakes of the hosts, scoring his 106th goal in the Russian championship and for the second time in a row this season. The torrential rain that was falling at that very moment in Samara seemed to cry over the prospects of the “wings” in a particular match. Dynamo had a couple more chances, but that would have been too much for the shaky favourite.
BALE’S NEUROTIC GUN
The 35 degree heat and wild closeness have made their own adjustments over the course of the match. Dinamo, who was quick in the first half, slowed down, and Ala, as used to a summer like Samara’s, on the contrary, increased their aggressiveness and decided at all costs that the unpleasant numbers on the scoreboard had to be changed. All the efforts of the owners were broken on the outskirts of the penalty area, but if it does not come from endless perepasovki and technical actions around Dynamo’s possessions, you could try, for example, to beat from a distance.
In Glenn Bale’s homeland of the Netherlands, they hit hard and with precision. Glenn remembered this killing ability just in time. Fifteen minutes before the end of regulation time, Bale scored the top nine of Shunin’s goal with a powerful shot from twenty meters, simultaneously scoring the most beautiful ball in the RPL of the 2023-2024 season. Thus, a rare European in our championship, allowed the hosts to dream that it is possible to get away from the inevitable defeat in this match. Dynamo seemed to have disappeared from the field. Early faith in victory is a harbinger of trouble.
At the end of the match, the advantage of the Samara team was overwhelming, the Blue and Whites were already thinking about how to get their feet out of this meat grinder. But the efforts of the “Wings” were not in vain: in the 89th minute, the St. Petersburg referee Artyom Lyubimov called a handball in the penalty area. The Wings’ Joker was ruthless: 3-3 in a seemingly hopeless match. The logical denouement of a football action movie in Samara. The chair sways under Dynamo coach Marcel Lichka.
