Dynamo loses to Lokomotiv and leaves Winline Russian Cup

The second meeting of Dynamo and Lokomotiv this season did not take place as part of the scheduled match of the next round of the Super League, but a little earlier - and as part of the Winline Cup of Russia. By the way, Dynamo and Loko will meet in the championship in two weeks, so August for both teams will be marked by the derby. It can be assumed that by the third meeting, which will take place in Cherkizovo, the teams will know absolutely everything about each other.

The very first series of confrontation, which we saw in March in the same Novogorsk, became one of the best moments of this season for the Dynamo team. Not only did the white-blues win a big beautiful victory (3:0), but they also interrupted their black series of games with teams from the "big three" (CSKA, Zenit, Lokomotiv). Last season, Sergei Lavrentyev's charges did not have a single such victory. And now it has finally happened!

It is interesting that just after the defeat from the white-blues in Novogorsk, Lokomotiv had a cool 8-match unbeaten streak (7 wins, 1 draw, goal difference 18-2). Dynamo also showed what they are capable of this season: after the match with Loko, they did not lose another 6 matches and also extended their unbeaten streak to 8 matches (7 wins, 1 draw, goals 16-5). In general, it is not surprising that Dynamo and Lokomotiv are currently fighting hard for the third place in the standings.

But after today's match, only one club will continue to fight for the trophy. And here, of course, the psychological advantage was on the side of the railwaywomen. Firstly, they are two-time winners of the trophy, and secondly, Elena Fomina's charges are more stable this season than Dynamo, who have 4 losses in their last 6 games. The railwaywomen have only two defeats this year, including that one from Dynamo in March.

However, when it comes to a tournament where one game decides everything, such situations are the last thing that comes to mind.

The beginning of the match, as expected, belonged to the guests. In many ways, this was influenced by serious changes in the Dynamo lineup. Thus, Ekaterina Sergeeva and Galina Geybieva entered the game in the main lineup of the white-blues, for whom appearing in the starting lineup is already a great achievement. Kristina Komissarova, who practically did not play in the last matches due to health problems, also entered the game from the first minutes. But Kaylan Williams remained on the bench. It is not surprising that Lokomotiv, playing in an optimal lineup, looked more interesting and, most importantly, more dangerous. The railway workers created their first scoring opportunity already in the 8th minute, and there would have been a goal if one of the Lokomotiv legionnaires had not been caught offside. However, this was only the beginning, and Dynamo goalkeeper Diana Ponomareva had a lot of work to do in this match. In addition to all the problems with the lineup, there was a forced substitution of the main central defender in the 15th minute – Helena Bozic was replaced by Jose-Diana Pamen Tchato.

It goes without saying that the Railwaywomen continued to press the pressure at the Dynamo goal, realizing that the result in this game was essentially in their hands and feet. True, up until a certain point, Lokomotiv did not have any clear-cut chances. Each time, the red-greens themselves were either inaccurate in their shots or passes, or the Dynamo defenders acted flawlessly.

But it was felt that this could not continue for long. And the inevitable happened in the 32nd minute. The team's newcomer, Serbian Elena Chubrilo, picked up the ball, seemingly far from the Dynamo penalty area, moved forward a little and shot so that the ball, even after a ricochet from one of the Dynamo players, hit the goal. Diana Ponomareva tried to save and direct the ball to the corner, but it only hit the crossbar and went into the goal - 0:1. The railwaywomen did not rest on the goal, creating several more good opportunities for themselves. However, the white-blues also pulled themselves together and did not allow their opponents to catch the courage after such a goal. Largely due to this, the first half ended with a minimal advantage for the guests.

The second half of the match, in which Dynamo had to save itself at all costs, the white-blues began with a double substitution: instead of Galina Geybieva and Ekaterina Sergeeva, whom the railway workers practically did not allow to create anything in the attack in the first half, Kaylan Williams and Taisiya Razvorotneva came out. If the appearance of the experienced American was expected, then the appearance of a young football player playing for the youth team of the white-blues was a surprise. Especially in such a situation, when Dynamo had to score. Well, for 20-year-old Taisiya, this was her debut for the main team. So here we can only congratulate the football player!

It is interesting that almost immediately after the resumption of the game, the Dynamo players could have equalized the score: Matic had a good moment, but the Dynamo Serbian was unable to score against Angelina Gayer, who defended the goal of Lokomotiv in this match. The Railwaywomen, as in the first half, continued to have the ball and put pressure on Ponomareva's goal, but they did it at a less frantic pace. And Tijana Matic's moment showed that the Dynamo players will also have their chances to win back. They just need to take advantage of them. But Sergey Lavrentyev's charges had problems with this again.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the goalkeeper once again became the hero of Dynamo. Diana Ponomareva saved several games in this game. For example, the Railwaywomen could have closed all the questions by the 60th minute, but our goalkeeper did not allow it.

However, she did not save in the 73rd minute either. Elena Chubrilo was in good shape this Sunday in the literal sense of the word. This time, after Maria Galai had cleared the ball from the penalty area, the Serbian shot on the fly so that Ponomareva was powerless. 0:2 with 15 minutes left looked like a death sentence.

But Kaylan Williams gave Dynamo fans hope for salvation. The American, who had not scored for a long time, accepted a pass from Elena Shesterneva and dealt with Gayer one-on-one, reducing the score to a minimum 5-7 minutes before the end of the game.

Immediately, the white-blues received the right to a dangerous penalty kick near and right in the center of the Lokomotiv goal. Three players could have taken it, but the last word went to Elina Samoilova, who sent the ball too high...

And although five minutes were added to the main time of the match, and in fact the teams played 6.5, our girls were unable to stage a final assault. Unfortunately, the railway workers did not waver and defended their winning score. The white-blues are leaving the Winline Russian Cup at the quarter-final stage (last season it was 1/8) and can now focus on fighting for medals in the Super League.

See the full information about the starting lineups and the events of the meeting in the match center.