Dynamo lost to Spartak in the last home game of the season

The missed victory in the previous match against CSKA almost ended the season for Sergei Lavrentiev's team. Formally, of course, this is not the case. After all, there are still two matches ahead, one of which is a principal home derby with Spartak.

But what about fulfilling the main task - winning bronze medals of the Super League - then the defeat against the army team is so disappointing that it put an end to the dreams of the blue and white about the club's first medals in history. And considering that Dynamo women's players opened the scoring and were leading until the 75th minute against one of the two main favorites of the season, the ending of the meeting at Luzhniki frankly disappointed. Although it is also wrong to call the salvation of the army club unfair.

The fact that the army women turned the tide of a bad match for themselves in 10 minutes and at the very end is not an indicator. They looked more dangerous and active throughout if not the whole meeting, then most of it. It was no coincidence that several times during the game the thought occurred: if CSKA had played like that from the first minutes, everything could have ended for the Dynamo team in the first half. So we need to thank Elena Shesternyova and Helena Bozic, who gave hope to the fans of the blue-white, and move on

Moving forward, there's a new capital derby, and unlike the meeting with CSKA, it won't be friendly at all. Not only did Spartak beat Dynamo in the first round match (1:0), which took place in June in Sokolniki, but also in their debut season, they will be higher than the blue-whites in the standings. This fact was also recorded following the last round. After Spartak defeated Rostov and Dynamo lost to CSKA, the gap between the red-and-white increased to 8 points. Unreachable over the distance of the two matches remaining this season...

But still, one goal seems to remain for the Dynamo team. If no one can move Dynamo from the 5th place (something incredible would have to happen), then it is quite possible and, of course, important to slow down and deprive Spartak of their chances for medals in their first season in the Super League! And considering that recent Dynamo players Karina Baklanova and Marina Fedorova are also vying for these medals on the red-and-white team, doing so was doubly important

And without that, is it really worth looking for motivation in the matches between Dynamo and Spartak?

The incredible composition of the goalkeeping team, at first glance, caught my eye immediately after the announcement of the starting lineups: Anastasia Shchervyanina took her place in the goal for the first time in the Super League match, while 18-year-old Maria Leontyeva, who had never been included in the main team's roster before, remained on the bench.

The reason for such tectonic changes in the blue-whites' goalkeeping line turned out to be banal: Diana Ponomaryova and Arina Taranchenko, who previously confidently occupied the Dynamo goal in all official tournaments of the main team, fell ill with a high fever and could not help the team.

Anastasia got a fantastic chance to prove herself in a match of this level, and I wanted to wish her the same fantastic luck.

The game really turned out to be fantastic — both in terms of tension, plot, and the beauty of goals scored in this match. As often happens in Dynamo matches, a calm start gave way to a real hurricane of moments — with both the home team and the visitors involved. And moments were followed by goals.

It was the Dynamo players who opened the scoring spree. Already in the 15th minute, the blue-white team skillfully caught their opponents on a counterattack: Tiyana Matich ran away with the ball, made a cutting pass to Kamilla Abashilova, and she perfectly laid it off to Elena Shesternyova, who put the ball into an empty net! The beginning was left to Dynamo

Euphoria, of course, did not happen, but there was no need to rejoice for a long time. 10 minutes after Dynamo scored their goal, Spartak players scored theirs. And how! Serbian Tijana Filipović, with her back to our goal, elegantly sent the ball past Shchervyanina with her heel. It was very difficult to do something in this situation. As it turned out, this was only the beginning of the show performed by the Spartak football player.

In less than five minutes, she took advantage of the inconsistency of Dynamo defenders and jumped one-on-one with the blue-and-white goalkeeper. Tijana left no chances for Anastasia and took her team forward.

Sergei Lavrentiev's wards, who lost their advantage in just five minutes, seemed to be completely discouraged, but that would have been unforgivable in a derby and a game of such intensity. At the 37th minute, Shesternyova crossed into the corner of the penalty area, and there Elina Samoylova struck in the fight with the defender. The ball went slightly above the goal, but still it was not bad. And here it would be necessary to go on a break at least with a minimal score gap, but...

The indefatigable Filipović again took everything into her own hands and feet and created another masterpiece: this time with a long-range shot into the far corner of Anastasia Shchervyanina's goal

And still, the Dynamo players were ready to fight and respond with dignity. Right before the break, Kristina Komissarova got hold of the ball in the goal area and passed it to Kamilla Abashilova for a shot. She struck — close to the post!

The second half seemed to be a continuation of the first one's ending, as if the teams had not finished playing it and so it began... with a goal from Dynamo!

In the 49th minute, Kaylan Williams, who had replaced the center-back position with the center forward, expertly received a pass from Yulia Bessolova and sent it into the far corner of Spartak's goal with billiard precision! And so she revived the intrigue for the second half.

The blue-and-whites could have finally returned to the game just a few minutes after the second goal. But — Elena Shesternyova missed the target from a meter away and couldn't believe what had happened...

Passions on the field began to heat up, it even came to a warning to Spartak head coach Vadim Kozlov, who said something very long and hot to the match referee Kristina Dushkova. She didn't mince words and issued a yellow card to the red-and-white mentor. It really was nervous on the field in Novogorsk, although there were no super dangerous moments in the middle of the second half.

Only another goal from his team could calm down the Spartak coach. And the one who did this best that evening took on this task. In the 78th minute, Tiyana Filipovich passed Abashilova on the left flank, shifted to the center of the penalty area and struck right into the corner — 2:4 and a poker from the Serbian Spartak player! As they say, there would be no tricks against such a crowbar

Spartak continued their pursuit of Lokomotiv and the bronze medals of the Super League, Dynamo suffered its third defeat in a row, but it is unlikely anything will move it from fifth place now.

For full information on starting lineups and events of the game, see the match center