Dynamo scores again, but loses in Krasnodar

The start of the new season for the blue and white turned out to be, if not the simplest, then certainly very bright. In the first official game of the year, Dynamo hosted Rostov in Novogorsk, which finished last season in the middle of the standings and defeated Dynamo (0:1) on the Novogorsk field.

The only goal then at the very end of the meeting was scored by Nadezhda Koltakova, who this offseason became a player ... of the Moscow Dynamo. However, the defender, alas, could not get out now against the former team – she is recovering from damage, but even without this confrontation there was enough intrigue in the match.

Take at least the score 1:1, which was burning on the Novogorsk scoreboard by the 20th minute of the match. On Elina Samoilova's goal in the 14th minute, the guests quickly responded with a long-range accurate strike by Tatyana Krasnova. The score did not quite reflect what was happening on the field, and therefore did not last so long. In the 40th minute, the blue and white were led forward by Kaylan Williams, and then the threads of the game were already in the hands of Dynamo football players.  All the same Samoilova and Williams added a goal each in the second half and set the final score – 4:1 in the first match of the season, they looked encouraging both for Dynamo fans and for the team itself.

It is also important to note the cool debuts for our team of newcomers this offseason. It was especially successful for Anna Sas and Daniela Basaeva, who immediately recorded two and one assists, respectively. But other players who joined Dynamo this winter also looked quite good: Zelka Belovan, Anastasia Shlapakova, Tatyana Danilochkina and Isidora Vuchkovich.

Of course, after such an optimistic start to the season, I wanted to see something bright in the next, already away, meeting with another team from the south of Russia - FC Krasnodar. Moreover, there were also enough reasons for optimism here. Take at least the statistics of the personal meetings of Dynamo and Krasnodar: the "townspeople" can neither win against the blue and white, nor even score. At least, they have not managed to do this even once in the previous 4 matches. I would not like this series to be interrupted right now.

But it's one thing to assume and make some plans before the game, another thing is that the game itself will judge who is stronger at this particular moment.

Our team failed in the first half, as the blue and white head coach Sergey Lavrentiev himself admitted. Yes, Krasnodar scored their long–awaited first goal in the history of the confrontation with Dynamo - Karina Samoylenko scored in the 27th minute. But it's not even about him, but about the game that dynamovki showed in the first half of the meeting. The team looked absolutely toothless in attack, despite the striking duo represented by Williams and Basaeva, who was also super motivated by the game against her former club. In 45 minutes it is difficult to remember something bright from Dynamo in the attack, since our girls struck the first shots on goal only at the very end of the half. And they were obviously not dangerous.

The Dynamo defense did not act in the best way against Krasnodar either. The guests repeatedly missed the fast black-and-green attackers to their goal and only luck helped Dynamo to take a break, losing with a minimum score.

However, the beginning of the second half is also difficult to call successful for Lavrentiev's wards. The Krasnodar team was still focused on the Dynamo gate and increased its advantage even faster than it opened the account in the first half. In the 52nd minute, Medea Zharkova beat almost the entire defense of her rivals and sent the second ball of Krasnodar to Arina Taranchenko's goal.

Nevertheless, there was still enough time – and to recoup, and even to snatch victory. Dynamovki took the first step towards this in the 72nd minute, when Elena Shesterneva, who came on as a substitute, cut the gap in the score with an excellent shot into the far corner. Elina Samoilova could compare, but her shot from the penalty line was just barely enough for the ball to fly into Natalia Silina's goal.

We must pay tribute to our team – the end of the meeting was left to Dynamo. And, perhaps, a draw result would have been fair on the whole if another Dynamo football player who came on as a substitute in the second half, Kristina Komissarova, had been more successful. In the 87th minute, either Kristina served or shot from a free kick - Silina had to transfer the ball over the crossbar for the goal.

Despite the five minutes added, our team did not succeed in the final assault. The dynamos didn't have enough strength for this, and probably emotions, too. If they had been so charged from the very beginning, the game could have turned out very differently.

For full information about the starting lineups and the events of the meeting, see the match center.