Dynamo scored, but lost to Zenit in St. Petersburg

The end of spring 2025 was a real test of strength for Dynamo: two consecutive games with the leaders of the championship - CSKA and Zenit – drew a line under the start of the season for the blue and white. Without a doubt, even without taking into account these two super matches, the start of this season was very difficult for our team.

A great start with the home defeat of Rostov, then several offensive defeats, one of which led to the resignation of the long-term head coach of the blue and white team, Sergei Lavrentiev, the appointment of acting Alexander Katasonov, two cool character victories over Yenisei and Chertanovo, an unexpected draw at home with Zvezda-2005, and how once a predictable defeat from the CSKA supergrand. In general, those are still Russian-roller coasters (American Kaylan Williams is the best scorer of the team with 5 balls!) it turned out this spring at the Dynamo team.

There is an international break ahead for the national team games for three weeks, when you can take a little breath (for the players) and work with the team (for the coaches) in a non–emergency mode. But before that – another test in the person of the current champion of the Winline Super League, and even on his field.

However, if you look at the performances of Zenit since the beginning of the season, you can't say that the blue and white are waiting for a new meeting with an invincible opponent. Yes, the St. Petersburg team has never lost to anyone this season, but it still lost points, and in completely different circumstances. If a draw with Spartak (0-0) away is understandable and even acceptable as a result for the guest team, then home zeros with Samara Wings of the Soviets is a clear loss of points, which may not be enough at the end of the championship. This misfire can only be explained by the fact that it was the very start of the season, the first round of the championship, and Olga Poryadina's team had just begun to get into the rhythm of the game.

Which, of course, does not prevent our team and its coaching staff from extracting something useful for themselves from these games and using it directly in a personal meeting with the current league champion. Another motivating factor is the series of defeats of the blue and white in matches with Zenit, which has already been 5 matches in a row. And something has to be done about it.

And what, in fact, can be done about it? When the team from St. Petersburg has performers like Gabriela Gzhivinska. The top scorer in the confrontation between Zenit and Dynamo had 4 goals scored against the blue and white. The Polish football player did not postpone her fifth goal for a long time either: she sent it with a beautiful long-range shot already in the 9th minute.

And Dynamo, as in the previous match with CSKA, entered the game, already losing in the score: if the blue and white "burned" 0:2 with the army club by the 5th minute, now with Zenit they missed their first goal by the end of the first ten minutes.… Of course, with such debuts, winning matches is not that impossible, but very difficult.

Already inspired by the fastball, the St. Petersburg team began to create new and new opportunities for themselves to increase the advantage. They could have done it in the first half hour, but the Dynamo defense coped well with Zenit pressure for the time being. However, Zenit still achieved a new success in the first half, even though it happened already at the end of the half. This time the hero of the episode turned out to be Alyona Andreeva, who, after winning a single combat with the defender of Dynamo, sent the second ball in this game into the net of Arina Taranchenko.

The hostesses also completed the first half of the meeting with their next attack and corner. Of course, there was something for the blue and white coaching staff to think about during the break.

Dynamo has traditionally started the second half with a substitution: Instead of Daniela Basaeva, Kaylan Williams entered the field. Only now the second half of the meeting was started as actively as possible not by the blue and white, but by the hostesses of the field. So, as if they had to win back the score 2:0 in favor of rivals. In episodes, the players of the St. Petersburg team attacked so fiercely that they managed to get fouls in the attack.

It was both strange and frightening to watch. Apparently, all this did not suit the Dynamo coaching staff very much either, who immediately made a triple (!) substitution in the 57th minute: instead of Ichen, Nikitina and Danilochkina, Elena Shesterneva, Maria Galai and Anna Sas came out. According to the Dynamo coaches, the girls were supposed to bring freshness to the team's game, first of all, in the attacking stage, where nothing worked out at all.

In part, this plan worked. In the 70th minute, a pass from deep from Anna Sas found Kaylan Williams, who repeated Gabriela Gzhivinska's trick from the first half and just as beautifully sent the ball into the goal of Voskobovich with a long-range accurate shot! By the way, for the American, this goal is the sixth of the season and according to this indicator she surpassed Zenit Kiki in the list of the best scorers of the season.

That's just to rejoice the blue and white team and its fans had a very short time. Literally in the very first attack after the draw from the center of the field, Olga Poryadina's wards organized the third ball in Taranchenko's goal – 1:3... When this happens, it's hard to talk about some bad luck, but just admit that the blue and white didn't play enough points in a match with such an opponent today.

And Zenit used its moments perfectly and, if desired, could have won a much more confident victory. The only thing that overshadowed her this Friday evening was the injury of Priscilla Chinchilla after a collision with Arina Taranchenko on the Dynamo penalty line. The Costa Rican had to leave the field on a stretcher, and I would like to wish her only health.

After this tour, the teams go on a three-week break related to the games of the national teams, which will now be very useful for head coach Alexander Katasonov, who finally got rid of the prefix I.O. As they say, we are waiting for changes.

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