Dynamo 1 – 2 Porto: Late Goal Stuns Kiev

By: Yevy | November 6th, 2008

Bohush stunned I knew eventually it would come to this. For the first time since I started writing for The Offside, I have to tell you that Dynamo lost. It has been more than three months since the Kiev squad left the pitch with nothing to show for their efforts. And it could not have happened in a more heartbreaking fashion. With a chance to advance out of the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in nine years, Dynamo held a lead only to be undone by a Porto counter attack deep into stoppage time. Lucho Gonzalez converted a simple tap in at the death to turn the tables on the hosts and give the Portuguese club the inside track in Group G.

Perhaps it was a young team’s inexperience on the big stage that did in Dynamo on Wednesday. They certainly had the opportunities to put the match out of reach, as manager Yuri Semin knows too well:

You have to convert your chances in front of goal. Against Arsenal we had a two on one, today we hit the post, had another chance and got beat on the counter. We were tired and lost concentration. We allowed their forward to drag the ball for 50 meters and got scored on.

When asked whether he tried to yell to his players to stop the telling counter attack with a professional foul, Semin said, “I would if I thought they could hear me. The experience of Porto showed on that sequence. It is what we lack.” Semin refused to single out any of his players as responsible for the deciding goal. But it was one of his most veteran charges, captain Andriy Nesmachniy, who had every opportunity to bring down the streaking Lisandro Lopez. Even at the cost of a booking and possibly a dismissal, Nesmachniy had to deny Porto a scoring chance at that point in the match.

Milevskiy celebrates The evening started in promising fashion for Dynamo. After absorbing the early Porto pressure with their familiar Champions League 4-5-1 formation, the hosts dodged a bullet when Raul Meireles’s shot from outside the box beat Stanyslav Bohush but not the post. On twenty minutes Badr El Kaddouri’s pass found Tiberiu Ghioane at the edge of the area, and the Romanian squared the ball into the path of Artem Milevskiy, who with the first touch calmly rolled the ball between the legs of a defender and into the bottom corner.

Porto focused its attacks on the left flank, trying to isolate Cristian Rodriguez against Betao, whom they viewed as the weak link in the Dynamo defense. But while Rodriguez looked poised to get the better of the Brazilian, help would always arrive in the form of Roman Eremenko or Pape Diakhate.

Porto’s attacks continued to stall into the second half, and it was Dynamo that looked more likely to grab their second. As the visitors started to show signs of fatigue, Milevskiy created several chances for his pal Oleksandr Aliyev, but the midfielder could not turn them into the killer goal.

Porto clears On the hour mark Semin introduced Ismael Bangoura for Ghioane. At the time I thought the manager smelled blood in the water and was going for the kill, but it was a forced change as Ghioane had picked up a knock in the first half and could not continue. The manager’s options were further limited by the absence of Milos Ninkovic and Malkhaz Asatiani. Instead of going to the 4-4-2 with two holding midfielders as the personnel on the pitch dictated, Semin tried to maintain the existing shape by putting Bangoura alone up top and pulling Milevskiy back closer to the midfielders. Bangoura was never able to work his way into the match, a lull allowed Porto to find their legs again, and ten minutes later they got their goal. From a free kick, Rolando escaped the marking of Ognjen Vukojevic to get on the end of a Meireles cross and equalize from point blank range.

Lucho sent off With time running out and Porto players operating on fumes, Dynamo went forward in search of all three points. Milevskiy sent Vukojevic in on goal and the Croat avoided the defenders and beat the keeper only to clutch his head in disbelief as the ball hit the post. After what seemed like an eternity of the ball bouncing through Porto’s area with Dynamo players unable to latch on, the visitors came through with the sucker punch that knocked the wind out of Lobanovskiy Stadium. In the aftermath Lucho was sent off for a second booking as he pulled off his shirt to celebrate scoring the winner. It was little consolation for Dynamo as they saw control of their Champions League destiny cruelly snatched from their grasp.

Dynamo (Kyiv): 31.Bogush, 3.Betão, 4.Ghioane (10.Bangoura, 60), 5.Vukojević, 8.Aliyev, 11.Eremenko, 15.Diakhaté, 17.Mykhalyk, 25.Milevskyy, 26.Nesmachnyy – cap, 30.El Kaddouri.

Porto (Portugal): 1.Helton, 2.Bruno Alves, 3.Pedro Emanuel – cap (15.Lino, 77), 8.Lucho, 9.Lisandro, 10.Rodríguez, 14. Rolando, 16.Raul Meireles, 17.Sektioui (12.Hulk, 46), 21.Săpunaru (30.Pelé, 68), 25.Fernando.

Goals: Milevskyy (21) – Rolando (69), Lucho (90+2).

Yellow cards: El Kaddouri (31) – Pedro Emanuel (57), Hulk (58), Rodríguez (84), Lucho (87).

Red card: Lucho (90+3).