Midweek Update

By: Yevy | September 24th, 2008

Betao and Van Persie
Despite missing out on the full three points against Arsenal last Wednesday, the white-blue squad from Kiev have had a pretty good week. As the Premier League-topping Gunners showed again this weekend, they are a great team in fine form, and a result against them right now is quite an accomplishment. Dynamo’s uncompromising approach made enough of an impression on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger that he wore a skirt to his post-match press conference.

On Sunday Dynamo secured a comfortable 3-0 road victory against Chornomorets. While the hosts are usually a tough customer in Odessa, and were sixth in the UPL standings coming into the match, they were never in this one. Dynamo was on the offensive from the start, and on nine minutes Roman Eremenko turned in a cross from Tiberiu Ghioane to open the scoring. Before the half hour the Romanian got on the score sheet himself, roofing a low Miloš Ninković cross to finish an excellent Dynamo move. Halftime substitute Artem Kravets scored the third barely a minute after coming on, getting to his own rebound and finishing emphatically. It was all Dynamo the rest of the way, with Chornomorets hard pressed to recall a single scoring opportunity.

Eremenko on the ball Dynamo remain second in the Ukrainian Premier League standings, with 19 points from 8 matches. They continue to trail Metalurh Donetsk by two points after the league leaders earned a 2-0 home win against Lviv. While Metalurh continues to surge, the “other” team from Donetsk has not found its domestic form. Title holders Shakhtar were held to a nil draw by Arsenal in Kiev, and have only managed 8 points so far. While no one expects the Miners to remain in the lower half of the table for long, spotting three wins and change to your rivals this early is something they may regret all season. For more on UPL Round 8, check out the Ukrainian Premier League Blog.

Dynamo was again without striker Artem Milevskiy, but hope to have him available for next week’s Champions League clash with Fenerbahçe in Turkey. One player who will not be making the trip is Ayila Yussuf. The Nigerian midfielder picked up a thigh strain in the closing minutes of the Arsenal match and will be sidelined up to a month.

Wednesday’s draw for the Ukrainian Cup Round of 16 has pitted Dynamo against FC Zorya Luhansk. Dynamo will take on their fellow UPL side, currently sitting fifth in the table, on October 29 in Kiev.
Ghioane gets some love