Valencia 2 – 2 Dynamo: Cool Hand Kravets

Facing an uphill battle in the return leg of their UEFA Cup tie with Valencia, Dynamo were in search of a hero. Trailing on away goals and having scored just once in Europe on their travels, the visitors from Kiev needed someone to find the back of the net at the Mestalla. With their two main attacking threats Artem Milevskiy and Ismael Bangoura watching from the stands, it was 19 year old forward Artem Kravets who wrote his name in Dynamo lore. The young Ukrainian wearing number 22 made the most of his second European start by turning two chances into two massive goals. Kravets’s composed finishing swung the away goal advantage in Dynamo’s favor and sent them through to the next round, setting up a historic meeting with UPL foe Metalist Kharkiv.

The day before the UEFA Cup Round of 32 draw in December, Dynamo manager Yuri Semin was asked if there are any teams he would like to avoid. “Just one,” said Semin, “Valencia.” Semin went on to explain that his squad would have trouble coping with Valencia’s combination of ball control, pace on the flanks, and individual skill. By all accounts Semin is a religious man, having once proclaimed that God brought him to Dynamo. So as he watched the ping pong balls deliver the bad news the following day, I wonder if he cursed the Almighty’s cruel sense of humor. Little did Semin know at the time that he would be asked to overcome Valencia without standout defender Pape Diakhate and the services of any accomplished strikers. And perhaps most unexpected of all, that he would succeed.

Forced into playing with a single striker, Semin made two changes to his eleven. The suspended Milevskiy was replaced by Oleksandr Aliyev, finally eligible after his red card against Arsenal. Semin also decided to bench ineffective Tiberiu Ghioane, but in a twist it wasn’t in favor of compatriot Florin Cernat. The Romanian provided a spark and was at times the best player on the pitch after coming on at halftime in the first leg, but Semin must not believe he can count on Cernat to work 60+ minutes. Instead Carlos Correa, who made a brief cameo last week, was handed the start in the center of midfield. The veteran Brazilian was finally deemed fit after breaking his leg last spring. Semin’s counterpart Unai Emery promised his side would play “their football” at home and went with two strikers, including main weapon David Villa from the start. However Emery also tried to address his team’s frailties at the back by replacing yellow card casualty midfielder David Albelda with defender Alexis.

The action went back and forth in the early minutes, but Valencia had the better chances. Villa’s early penalty shout fell on deaf ears, and about a dozen replays on my Spanish web feed made it quite clear that Taras Mykhalyk made a fair tackle. On the quarter hour a clever corner kick was fed into the path of Manuel Fernandes, whose strike had Stanyslav Bohush beat but Serhiy Kravchenko was at the near post for the vital header off the line. Aliyev responded with a go at goal from a distant free kick, whipping the ball just wide. Thirty minutes in Valencia came even closer when Bohush denied Villa from point blank range. The rebound fell to Alexis but with with the net unguarded Kravchenko again threw his body in the path of the ball. The wastefulness of the hosts was soon punished. After a Dynamo raid on the left flank appeared to be shut off, Badr El Kaddouri pounced on Fernandes’s telegraphed pass and directed it into the path of Kravets. The striker used his strength to split the defense of Fernandes and Raul Albiol and took the ball into the penalty area. Kravets’s cutback left Albiol sprawling on the grass and caught goalkeeper Cesar too far from his near post, where the forward coolly deposited the opening goal.

Valencia looked for an instant response, and Villa got clear of the defenders to lash a volley into the roof of the net, but the linesman correctly ruled that he got a head start. Dynamo were desperate to carry the lead into halftime, when Semin could make the tactical adjustments and hold on to the advantage. But it was not to be as Carlos Marchena redeemed the defense by heading Fernandes’s free kick delivery past Bohush just before the whistle. A breakdown in marking had left Kravets alone to deal with Marchena and Albiol, and he could not prevent the Valencia captain from evening the score.

Disregarding Aliyev’s brazen attempt at goal straight from the second half kickoff, Dynamo had the first real chance when Kravets tested Cesar from the edge of the area. But the veteran keeper dove to his left to produce a fine save. At the other end Asier Del Horno’s blatant dive at the edge of the area was bought by the referee. The shameless Del Horno had the nerve to motion for a card, and Andriy Nesmachniy was duly booked. (Side note: didn’t FIFA issue a directive a few years ago that players who beg the referee for a card should be cautioned themselves, or did they give up on that?) Further proving that there is no such thing as karma, off the ensuing free kick it was Del Horno who beat two defenders to the loose ball and put Valencia ahead. For the second time in the match Dynamo was baffled by a set piece, clearly missing the decisive aerial presence of Diakhate.

The goal appeared to sap the strength of Dynamo, and Emery looked to keep the momentum, introducing the fresh legs of Joaquin and Vicente. Semin sent on Cernat for Kravchenko, hoping to inject some creativity into his team, but Dynamo were still struggling to string anything together. Valencia were growing bolder in their search for a third, and in turned out to be their undoing. Hedwiges Maduro dribbled the ball out the back, slicing past several Dynamo players and into the attacking half. But he was dispossessed and the ball was played into the feet of Correa at midfield, who looked up and released Kravets with a perfect through ball, catching the Valencia back line on the wrong foot. The forward raced away from Marchena and the rest of the defenders before calmly beating Cesar with the outside of the boot. Relegated to the sidelines for much of the season because of injuries and illness, the young striker was suddenly on top of the world, mobbed by his teammates after putting them in position to claim a spot in the next round of the UEFA Cup.

Of course there was the small matter of seeing out the remaining twenty minutes. Conceding late goals in Europe had been a fatal habit of Dynamo this season, and the seconds could not tick away fast enough for anyone rooting for the Ukrainians. Valencia pushed forward in a bid for the winner, and several times they looked to be on the verge of succeeding. But the blue shirts held firm, as attack after attack was turned away. In desperation Valencia abandoned their renowned passing moves in favor of pumping high balls into the box, and Semin threw on Goran Sablic to bolster the defense. The veteran Croat rewarded his manager by winning crucial headers in the dying moments. When the final whistle blew Dynamo had passed the test and shed the painful memories of last minute shortfalls.

All that remains to be said about the character of this team was best summed up by Kravets in his post-match interview. When asked if he felt like the hero the young striker was quick to defer to his teammates, unwilling to take credit for anything more than doing his part in a collective effort. It is precisely this mindset that allowed Dynamo to overcome Valencia despite the absence of several key players. They now set their sights on Metalist in a first ever European meeting between two Ukrainian clubs.

Category: UEFA Cup 2008/2009

Tags: Alexis, Andriy Nesmachniy, Arsenal, Artem Kravets, Artem Milevskiy, Asier Del Horno, Badr El Kaddouri, Carlos Correa, Carlos Marchena, Cesar, David Albelda, David Villa, FIFA, Florin Cernat, Goran Sablic, Hedwiges Maduro, Ismael Bangoura, Joaquin, Manuel Fernandes, Metalist Kharkiv, Oleksandr Aliyev, Pape Diakhate, Raul Albiol, Serhiy Kravchenko, Stanyslav Bohush, Taras Mykhalyk, Tiberiu Ghioane, UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup 2008/2009, Unai Emery, Valencia, Vicente, Yuri Semin

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