Dynamo 3 – 0 Arsenal Kyiv: Business As Usual
By: Yevy | March 25th, 2009
The outcome was an expected one as the “Kiev derby” has never been a competitive affair. In 27 meetings the Cannoneers have never beaten Dynamo, managing to steal a point on just five occasions. There would be no surprises this time around as Oleksandr Aliyev set up the opening goal for Artem Kravets and found the net on either side of the break as Dynamo cruised past their city rivals. Yuri Semin went with a first choice lineup in this the last match before the international break, with the notable exception being captain Oleksandr Shovkovskiy seeing his first action of 2009. See the goals after the jump.
In recent years Arsenal has become a proving ground for young Dynamo players, with quite a number of them heading out on loan across town. But relying on players contracted to other clubs can be a risky proposition as manager Oleksandr Zavarov recently found out. The former Dynamo great was left to cope without two major contributors when Dynamo sold midfielder Denys Oliynyk to Metalist Kharkiv and recalled defender Vitaliy Mandzyuk. In addition as part of their loan deals Volodymyr Lysenko and Andrey Eshchenko are prohibited from playing against Dynamo.
Oleh Husyev saw his longest stretch of playing time yet as he started the second half and looked to be rounding into shape. Milos Ninkovic had to be substituted after suffering a painful knock but the injury is not believed to be serious. Ayila Yussuf got another taste of competitive football, featuring for the final quarter hour. It was good to see the Nigerian midfielder back on the pitch after an extended absence with a thigh muscle injury. He could be a difference maker for Dynamo as they hope to continue competing on three fronts through the end of the season.
Several potential first team players participated in the youth team encounter between the two clubs, resulting in a 6-0 cakewalk for Dynamo. Mandzyuk, Diogo Rincon, and Guilherme started the match, while Florin Cernat and Maksim Shatskikh came on as substitutes.
All eyes were on the record signing from Brazil, but it was the Ukrainian youngsters who shined. Andriy Yarmolenko opened the scoring while Roman Zozulya’s hat trick made him the clear man of the match. The pair of 19 year old attackers will find opportunities with the senior team hard to come by as Dynamo’s injury list thins out, but their performances should earn another look from Semin. If Dynamo clinches the UPL championship with games to spare we should see the pair featured in the final matches of the season.
Category: Ukrainian Premier League
Comments
-
Well, I really appreciate this russian coach but Dynamo is already champions, so why doesn’t he let play players like Sahnevich, Zozulia, Yarmolenko and Kravchenko? He has to give this players confidence. If Zozulia and Yarmolenko will not play in the next months, they will have to go on lease… They’re too huge talents to sit on a bench.
-
I would imagine Semin has his reasons, Marko. The manager has to focus on raising his team’s level of play with every match, because there are still important competitions to prepare for. Sure, Dynamo does not need its first eleven to beat Arsenal. Look at the talent playing for Dynamo-2 right now – that team could be in the top 4 of the UPL, easy. But most of Semin’s first eleven have played together for less than a year, and they have not shown their full potential yet. The league title may be ours but if Dynamo really want to make this a season to remember, they need to keep improving their form.
When I was growing up in the 80’s Dynamo was the Soviet football factory, the core of the national team. Now the club thinks of itself first and the country second. As much as we would like to see more Ukrainian players develop at Dynamo, the goal of the club is to do well in the Champions League, and this cannot be done without foreign talent and a minimum of two quality players for every position. Look at Dynamo’s strikers: Milevskiy, Bangoura, Kravets, Guilherme, Shatskikh, not to mention several more out on loan and one or two who are bought every year. Zozulya and Yarmolenko have youth on their side and they will get their chance, but unless they can work their way to the top of this list, it may not be with Dynamo.
Home 
