Vysheyshaya Liga Match Report: 11th Round, May 31st 2020, Energetik 3 - Vitebsk 3

High (After) Noon in Molodechno

This afternoon was bright and blustery in Molodechno. The corner flags were at full stretch, and the players’ shirts shivered in the wind, as the national anthem played.

With the Yak unavailable for selection coach Vladimir paired Yudchits with Bakić up front, with Girs mirroring Mawatu at wing-back. Umarov and Nosko joined Tweh in a strong looking central midfield, with our big centre-backs organised in a three in front of goalkeeper Lesko.

The game started at the ferocious pace that Belarusian league fans are now used to. An early free kick on our left saw Umarov hit a powerful shot over the wall, leaving visiting keeper Gushchenko scrambling to gather the ball. But it was the struggling visitors who were to strike the first blow around the eight-minute mark.

Vitebsk broke purposefully down our left hand side and our defence quickly swarmed around advancing winger Matveenko. The impressive forward waited until just the right moment to glide a wonderful diagonal pass through a gap in our lines, to the lurking Brazilian Diego, who was completely unmarked around the right side of our area. Gathering the ball, he waiting for Lesko to come out- and, with perfect timing, like a snooker player pocketing a tricky deflection shot, glided the ball under the home keeper for the opener.  Svirepa, desperately tracking back, was just a yard too late to cut the ball out. Fine technique all round, and a goal for the neutral to admire, at least.

This was a challenge for Energetik who had, at that moment, lost every game that they had fallen behind in. Girs, Umarov and Tweh increasingly grew in confidence on the park and it became clear that Vitebsk’s defence was in one of its chaotic moods. Vitebsk were lucky not to concede when a stinging drive from Tweh was fumbled again by Gushchenko; the rebound hit Svirepa and crept just the wrong side of the bar.

Stop Scoring We Can't Keep Up

We were not to be long denied, however. A few moments later, Girs again received the ball on the right touchline and released the ball quickly. His perfectly weighted ball looped across the face of goal to find the forehead of the rising Bakić, just beyond the back post. The ball zipped in a blur past the startled Gushchenko, into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. It was a horrible blunder by visiting captain Skitaw, who found himself a bit out of position under the ball, and therefore unable to challenge Bakić, who had risen smartly behind him.

The soft trickle of goals became a flood in the last quarter hour of the first half and it became difficult to keep up. Energetik got themselves in front just after the half hour after more negligence from the Vitebsk defence.  Trickery from Tweh on the left flank saw him sneak past a challenge to feed Yudchits, who hit the ball goalwards, instinctively. Brazilian centre half Julio Cesar’s half-hearted clearing header fell straight to Umarov. Taking inspiration from Yudchits’ winner last week, and from a similar distance, the Uzbek caught the ball perfectly with his right boot, sending a whistling drive just inside Gushchenko’s left-hand post. 2-1.

Unfortunately our hard won lead wasn’t to last more than a couple of minutes. Vitebsk, working hard to try and get back into the game, saw a move break down just inside our area. The ball was half cleared towards the left touchline with Mawatu and Vitebsk winger Gurenko in pursuit. Mawatu appeared to momentarily raise his hands, and Gurenko crashed to the ground claiming a push. The referee agreed, and to everyone’s dismay, pointed to the spot. It was hard to see if any contact had been made from the camera angle we have, but Mawatu defended naively- there was no need to give Gurenko a reason to fall. The ball was heading away from danger and the winger just needed shepherding a bit. The penalty was soft, but our protests were muted. Nicolaescu sent Lesko the wrong way, striking a good penalty low to the right to level the scores again.

The game took another surreal turn almost from the re-start. Bakić, working hard, played a beautiful low pass that cut through the Vitebsk defence to Girs, who sprinted towards the touchline. At just the right moment the wing-back cut the ball back across goal. Yudchits, a gangling presence, had attracted the attention of most of the Vitebsk defence and left a massive hole in front of their six-yard box. That was filled adeptly by little Tweh, who, arriving at pace, and completely unchallenged, smacked Girs’ cut back low and hard into the back of the net, with Yudchits leaping to get out of the way. 3-2 as the rolling shutters of time clanged shut on a breathless opening period, with Mawatu being denied a fourth in a one on one situation by Gushchenko.

Reflecting at the interval, it seemed as though a genuinely deranged high scoring game might be in prospect- a 5-4 or a 6-5- if the second half started as briskly as the first. Vitebsk had looked decent going forward but, charitably, were a shambles at the back. That’s not to downplay how well we had played in attack, with Girs in particular being outstanding in the opening period.

All on the Turn of a Card

And, sure enough, the ball was in the back of the Vitebsk net almost as soon as the game re-started. Unfortunately, it was ruled out for offside. Miroshnikov hit a long ball towards the edge of the area in the general direction of Bakić, who knocked it down for Yudchits; the big no. 9 shielded the ball very effectively as Umarov arrived at pace to hit a first time bouncing bomb of an effort, the ball bumbling over the bumpy surface, eluding the keeper’s right palm, and creeping in by the post. However Bakić, by then totally redundant to the move,  was very harshly in my opinion, deemed to be interfering with play, and the goal was ruled out. Both Gushchenko and Skitaw’s reaction suggested that they felt they had got away with one. I couldn’t see how Bakić was interfering, but then the officials were little interested in the opinion of a bald man 1,900 miles away.

Had that stood, I feel that we could really have piled on the goals on a ragged looking Vitebsk. However the complexion of the game was to change profoundly on the 56^th minute. With the ball bouncing awkwardly at the edge of the Vitebsk area, Yudchits and Kalenchuk entered into an uncompromising 50-50 challenge. Yudchits went in with his studs up, and got the ball, but unavoidably caught Kalenchuk inner thigh. The Ukrainian screamed as though the victim of a punishment shooting, with the ref at close quarters. Immediately, a red card was produced. Yudchits looked horrified, and protesting orange shirts, led by captain Nosko, surrounded the referee for a good minute, but the decision stood. There is a case to be argued that this was a yellow, but it is difficult to see a good outcome when one goes in, studs showing, to a challenge right under the official’s nose. With Energetik down to ten men the visitors sensed that they had time and opportunity to strike back.

Decline and Fall of the Energetik Empire

The last half hour was torture for the Energetik fan. Haik and Atemeng were introduced as the half wore on, but it was to shore up a desperate defensive rearguard. We simply stopped attacking- even on the counter- after the hour, and approached the game as an Andorra or Gibraltar face an away world cup qualifier. We simply packed out our defence and invited Vitebsk onto us, to a maddening degree. I felt we still had enough about us up front to at least hold the ball up and waste some time, but this young group has yet to learn fully the art of game management.

Time and again Vitebsk, with Gurenko and Kalenchuk prominent, got themselves into good positions, but just couldn't finish. Diego, who had faded badly after his early goal, was withdrawn in favour of Vasiljev who looked useful but lacked a decent touch. Vasiljev blazed over when well placed soon after his introduction, and fluffed another couple of good positions.

Again and again Vitebsk came back, like a rusty metronome, and we just let them. The clock seemed to be moving backwards. Skitaw sent a skimmer wide of the right hand post from the edge of the area. From almost the same position, with two minutes remaining, top-knotted defender Nazarenko hit a low right footed drive that was going in, only for Lesko to produce a fine full length save low down to his left. The big keeper had already been clattered in a tangle of bodies in the area, and he grimaced, gingerly.

It looked like we could hold the line when Gushchenko brainlessly sent a kick from his hands into touch with barely ninety seconds left. But with the surging anticipation of another hard fought win rising, there was to be a cruel, treacherous late shank-in-the-guts.

Vasiljev rolled his last dice from a corner, and the ball came straight back to him. He jinked, turned and twisted at the edge of the box, with the shattered Energetik defence like a tired fisherman trying to pin down a still live mackerel. He got a cross in, and a confused Lesko got his body in the way but couldn't handle it. Miroshnokov tried to shepherd the ball away and failed. It came back in again, and this time, with our boys static, Julio Cesar rose high to send a header hissing into the roof of the net. Lesko collapsed on his goal-line in despair. 3-3, and there was, as with the Brest and Isloch games, barely time for the kick off, before the final whistle went.

Coach Vladimir Will See You After Class

Being denied a victory that we had worked so hard for, and which looked so likely for so long, felt like a defeat but, I’m afraid, it was a fate we had inflicted on ourselves. We’ve always said that a young side will produce dizzying highs but also deadening lows and sadly this ending was one of the latter. This late, sickening blow solidified the two lessons our lads should take from the game.

Firstly, game management. There was simply no need to be playing backward passes in our own area, and repeatedly letting the ball bounce in the box, in injury time. Lines should be cleared in a safety-first way and for some reason we were just unable to do that. By game management, I also mean conservation of energy. In the last few games we have looked absolutely destroyed by the last five minutes and have little to give when the dangerous late moments come. We had four chances to shut down / clear that last Vitebsk attack, and didn't take any of them, largely because we looked too tired to do so. We need to manage how we spend our energy much better I feel.

Secondly, I love this team for the way it wants to get the ball down and play, and to maximise some of the great talent and skill our midfield and attackers have. However there is a time and a place for this. I’d suggest that in the last five minutes, with the opposition howling all around you like a Caribbean gale, big clearances, and wasting time by the opposition corner flag- are par for the course. We haven't shown that we know how to do this yet. In that crucial last period, Mawatu, Atemeng and Nosko all had chances to hold the ball up and run the clock down, but didn’t take them. In the end, we just couldn’t hold out.

As Vitebsk ground us down in the period after Yudchits’ dismissal, we were crying out for a bit more experience at the back; a mid-thirties central defender on his last contract, a Steve Foster or Gary Pallister type, just to clear the lines, organise things and encourage the younger players. That sort of profile would really have helped us. But, I think the coach and his staff have decided that it’s better to let the young players learn for themselves through bitter experience.

Today we saw the best and worst of our team in ninety minutes. For the quarter hour before half time we looked unstoppable, and likely to score every time we got the ball in Vitebsk’s half. Girs worked the right flank really hard, and put in two wonderful crosses that led to chances converted. The effort and full-hearted desire once again was there to see, and really couldn’t be faulted. The disappointment on the players’ faces at the end was a reflection of how hard the result was for us all to take.

Still, it’s important not to be over-critical. We didn’t lose. Vitebsk were really mediocre, but with more composure in front of goal, they could have won easily. Our game next Sunday, away to a fast-improving and impressive Shaktyor Soligorsk, will give us a really good idea of where this group of young boys is really at. At present, only Shaktyor’s pursuit of BATE at the top of the table looks like it might sustain itself meaningfully over the remainder of the Belarusian season.

If this is tl;dr then please do watch the excellent highlights on the Belarusian Premier League youtube channel. You won’t spend a more entertaining eight minutes all season.

Jon Blackwood 

Twitter: @jonblackwood