We've been spoiled in these pandemic times by the Vysheyshaya Liga. Every weekend there's been plenty of drama and talking-points, and usually at least one crazily open see-saw match which has you gripped right until the last kick of the ball. In general this is a much more open and attacking competition than many we watch week-in week-out at home, in the leagues around the four nations. Unfortunately, this weekend, which concluded with two scoreless games, featured only two and a half watchable encounters from the seven games played, if we're feeling charitable. But, even in a dull weekend, we have plenty to learn.
1. FC Minsk the major beneficiaries at the bottom : Energetik continue to struggle
Last time we looked at how FC Minsk, winless in six and having lost their top scorer, were dropping alarmingly into automatic relegation territory. Wins on Friday night for Slutsk and Gorodeya, threatened them further with becoming a permanent feature of a bottom three in the table, even if Smolevichi's loss to Vitebsk offered some good news for Andrei Razin's side.
On Sunday, at a sparsely attended Traktor stadium, Minsk took on city rivals Energetik who were still trying to come to terms with the humiliation of the previous weekend's defeat in Molodechno against Rukh Brest. It was little surprise that coach Vladimir Belyavskiy took the opportunity to shuffle the personnel in his unchangeable 3-5-2 attacking line up. Miroshnikov was dropped from defence, replaced by Shkurdyuk, Yudchits dropped to right wing back in place of Girs, whilst up front an all-new pairing of the returning Dušan Bakić and Haïk Mosakhanian was introduced.
For the first half hour things looked alright for Energetik. The side eased its way into the game cautiously but gradually some trademark good passing across the midfield emerged, with Mawatu and Nosko putting in good shifts in the first half. Whilst few clear cut chances were produced the balance of pressure was with Energetik and we managed to get our noses in front after Bakić was wrestled clumsily to the ground in the FC penalty box. Yudchits duly beat the experienced Veremko in the FC goal to put Energetik in front, to establish a good platform to go on and win the game.
Alas! Just before half time Jeremy Mawatu, struggling to contain the on-rushing winger Kirill Zinovich, made a suicidally naive challenge in the box, and Zinovich needed no encouragement to tumble to the ground. It was a totally needless tackle, a moment of recklessness which ultimately cost Energetik the game. Mawatu had the option to shepherd the opponent out of play or to just let him cross; up until that point FC had barely featured in front of goal. The penalty was converted on the stroke of half time to give the hosts a psychological advantage going into the dressing room. I still have my inner Neil Warnock screaming at Mawatu six hours after full time so goodness only knows what Vladimir and the White Caps made of it, in the interval.
Sadly the blow to our morale was compounded when appalling defending from a corner six minutes into the second half saw Zaleskiy rise high to power a devastating header past Sadovskiy, unmarked at the far post. The goalkeeper got a good part of his body on the ball but it just had too much power behind it to keep out. Defender Shkurdyuk was there physically, but not mentally, not even jumping much to try and meet what was a perfectly delivered inswinging corner. The game rather fizzled out after this trading of blows either side of half time, with Energetik fading badly as a creative force, following the withdrawal of Umarov and Mawatu. The bizarre introduction of Junior Atemeng for the latter summed our afternoon up.
This is a great result for a hardworking FC Minsk who imposed their will on the game via the strength of Vasilev and Shremcenko in midfield. Once a tough tackling and experienced defence had a lead to defend they showed little sign of letting it slip, nor did Energetik show any awareness of how to get back on level terms. The last half hour wasn't the hardest defence of a lead Andrei Razin's men will have to manage this season. For FC, defeats for Smolevichi and Belshina means that they have again established a four point cushion over the automatic relegation places, and keep in touch with Slutsk and Gorodeya immediately above them.
If only things were so clear cut for Energetik. The club remains fourth but this was another miserable display, and the hard work of the first part of the season is in real danger of being frittered away. The BATE win already seems a century ago. The only consolation for Energetik fans is that our season has developed in clusters; a few wins have been followed by a few defeats with little in between. However, such was the damaging nature of this defeat to a struggling side that reversing the negativity of the last fortnight as soon as possible, is a really urgent task now for Vladimir.
The central defence will make at least one unforced error per game; Mawatu, whilst exciting going forward, is a liability in defence; the new midfield pairing of Nosko and Bashilov needs more time to gel; and an ever-shifting change of personnel up front doesn't lend itself to cohesion or confidence. We are beginning to notice a really painful absence; not that of Yakshiboev, but of Tweh. His is the midfield gap that will need to be plugged more urgently, as he was a perfect foil for Nosko, and a great link up with the front pairing. What we'd give to have the Liberian magician back on loan.
All of these are problems that the coaches have no easy fix for, and time and patience will be required as they try to get it right.
2. Keep Right On to the End of the Road
"Keep Right On to the End of the Road" is an old Harry Lauder song, popularised in our football by Birmingham City fans. It's words that hapless Belshina could have done with hearing during an endless period of added on time at the end of ninety minutes, in a critical relegation match away to gubbins village outfit Gorodeya.
The game itself had been for the large part mind-alteringly dull; there was so little to see and comment on that spectators were beginning to feel themselves drawn into a whole new parallel dimension of heightened tedium. But this was a little morality play for Belarusian football; these are games that really are never over until the very last kick of the ball. I had actually been thinking of pulling the plug on a dreadful goal-less game as, y'know, even in late lockdown there are other things to do on a Friday night than watch a dreadful assembly of square-footed yokels try and muscle their way past Leonid Kovel, Dmitri Lebedev and nine assorted tyre-fitters.
Nothing prepared us for the rash of insanity that rippled in red welts across the face of the game in the last four minutes of added time. With the clock winding down on a scoreless draw that was on the point of provoking an existential crisis for most in the crowd, Joksimović, senselessly, had his shirt pulled. Using the full range of powers he had developed in a close-season team seminar on Stanislavskian method acting, he tumbled to the floor screaming, in an absurd backward arc. Penalty. Penalty converted for what seemed to be the kind of grubby and scarcely-deserved single goal win only Gorodeya could come up with. Only the Belshina defender will be able to explain what he was trying to achieve, tugging an opponent's shirt in the penalty box on the point of full-time.
Not so fast, though. With a couple of minutes still on the clock, Belshina immediately won a corner. Gorodeya, still half celebrating, left the old shark Kovel unmarked on the edge of the six yard box. You don't give the experienced predator that kind of space so close to goal. A neat, dinked back-header flashed into the net for what was alas only momentary justice.
One final play-one final Gorodeya attack, with added time now teetering on the edge of ten minutes- and from the edge of the area Serbian midfielder Sajčić, from the edge of the area, lashed a right footed drive just inside the right hand post, beating Aleksey Kharitonovich's dive comprehensively. 2-1, and there was barely time to kick off again. A game which had been poised to re-define awful suddenly transformed itself into one that will be talked about for years to come. Belshina, ultimately, paid the price for not remembering that they are bottom of a league in which games are never finished. Some of their players remonstrated with the referee after the final whistle for allowing so much added time, but, of course, fruitlessly. A good travelling support consoled their devastated heroes, who went over to acknowledge them, which was touching to see.
The root of Gorodeya's win was twofold; an unburstable self-belief, firstly, and secondly an overly-conservative line up from Belshina coach Dmitry Migas. Migas' plan may well have worked were it not for a point-blank save from Dovgyallo in a one on one sitation with Leonid Kovel; good football all round in normal time's virtually only noteworthy incident. Migas set up to defend and hit on the counter and Belshina did that quite well for most of the game, with Kovel and Glebko prominent in the opening half. It was puzzling, however, that Dmitri Lebedev, newly signed from Krumkachy and the architect of the home win over Torpedo Zhodino, was left on the bench for this game.
Late sickening defeats like this haunt teams at the bottom of the table. This was as heavy a blow for Belshina as their late Fred-Dibnah-chimney style collapse at home against Slavia Mozyr. With Neman the next visitors to the Spartak stadium, Migas will need to become more comfortable with risk taking, if Belshina are to have any chance of survival. This was a big missed opportunity for the Bobruisk side. As for those of us hoping that Gorodeya vanish through the trapdoor, it looks like we'll be disappointed for another season at least.
3. Finally, a Good Weekend for BATE
BATE Borisov have had a tough few weeks. Winless in three games, with murmurings of dressing room splits, and disastisfaction with the coach reaching the football portals, with manager Alshevsky casting doubt on their ability to go far in this season's Europa League. BATE don't have the money they once did, and are at the beginning of a transition period for a side ageing in key positions.
Alshevsky revealed a new direction of travel for BATE, trying to re-build the side with young, hungry locals rather than importing players from elsewhere. Shahkboz Umarov of Energetik and Sergei Volkov of Vitebsk were thr first two such signings, although both will remain with their current teams for the remainder of 2020. Energetik captain Aleksey Nosko is also an active target for Alshevsky.
Saturday's game with Rukh seemed set to be a difficult test for a side very low in confidence. However, counter-intuituvely, Alshevsky will also have known that it was the best time for his men to be facing Aleksander Sednev's team. Teams that have just scored a genre-re-defining record top flight win can often be overcome by an "After the Lord Mayor's Show" mood in the game that follows immediately after. Thus it was at the Brest Central Stadium.
This was the first sign of the old BATE that we've seen in a month. They didn't have things all their own way. The game may have shaped up differently but for a fine diving save away to his right from visiting goalkeeper Denis Scherbitski from a flying Bogomlskiy header on the five minute mark. That header was travelling downwards at pace, and so it was by some distance the save of the weekend. Almost immediately, BATE went down the park and opened the scoring through Bojan Nastić, left unmarked to turn the ball past Stepanov at the far post after excellent work down the right by Pavel Nekhajchik.
We have to credit manager Alshevsky with finding the right line-up to punish the notoriously narrow Rukh. Nekhaychik in particular was a nightmare for the Rukh defence throughout the first half, embarking in quicksilver runs and delighting in the space he found down the right channel, after three weeks of being shackled at the Borisov Arena by teams defending in depth. Nekhaychik rattled home a second with just nineteen minutes on the clock. To their credit, Rukh kept going, and Chidi Osuwungu stung Scherbatski's hands with a fine long range effort on the half hour. But, any hopes the home team may have had of coming back were sunk by Maksym Skavysh being the beneficiary of another lightning break fronted by Nekhaychik just before half-time. 3-0, game over.
BATE probably could and should have added more in the second half; the unplayable Nekhaychik rattled the underside of the bar with a shot that came close to taking Roman Stepanov's head off, and Jakov Filipović had a goal chalked off for offside after Stepanov had rather desperately clawed a header out from under his bar. The Rukh keeper wasn't quite at his normal standard yesterday; he could have done much better with Skavysh's third, I feel, and looked jittery in the second half.
BATE reminded us yesterday that when everything is actually working with them, few if any sides in Belarus can live with them. They glided through the second half like a Rolls Royce making light work of an awkward country road. Whilst striker Skavysh reflected afterwards that such a comprehensive win, three going on five or six, would help with their confidence, this excellent performance sent a message to Shakhtyor and Neman. If they want the title this year, they are going to have to spend every last joule of collective energy in fighting for it. This is the kind of performance that could see BATE go on another long winless run, if they have the nerves for it. Manager Alshevsky will hope desperately that more afternoons like this lie ahead for his side.
The niggly goal-less draw this afternoon in Grodno leaves Shahktyor and BATE tied on points at the top, with the Soligorsk side better off on goal difference, for now. Yuri Vernydub may be happier with his hard fought point than hosts Neman, who are now three points behind the front two with a game in hand.
4. On the Up and Under your Radar : Vitebsk
The side that's slipped in under our collective radars this season has been Sergei Yasinski's Vitebsk. The 1-0 win over Smolevichi on Saturday took them up to seventh in the table, just three points behind confidence-shot Energetik, trailing a long scarf of smoke and flames in fourth, and a mere point behind this evening's participants in a dreary danse macabre in Zhodino, Torpedo and Dinamo "0-0" Minsk.
On Saturday Vitebsk faced off against the still-setting jelly of youngsters representing Smolevichi, fresh from their invigorating triumph over Isloch. Vitebsk are normally set up to be quite dour and defensive, with eight draws in eighteen games so far this season. Yet they will have taken great heart from having marginally the better of last week's home game with title-chasing Neman. Facing the lowly villagers, they had no choice but to go out and attack.
Being an attacking side doesn't quite suit Vitebsk but it's a skill they are acquiring. In Diego Santos they have a Brazilian attacking midfielder that perhaps merits more the kind of adoring headlines that followed Torpedo's Gabriel Ramos about earlier in the season; he's a really accomplished and dangerous player with a full range of trickery and strong with both feet. Moldovan centre forward Nicolaescu is also useful and very quick when given the chance. Both these players went close early on against Smolevichi, Diego with a dipping shot tipped over the bar at full stretch, and Nicolaescu uncharacteristically dragging wide when well placed inside the box. Ukrainian winger Matveenko was also unlucky to see a close range shot well blocked by the goalkeeper.
The visitors themsevles came closest to taking a shock lead, against the run of play, with about ten minutes remaining in the first half. Vladislav Lozhkin found himself all alone by the penalty spot, in a one on one situation with Artem Soroko in the Vitebsk goal. The young loan forward did everything right, but his low shot was saved quite brilliantly by the Vitebsk stopper low down to his left. Perhaps with a little more power on the shot Soroko would have been helpless, but it was good work all round.
In the second half Vitebsk imposed themsevles far more on the game and created enough chances to win three matches. Nicolaescu finally converted from the spot after Matveenko was manhandled clumsily in the box by a visiting defender. After that, wasteful finishing and some good goalkeeping kept to score down to 1-0.
Sergei Yasinski's team have a great spirit about them and are very difficult to break down. They have only lost once in their last eleven games. With falir players in the three attackers mentioned above, given the freedom to express themselves on the basis of a very sold and tight defensive and defensive central-midfield, Vitebsk have quietly maneovred thesmelves into a position to have much to play for as the season begins to move towards a conclusion. With Torpedo and Dinamo Minsk both stuttering and unconvincing just above them, and with no one knowing when or in what state Dinamo Brest will return, the men from the east may just be lining themselves up to have a tilt at Belarus' final European slot and a fourth placed finish- a feat they last achieved in 2018. If the forwards find a way to be a little less profligate, the excellent defensive work continues, and more of those default draws are converted into wins, I feel they are a strengthening outside bet to have a good finish. Theirs will be one of the more interesting stories to watch in the coming weeks.
Jon Blackwood
Twitter: @DreadlocksGleb
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