On September 18, 2002, Dynamo started in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in five years with a victory in their native Kyiv, defeating Newcastle United.
"Dynamo" (Kyiv) - "Newcastle United» (England) - 2:0 (1:0)
goals: 1:0 Shatskyi (17), 2:0 Khatskevich (62).
"Dynamo»: Reva, Peev, Gioane, Husyn, Sablych, Nesmachniy, Leko, Khatskevich (Havranchich, 75), Chernat, Shatskyh, Leandro (Melashchenko, 56). Head coach: Oleksiy Mykhailychenko.
"Newcastle»: Given, Griffin, O'Brien, Dabizas, Bernard (Robert, 69), Hughes (Solano, 69), Dyer, Speed, Viana, Bellamy, Shearer (Ameobi, 79). Head Coach: Bobby Robson.
Sir Bobby Robson, one of the top goalscorers of the decade Alan Shearer and a colorful and well-beaten Newcastle United arrived in Kyiv in the first round to open the Group E tournament with a successful result, but Dynamo managed to win the first big match since Lobanovskyi.
This time, Beresford was not found in Newcastle
Dynamo reached the group stage of the Champions League for the ninth time since 1991, but the 2002/2003 campaign was special - already without Lobanovskyi. Last season, Shakhtar took gold medals and a cup from Kyiv, ending Dynamo's 10-year hegemony. It was necessary to prove that the current lineup is capable of performing at the level of the claims of its predecessors.
The qualification of the Champions League set an optimistic mood - "Dynamo" without noticeable difficulties overcame Yerevan "Pyunik" (Armenia) - 4:0, 2:2, as well as Sofia "Levski" (Bulgaria) - twice by 1:0. The magnificent goals of the Romanian playmaker of Kyiv Chernat paved the way for Dynamo to the group tournament, where Newcastle, Feyenoord and Juventus themselves were waiting for them.
Before that, "Dynamo" crossed paths with "Newcastle United" only once, being in the same group with them in the 1997/98 season. In the Kyiv match 5 years ago, the British managed to recover in a surprising way, trailing by two goals until the 78th minute. Newcastle defender John Beresford scored a double.
"Newcastle United" was no longer playing under the tutelage of Kevin Keegan, but Sir Bobby Robson. In the 2001/2002 season, the Magpies finished fourth in the English Premier League, significantly behind Manchester United, Liverpool and the champions, Arsenal of London. 31-year-old Alan Shearer, with 23 goals, is just one shot behind the winner of the Premier League top scorer race, Thierry Henry. The great native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne will end his career as the top scorer in the history of the English Premier League.
A double whammy and compliments from Sir Robson
Mykhailichenko absolutely rightly warned journalists against comparison mania - in 1997 and 2002, two completely different teams, "Dynamo" and "Newcastle", entered the field, albeit with several performers who well remembered the confrontation of 5 years ago. One of those, in addition to the sold Shevchenko, Rebrov, Maksimov, Kalitvyntsev and Luzhnyi, whom Dynamo did not count, was Shovkovsky (the others - Husyn, Radchenko and Khatskevich, Given and Hughes - are away). After the injury of the leading goalkeeper, the place in the frame was taken by Reva, who was invited last year. And this was far from the only change in the starting line-up, where several players were forced to play at once, not in their positions, and the defensive line, perhaps for the first time at the highest level, played in just such a combination.
Nevertheless, after the match, Bobby Robson himself will compliment Dynamo's defense: "I am delighted with the play of the opponent's central defenders! I was impressed by how well the Kyivans play on counterattacks! "Dynamo's defenders played very well with the head - numbers 14 [Husyn], 17 [Gioane] and, I think, 35 [Sablich] were excellent." Andrii Husyn was personally responsible for Shearer - and Alan was not able to play even half of his true strength in this match.
A chaotic start to the match, in which "Newcastle" showed readiness to rely on standards, and "Dynamo" - to catch the opponent on counterattacks, ended with a miracle goal from Maksym Shatskyi. After a quickly played standard, Peev redirected the transmission to Leko, and Yerko immediately gave Maxim the go. Shatskikh, sensing that the ball was about to be hit, successfully adjusted himself and immediately hit the "nine" from outside the penalty area - 1:0.
The guests, who were affected by an early goal, went ahead - however, apart from numerous standards, they could not offer anything in return for Shatskyi's goal. On the contrary, the first third of the game ended with Given's second goal - but Leko, who scored from Leandro's pass, was already in an offside position. Chernat, Peev, Leko combined very well with Kyiv's forwards - in a few moments, only the intervention of the last defender, Dabizas, prevented Leandro and Shatskyi from scoring, and after the break, Chernat almost used the finishing touch after another shot by Nesmachny - the ball rolled right next to the post .
Given the domestic failures (12th place after six rounds), Newcastle simply had no right to misfire on the international stage. Viana's shots went, numerous accented and not very good passes to Shearer, who was simply excluded from the game by Gusyn. By the way, the formidable forward with a bandage, having received a painful dissection at one point, played on. And in the meantime, Leandro signaled that the ball hit the defender's hand, hinting at a penalty, and Chernat earned and executed a promising free kick - however, without extra tasks for Given. But the right flank of Kyiv worked again, from where the second goal attack began. Peev launched Melashchenko into the penalty area, who could not beat Given from an acute angle. However, Khatskevich caught the ball deflected by the Northern Irishman, and headed it into the unguarded goal with his head to make it 2:0.
It must be said that Newcastle spent the final third of the match at a high level, as if waking up from a lethargic sleep only after the second goal in their own goal. Now Reva was forced to enter the game after the kicks of Dabizas after a corner, Robert from a penalty kick, ... Dynamo did use counterattacks surprisingly effectively - Chernat alone could "close" this match twice, Peev had quite good opportunities to bring things to a defeat and Leko. After "dry" defeats against "Leeds" and "Chelsea", Newcastle players also lost in Kyiv. The total score of the three losses in a row is 0-7.
On the hard way of becoming
The euphoria from such a start in the Champions League can be easily understood - it has been five years since Dynamo started the autumn Euro season in the most prestigious continental tournament with a victory. However, the next tour shattered our illusions and hopeless hopes. "Juventus" defeated Kyiv - 5:0 on its own field. In a difficult fight, Kyiv finished third, ahead of Feyenoord, but two points behind Newcastle. The trip to England will be remembered for the controversial penalty and United's victory, which ultimately played a role in the fact that the Magpies went to the next stage of the Champions League, and Dynamo to the UEFA Cup.
It is there, in the confrontation with Beşiktaş in late autumn and early winter, that Dynamo will cross paths with its future head coach, Mircea Lucescu. The Turkish club will knock out Kyiv and reach the quarter-finals, where they will lay down their arms against the notable representative of Serie A, Lazio.
In the 2002/2003 season, the first after Lobanovskyi, "Dynamo" won completely and convincingly. The champion and winner of the Cup of Ukraine will also win the premier Valery Vasyliovych Memorial Cup, beating Shakhtar there as well. Successes in the European Cups are yet to come, and the new generation will develop Lobanovskyi's legacy. Of course, there will be completely different specialists and completely different football practices - no one can repeat the uniqueness of the VVL.
