As part of the 30th round of the Ukrainian Youth Championship, Dynamo U-19 met Metalist 1925 U-19 from Kharkiv. Despite the away status for our team, the match took place at Dynamo's country club base in Vita-Litovska.
Photo: fcdynamo.comU-19 Championship. 30th round
"METALLIST 1925 U-19-Dynamo U-19- 1: 0 (0: 0)
Goal: Toporov (82)
"Metalist 1925: Thenkov, Kozlovsky (Mezentsev, 85), Khokhlov, Demydenko, Potapenko, Orobets, Kasaiev, Sologub (Kondratyuk, 85), Obinaya (Panchenko, 89), Ihor (Toporov, 67), Plichko (Nizhnik, 46).
"Dynamo: Ignatenko, Gusev, Filatov, Eremenko, Benedyuk, Salenko (Kotukha, 60), Boichenyuk (Yanchyshyn, 71), Vasylets (Grokholsky, 37; Zorenko, 60), Kremchanin (Slesar, 60), Makkevych, Horbach.
The championship intrigue in the U-19 championship ended early, and unfortunately not in favour of Dynamo (the gold medal went to Rukh Lviv), so Ihor Kostiuk's men went into the match with Metalist 1925 without any tournament tasks. But the White and Blues coaching staff did not resort to rotation, releasing almost all the players who had regular game practice during the season.
The game began with an exchange of chances - Obinayah headed Ihnatenko's header from close range, and Horbach missed the target after a shot into the corner of the goal. In the 15th minute, Vasylets had a chance to open the scoring, but Maksym's shot from outside the penalty area was saved by the crossbar.
The match continued in a similar vein. Dynamo had the initiative, trying to create chances mainly after long-range shots, while the opponent tried to respond with quick counterattacks. However, neither team managed to score before the break.
At the start of the second half, Dynamo tried again, albeit unsuccessfully, to shoot from a distance, while Kharkiv were close to opening the scoring. After a corner kick and a shot at Dynamo's goal, the ball flew close to the post, and in another episode, Kasayes' powerful shot missed the target just a little bit, while Plichko tried to find an opportunity to score with similar success.
The Metalist 1925 players continued to make active advances. In particular, after Kasayes' free kick from outside the penalty area, Ihnatenko made a spectacular save, parrying the ball, but in the 82nd minute our goalkeeper could do nothing when Toporov closed Nizhnyk's shot from the right wing from the goal line - 1-0.
With a little over ten minutes left in the match, the White and Blues had an opportunity to equalise, but Zorenko scored from a promising position with his head into the goalkeeper's hands. The score did not change until the final whistle, and Dynamo's youth team ends the 2022/2023 season with a minimal defeat.
