On Thursday, 5 October, in the 10th round of the Ukrainian Youth Championship, Dynamo Kyiv met Polissya Zhytomyr. This match was an away match for our team, but took place on the field of Dynamo's training base in Koncha Zaspa.
U-19 Championship, 10th round
"Polissia-Dynamo 2:1 (1: 1)
Goals: Mykytyuk (12), Ivanov (47) - Tsarenko (7)
Cautions: Mykytyuk (2), Zen (71), Ivanov (76) - Ponomarenko (75)
Dismissals: Mykytyuk (45+1) - Balaba (35).
"Polissya: 1. Zaychenko, 21. Kobernyuk (5. Vashkeba, 68), 4. Checher (k), 9. Mezentsev (3. Dashkovets, 46), 26. Maksymenko (17. Bilokon, 46), 16. Boychuk, 10. Rasko, 7. Grokholskyi (28. Zorenko, 84), 20. Mykytyuk, 25. Ivanov, 11. Kulmaliev (2. Zen, 68).
"Dynamo: 71. Surkis, 20. Gusev, 3. Balaba (k), 2. Mikhavko, 15. Dykyi (6. Kotukha, 75), 14. Ishchenko (9. Lobko, 75), 22. Osypenko (18. Salenko, 58), 37. Tsarenko, 7. Kremchanin (19. Pashko, 75), 10. Matkevych (17. Kalyn, 19), 11. Ponomarenko.
It should be noted that in the previous rounds, the White and Blues won seven victories and drew twice, so they had 23 points and ranked second in the standings. Dynamo's opponent had 13 points and was in 7th place in the standings. "Polissia had won three times, drawn four times and suffered two defeats in the previous rounds.
It didn't take long for Dynamo to take the lead: in the 7th minute, Tsarenko demonstrated his technique and, after receiving a pass from Mykhavko on the left flank, moved to the centre, passed two opponents and scored a beautiful goal from the penalty spot into the right corner of the net. But the nominal hosts were not upset for long - five minutes later, they restored the equaliser. Mykytyuk fought for the ball to the end, beat the opponent, got into a striking position and hit the near corner - 1-1.
Later, Zhytomyr pushed the game away from their own goal, but not for long. In one of the attacks, Gusev struck a good shot - he was a little unlucky. Soon after, Kremchanin headed in a flanker at the far post - the goalkeeper made the save. In general, there were few truly dangerous moments in the first half, with Polissia's players defending more, and Kyiv's lacking effectiveness in the final stages of attacks. Long-range shots also failed to produce the desired result.
Tsarenko had a good opportunity to score, but the ball missed the goal just a little after his shot. And in the 35th minute, Dynamo made it harder for them to achieve a positive result - Balaba stopped the opponent's one-on-one with the goalkeeper with an illegal tackle and saw a red card.
Left in the minority, our team did not stop trying to take the lead, but failed to do so before the half-time whistle. In addition, in stoppage time, Mykytyuk received a second yellow card, so the teams were equalised.
As soon as the second half started, Polissia took the lead: Ivanov received an excellent pass from his partner, went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and converted his opportunity, sending the ball straight into the right-hand corner of the goal. In the following minutes, Kyiv pushed the opponent to their goal, but failed to capitalise on it for some time. Zhytomyr managed to fight back both after set-pieces into the penalty area from standard positions and after multi-pass combinations.
Salenko came close to scoring when he struck a free-kick, but the ball ended up in the goalkeeper's hands. Once again, the ball hit the crossbar after a shot by our player! And the goalkeeper was able to react to Ponomarenko's powerful shot. Kalyn also scored from a sharp angle, but the opponent's goalkeeper was not asleep again.
Our guys also spent the last minutes of the match in attack. In particular, Ponomarenko struck a good shot, then Salenko found the same Matvii at the far post, but he lacked accuracy. The nominal hosts were stalling for time, and despite all the efforts of our team, the scoreline did not change until the final whistle.