On Saturday, 2 March, Dynamo Kyiv defeated Chornomorets Odessa 1-0 in the match of the 19th round of the Ukrainian championship. The meeting took place in Kyiv at the Dynamo stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskiy. Here is the post-match press conference of the head coaches of the teams.
Oleksandr SHOVKOVSKY, Dynamo head coach:
- Firstly, I will say again what I have said many times and what I will continue to say. I am grateful to our defenders and defencewomen for what they do, for giving us an opportunity to play football, to give emotions. Yes, for some people these emotions are not always positive, but taken together they still help us in this difficult period.
Secondly, I would like to say words of condolence to the families of the victims, including children, as a result of another barbaric enemy attack on Odessa.
As for the game itself, we set up for a tough match. Recently we have not managed to play successfully with this team (the last two matches of Dynamo with Chornomorets ended in defeats of the capital team - ed. note) and we understood that today we would not have an easy walk either.
- What was the reason for the absence of Buyalskiy in the squad for today's match?
- Vitaliy is one of our key players, the captain of the team, one of its leaders. Therefore, his presence on the field is important for us. Unfortunately, during the training process Buyalskiy was injured. How serious his injury is, additional examination will show, but he definitely did not have the opportunity to take part in today's match.
- What did your team failed to fulfil from the instructions for today's match?
- First of all - to realise the chances we had. We work on this regularly, and if today we had realised at least 50% of what we created at the opponent's goal, the end of the game would have been more calm, we would have finished the match more calmly. But this is football, that's why it is so beautiful, because not everything goes according to the plan, according to the schedule. We play against live people with their own tasks, who also tune in for the match. Besides, Dynamo Kyiv is always an additional motivator.
Again, we have recently played unsuccessfully with Chornomorets. So I will take this game as an asset for us, taking into account the past results with this team.
- What do you think about the energy of the stands, where the fans were again after a long break?
- Of course, it is a great achievement that the fans have an opportunity to come to our stadiums and support their teams. It is important in every sense. And for emotions, and for energy, and for the players, because football itself is for the fans.
But everyone who wants to get emotions in the stands in this difficult time must be sure that in case of an air raid they will calmly go to the shelter and stay there until the alarm goes off.
- Why was it only in the first ten minutes that your team played in such an aggressive manner?
- Again, we are playing against another team, which also has its own tasks, which also analyses our game, which also knows how to rearrange itself in the course of the match.
In the opening period of the match we really had a number of opportunities to open the scoring. Having failed to realise these opportunities, our team lost a bit of initiative, and the opponent, on the contrary, having received a positive charge in terms of not conceding a goal, began to try to play according to their plan.
At halftime we made some adjustments, and the second half, I think, we played more planned. Football is wonderful: you can plan something, but you must be able to stop and overcome difficulties that arise in the course of the game. I thanked the team for the match. Especially considering the recent results with this opponent.
Roman GRIGORCHUK, head coach of Chornomorets:
- I have just expressed my "satisfaction" with the fact that the head coach of our rival came to the press conference first, and only then me, so I will not comment on the match, ask questions.
- What did you like today in the actions of your team, and what did not?
- Of course, there is material for analysis, there is a lot of information. In today's game, in all aspects of football, we have much more positives than negatives.
But we must admit that we made a number of mistakes. Even though we did not have so many chances at the opponent's goal, but such moments should be realised. Without sufficient skill at the end of attacks, it is difficult to hope for a positive result.
- Whose fault is the episode with the conceded goal?
- We do not put the responsibility on anyone. The team concedes a goal as a whole. Our analysis always excludes claims to a particular person. We are not satisfied with what we conceded.
Oleksandr POPOV from the Dynamo Stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskiy
