On Friday, May 9, in the match of the 28th round of the Ukrainian championship, Kyiv’s Dynamo played a draw 0:0 against Zhytomyr’s "Polesie". The match took place in Zhytomyr at the Central City Stadium of Polesie. Here is the post-match press conference of the home team’s head coach Imad Ashur.
Imad Ashur. Photo — A. Popov— I am very pleased with the guys, but unfortunately, the string of not those results that we deserved in recent matches continued. In each of these meetings, the guys gave their all. Yes, there were frustrating mistakes, moments we didn’t capitalize on, but I have nothing to blame the players for.
Today we had a draw with a team that is fighting for the championship, with Kyiv’s "Dynamo". In this context, the result can be considered good. But if we take into account how the first half went, we could really have gone for the three points. But in any case, the guys did well.
— Do you have a feeling that your team lost two points today?
I will repeat, we could have fought for the win today. We played reliably in defense and created moments. A better conversion could have worked in our favor. Although, of course, it could have gone the other way.
— It seemed that in the last 20 minutes your team lacked strength?
— We were playing against Kyiv’s "Dynamo": we remember what a reserve for rotation this team has. We know that substitutions never weaken their game — that’s how it should be when equal players come on, that’s a plus, and that’s how it should be for the historical leader of our championship.
Moreover, our schedule has been busy in recent weeks. So physically, yes, we have dropped a bit, but mentally we were strong, brave, and committed to the fight. I definitely have nothing to complain about my players. Not only for the results of today’s match but for each of the last five matches. In each of these games, we created moments, and it’s very frustrating that we don’t convert them. In every match, something is missing for us at the final stage, or we just don’t get lucky.
Post-match press conference of Dynamo head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
Oleksandr POPOV from Zhytomyr
