Former goalkeeper of “Karpaty” and “Zorya”, Andrii Tlumak analyzed the gameplay episode in the 2nd minute of the return match of the Champions League qualifiers “Paphos” – “Dynamo”, which ended with a goal scored against the Kyiv team:
Andrii Tlumak— Unfortunately, it was accompanied by a serious mistake from Dynamo’s goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret. For a keeper, there’s a rule: you only leave the penalty area when you are sure that you can reach the ball first. Most likely, due to excessive nervousness, Neshcheret suddenly rushed forward, leaving his position and misleading his defender, who was battling the Paphos forward. He misjudged the situation, losing that race, and the home player proved to be the quickest, scoring into the empty net after a simple combination.
This mistake by Neshcheret affected the psychological state of his teammates and essentially killed the intrigue. The Dynamo players never managed to recover, conceding a second goal after the break. Only in this failure, Neshcheret was not to blame: it was a collective mistake by the Kyiv team near their own goal. The saddest part is that in a match where Dynamo had to win, they created no goal-scoring opportunities. Therefore, Paphos’ victory should be recognized as deserved.
