Former Dynamo forward Viktor Leonenko shared his impressions of the 11th round match of the Ukrainian championship Shakhtar — Dynamo.
Viktor Leonenko
— Viktor Yevhenovych, the all-Ukrainian derby turned out splendidly — emotions were running high. Almost like in the old, good, pre-war times, except without red cards and penalties. Did you like the game?
— Well... How to put it. For some, just like the good old days, but the evening was definitely not good for the Dynamo players. And to be honest, not for Shakhtar either.
— Meaning?
— There was more filth than actual football. A heap of pointless, even I’ll say blunt fouls by players on both teams. Completely unnecessary rule violations. It disappoints me that our leading teams play like this. I have a strong urge to swear after such matches... It was a dirty game.
I have questions for Dynamo’s coaches: what are they teaching players that they don’t shoot for an entire half? They first troubled Riznyk in the 50th minute when Buyalskyi shot. Even then, it was a mistake by Konoplia, not an opportunity created by Dynamo’s players.
The same happened in the Ukraine Cup match. One to one — in 45 minutes, zero shots on goal from Dynamo. Zero! It seems to me that Shovkovskyi wakes up his players only at halftime. After the break, they manage to show something on the field, but not always. And again, I’ll repeat, there were a lot of mistakes from Dynamo’s players. The referee also made quite a few serious errors.
— You’re talking about the moment when Konoplia knocked down Ogundana in the penalty area and then shouted at him?
— Didn’t Turan see how he played? Why didn’t he substitute him? Especially when Arda loves making substitutions in bunches. I don’t know...
— So, was there a penalty or not?
— The referee should have awarded a penalty for the 'redhead’s' foul on Ogundana. Ironclad! Konoplia just flew and crashed into the player, what was he thinking? But with tattoos on his legs! He’s probably already tattooed there too, no space left... Rebrov should pay attention to the fouls committed by national team players leading up to World Cup qualifiers, which are not far off.
— If the referee had awarded a penalty, everything could have ended quite differently, and it’s not a fact that Shakhtar would have won.
— That’s exactly what I’m saying! Penalty one, red card for Konoplia — two, but... Dynamo creates, gives birth to moments with great effort. Even Buyalskyi’s goal was almost accidental. This, in my view, was not a rehearsed combination, as the commentators said.
— However, in the Cup game, Dynamo managed to beat Shakhtar. Why didn’t they draw conclusions and play on the not-so-flawless opponent’s weak points?
— Shakhtar should have defeated Dynamo in the Ukraine Cup, in the first half, but Marlon, Konoplia, Pedrinho, and company didn’t convert their moments, and in the second half, they started playing timidly, from defense. I don’t understand why Turan gave them such an instruction...
— But in the match in Lviv, Shakhtar again gave away the initiative in the second half; maybe it’s a matter of physics, the players ran out, not in optimal condition?
— It even annoys me when coaches tell us how their players get tired from travel and all that. There aren’t just 11 players in the team, take and replace those who got tired! Shakhtar played in the second half against Dynamo that way because they might be very worried about the result, Turan...
— The most discussed topic lately is Yarmolenko’s new position. Why did Andriy Shovkovskyi suddenly start playing him as a forward, is there a logical explanation for this?
— I’m curious, who told Shovkovskyi that Yarmolenko is a forward? Well, he scored once or twice, so what? Even Harmash scored frequently in his time at Dynamo. I don’t even know what Dynamo can catch in European competitions with such an attack... And Shakhtar doesn’t need to change anything special, just be bolder, don’t sit back in the second half. They have already been punished for this and will continue to be if they give away the initiative.
— Now Shakhtar has a four-point advantage over Dynamo. Will they hold the lead until the winter break?
— Not for sure, because Shakhtar loses points where few expect. However, Dynamo can also finish fourth before the winter break... A whole half, a team doesn’t shoot at the goal...
Viktor Glukhenky
