Oleksandr Pikhalyonok: «There was a difficult conversation in the locker room»

Dynamo midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalyonok shared his impressions of the away match in the Ukrainian championship against Kovalivka’s Kolos, in which the 'blue and whites' lost 1:2.

Oleksandr Pikhalyonok

— The fact that we conceded an early goal is already a minus. I can’t say that we didn’t prepare well enough for the game. Unfortunately, the first half ended 2:0 not in our favor. In the second half, we started to act more sharply, scored late on — 2:1, but sadly, it wasn’t enough.

Did the goal conceded at the start of the match disrupt your game plan?

— Of course, it somewhat «woke us up.» But even when you concede an early goal, there’s nothing terrible about it, things like this happen in football — you just need to continue playing and creating chances. Unfortunately, we made wrong decisions in simple situations and ultimately lost.

It seemed like Dynamo had few chances and shots on goal in the first half, what do you think prevented their creation?

— We had 2−3 chances, if we had converted them, we would be speaking differently now. Kolos also didn’t have that many opportunities in the first half, but they used theirs.

Was there a tough conversation in the locker room during halftime?

— Yes, it was difficult.

Did that influence the team to act more actively in the second half?

— Certainly, after halftime, something needed to change, and yes, that conversation definitely had an impact.

Why do you think Dynamo traditionally finds it difficult to play against Kolos?

— I don’t know, that’s a question not for me.

Have you already thought about the next opponent in the Conference League — Cyprus’s Omonia?

— Not yet. Now that the match with Kolos is over, we’ll think about it.