2024-07-26 10:19:08
On July 23, the first match of the second qualifying round of the Champions League took place at the Polish Arena Lublin, in which Dynamo Kyiv hosted Partizan of Serbia. The confrontation had a special subtext for Oleksandr Shovkovskiy’s team, since the team from Serbia recently participated in the Brotherhood Cup in Russia, which is why the Ukrainian players refused to shake hands with the Serbs at the beginning of the match.
The match started tensely, and at the equator of the first half, Dynamo defender Aleksandr Karavaev committed a foul in the penalty area, which led to a penalty. Saldanha converted the 11-meter kick, sending the ball into the center of the goal, and put his team ahead.
Dynamo responded by scoring three goals by the end of the first half. First, Nikolai Shaparenko finished off an attack with a one-touch shot after a pass from Kabaev. Then Vitaly Brazhko shot accurately into the far corner with a ricochet off the post. And before the break, Karavaev made amends for his foul by scoring a third goal.
In the second half, Dynamo continued to dominate, and in the 55th minute, Kabaev increased the gap in the score, shooting into the lower left corner. Partizan, in turn, scored another goal. Saldanha scored a double, scoring a goal in the 66th minute.
Nevertheless, the Kievans took the initiative again and scored twice more. In the 83rd minute, Popov took advantage of a rebound from a shot by Brazhko and sent the ball into an empty net. The final point in the match was put by Alexander Pikhalenok, who sent the ball into the corner of the net with a technical strike in the 90th minute.
Thus, Dynamo defeated Partizan with a score of 6:2 and confidently heads to the return match, which will take place on July 31 in Belgrade.
For Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, this match was his debut on the international stage as head coach of Dynamo. A former legendary goalkeeper for the club, Shovkovskiy took over the team with an ambitious plan to return it to the top of European football.
Dynamo (Ukraine) – Partizan (Serbia) 6:2
Goals: Shaparenko, 40, Brazhko, 42, Karavaev, 45+1, Kabaev, 55, Popov, 83, Pikhalenok, 90 – Saldanha, 22 (pen.), 66
Dynamo Kyiv: Bushchan – Ovcharenko, Popov, Dyachuk, Karavaev (Malysh, 46) – Shaparenko (Lonveik, 87), Brazhko (Andrievsky, 86), Buyalsky (Pikhalonok, 46) – Kabaev, Vanat, Yarmolenko (Voloshyn, 69).
Partizan: A. Jovanovic – Antic, Mujakic, Markovic, Medina (Filippovic, 60) – West (Natho, 59), Go (Szczekic, 46), Arriaga – Kalulu (Trifunovic, 77), Saldaña, Xander (Ibrahim, 60).
Earlier, Cursor wrote that UEFA experts named the best players of Euro 2024.