Friday 3rd July
Slavia Mozyr 3 Slutsk 1 (1,550)
Smolevichy-STI 3 Dynamo Brest 3 (1,250)
Saturday 4th July
BATE 0 Energetyk-BGU 1 (2,549)
Gorodeya 2 Vitebsk 2 (621)
Neman Grodno 1 Isloch 0 (2,151)
Sunday 5th July
FC Minsk 2 Belshina Bobruisk 2 (209)
Torpedo BelAZ Zhodino 1 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 4 (1,140)
Rukh Brest 1 Dynamo Minsk 0 (760)
On the pitch I think it was the best and most entertaining weekend of football so far for the 2020 Belarusian Premier League and off the pitch there is lots of news also. Where do we start?
"гульня на водных плясках"
The early game on Friday afternoon between Slavia and Slutsk started on a great playing surface but a downpour of epic proportions including some reported thunder and lightning saw large puddles of water all over the Junactva Stadium pitch. This caused the ball to not run properly and it was frequently stuck and held up in the somewhat soggy conditions.
If the game was being played in the English football pyramid it would of been abandoned I think. If you have ever watched recordings of the 1968 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final known as 'The Watersplash Final' been Leeds and Wakefield Trinity this game could be now known as 'гульня на водных плясках' translated as 'The Watersplash Game'.
Slavia took a 2-0 lead early on when Ukrainian Maksym Slyusar scored from close range on 5 minutes and from the penalty spot on 11 minutes. Egor Sememov made it 2-1 after only 20 minutes with a header but it was the home side who continued to have the best opportunities. Slyusar was unlucky not to go into the half time break with a hat-trick. The game was made safe for the home side when Gleb Shevchenko was able to roll the ball into the net after it got stuck in a puddle just inside the penalty box. It was the denfender/midfielder's first goal of the season and his frist since the 2018 First League season.
Slutsk's form is now unrecognisable from the start of the season when they looked so good. From being a title contender after seven games they now are in real danger of being sucked into the relegation battle at the bottom of the table. They have gone from 2.29 points per game in their opening seven games to 0.22 in their last nine played!
SLUTSK'S FORM COMPARISON
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 16 |
| 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 17 | -12 | 2 |
The second game on Friday was in my opinion one of the best games of the season so far with the news off the pitch dominating the build up to the game. Several of Dynamo Brest's players had shown symptoms of COVID-19 and were not in the squad - the game was not postponed by the Belrusian Football Federation. It has now been reported today (Monday) that 15 people at the club of which 10 are players some of whom played in this game have apparently tested positive. I send my best wishes to them all and pray they recover from this dreadful illness.
(Courtesy of SMOLEVICHY ON INSTA)
Also prior to kick there were reports of Smolevichy having financial problems and rumours have since gathered pace they may well resign from the Premier League which is something all football fans will not want to see. It has also been reported on tribuna.com many players have written a letter of resignation with meetings planned in the early part of this week.
Evgeny Barsukov departed The Smoles for Slavia Mozyr having scored 3 goals in 11 games for them. He made his Slavia debut in their game against Slutsk.
Russian Konstantin Kotov who made 12 appearances with his last on the 19th June against Slavia has also been apparently left the club. Another Russian in Aleksey Turik also made his last appearance for The Smoles in that game has also apparently left the club.
On the pitch this was a game full of drama and incident. The in-form visitors (aside from their recent defeat to Neman) looked much the better side in the first half and could of been more than the 0-2 up they were at half time thanks to an own goal and A Pavlovets close range strike. A sign of things to come in the second period came just prior to the break when the lively Aleksey Vakulich rattled the cross bar with a great strike. He got the goal he deserved on 47 minutes when Anatoli Makarov's free kick from outside of the box rebounded off the angle of post and cross bar allowing Vakulich to score into a empty net. It was 2-2 from the penalty spot when Gaby Kiki was adjudged to have fouled Vladislav Mukhamedov in the box- the former BATE Borisov striker scoring the goal.
It was a real end to end game then and Brest were denied a penalty kick of their own when substitute Pavel Sedko was tripped in the box by Arseni Bondarenko. The referee waved play on and didn't give it. Sedko was making his debut for Dynamo since his return to the club from Rukh Brest where he played for the 2019 and part of the 2020 season.
Aleksey Butarevich then swept the ball home from a long way out of the box to make it 3-2 and send the home fans present wild with celebration. Some may argue Pavel Pavlyuchenko in the visitor's goal should of done better to save it?
Incredibly only seconds later with the home supporters still dreaming of a victory over the 2019 champions it was 3-3. Former Dymano Brest player (48 appearances in 2014 and 2015) and Smolevichy Captain Eduard Zhevnerov was adjudged to have fouled Artem Milevskii allowing former BATE Borisov striker Mikhail Gordeychuk to make it 3-3 with his fourth goal of the season for Dynamo.
Whatever happens with Smolevichi from now and I hope they continue to play their manager Aleksandr Brazevich will be very proud of the performances and determination his squad have shown over the past few weeks.
AND THAT WAS JUST TWO GAMES ON FRIDAY!
Saturday was an historic day for Belarusian Football as Energetyk-BGU completed the double over table topping BATE with an impressive 0-1 win at the Borisov arena. The victory see's The Students right back in the exciting championship race as they are only a point of the top - see the table below!
I say historic as it's the first time in seven years BATE Borisov have lost twice to a rival team which shows how they have dominated the league in the recent past. Can you name the two teams from the 2013 season who last achieved this? (Answer below)
It gets even more impressive when you read that Energetyk were down to ten men after only 20 minutes when Aleksandr Svirepa was sent off for a second bookable offence - The ball did hit his hand/arm in the penalty area but i think it was more ball to hand than hand to ball. It didn't stop a clear goal scoring opportunity by he was booked and a penalty given. Denis Sadovskiy in the away goal made a great save when he got a hand to the shot which went more or less down the middle of the goal.
On 23 minutes Uzebekstani Shahboz Umarov wrote himself into the Energetyk history books when his stunning world class free kick from way outside the box curled into the net past Anton Chichkan in the BATE goal. Incredibly on 26 minutes it was nearly 2-0 when Umarov sent in another free kick from the left hand side of the pitch this time which rebounded off the far post.
BATE piled on the pressure with a succession of corner kicks and headers from close range which either went wide or were well saved by Saovskiy.
Energetyk were also without their talismanic striker Jasurbek Yaxshiboev who was suspended following a number of bookings received in previous games.
Neman Grodno's magnificent form and rise up the table continues as they won their seventh game in a row by scoring a very later winner at home against Isloch. With the game drifting towards a goal-less draw it was Zoran Marusic who was able to slide the ball into a open net from a long punt up field - Isloch's usually dependable keeper Egor Khatkevich came out of his goal to clear the ball and got it all wrong. Neman's form is the near enough the complete opposite of Slutsk.
NEMAN GRODNO'S FORM COMPARISON
On Sunday afternoon Shakhtyor ended their mini-blip of form with a confident 1-4 win at Torpedo Belaz. 22 year old striker Vitali Lisakovich got two goals in the second half which were his 8th and 9th goals of the season. He has 5 full Belarusian International caps and has spent the last two seasons on loan in Croatia - His form is apparently attracting interest from a number of other European clubs.
ACTION FROM RUKH BREST'S GAME AGAINST DYNAMO MINSK
(Courtesy of Rukh Brest on Insta)
Rukh Brest won their second game in a row with a narrow 1-0 win over Dynamo Minsk. Former FC Minsk player Evegeni Shevchenko made his debut for Rukh after moving across from Dynamo Brest last week. Egor Bogomolskiy scored his first goal for Rukh against his former club - He played 7 games for Dynamo Minsk in the 2018 season. 18 year old Nigerian midfielder Savior Nvafor also made his debut for Rukh coming on as a very late substitute for Shevchenko.
PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE - TOP FIVE ONLY
FIRST LEAGUE
Saturday 4th July
Smorgon 1 Lokomotiv Gomel 2 (300)
Volna 1 Naftan 2 (580)
Oshmyany 1 Gomel 1 (300)
Orsha 0 Sputnik 0 (250)
Sunday 5th July
Slonim 1 Krumkachy 0 (500)
Granit 2 Khimik Svetlogorsk 1 (125)
Lida 1 Arsenal 0 (350)
Sputnik still lead the first league table but could only manage a 0-0 draw at Orsha. They are closely followed by Lokomotiv Gomel who came back from 1-0 down to Smorgon to win 1-2 with Pavel Markov scoring the winner in the 90th minute.
PICTURES FROM THE SMORGON v LOKOMOTIV GOMEL GAME
(Courtesy Cannon Killer on Insta)
SECOND LEAGUE
Saturday 4th July
GROUP A
Baranovichi 2 Ostrovets 0 (350)
Ivatsevichi 1 Stenles Pinsk 3 (150)
Dynamo Malorita 9 Pershiy Regien 1 (150)
Kronon 0 Molodechno 6 (100)
BGU Minsk 6 Chayka Zelva 0 (70)
GROUP B
Osipovichy
3 Dnepr Rogachev 1 (110) On 23 minutes Uzebekstani Shahboz Umarov wrote himself into the Energetyk history books when his stunning world class free kick from way outside the box curled into the net past Anton Chichkan in the BATE goal. Incredibly on 26 minutes it was nearly 2-0 when Umarov sent in another free kick from the left hand side of the pitch this time which rebounded off the far post.
BATE piled on the pressure with a succession of corner kicks and headers from close range which either went wide or were well saved by Saovskiy.
Energetyk were also without their talismanic striker Jasurbek Yaxshiboev who was suspended following a number of bookings received in previous games.
Neman Grodno's magnificent form and rise up the table continues as they won their seventh game in a row by scoring a very later winner at home against Isloch. With the game drifting towards a goal-less draw it was Zoran Marusic who was able to slide the ball into a open net from a long punt up field - Isloch's usually dependable keeper Egor Khatkevich came out of his goal to clear the ball and got it all wrong. Neman's form is the near enough the complete opposite of Slutsk.
NEMAN GRODNO'S FORM COMPARISON
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 8 |
| 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | +11 | 21 |
On Sunday afternoon Shakhtyor ended their mini-blip of form with a confident 1-4 win at Torpedo Belaz. 22 year old striker Vitali Lisakovich got two goals in the second half which were his 8th and 9th goals of the season. He has 5 full Belarusian International caps and has spent the last two seasons on loan in Croatia - His form is apparently attracting interest from a number of other European clubs.
(Courtesy of Rukh Brest on Insta)
Rukh Brest won their second game in a row with a narrow 1-0 win over Dynamo Minsk. Former FC Minsk player Evegeni Shevchenko made his debut for Rukh after moving across from Dynamo Brest last week. Egor Bogomolskiy scored his first goal for Rukh against his former club - He played 7 games for Dynamo Minsk in the 2018 season. 18 year old Nigerian midfielder Savior Nvafor also made his debut for Rukh coming on as a very late substitute for Shevchenko.
PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE - TOP FIVE ONLY
| POS | TEAM | P | GD | PTS | FORM |
| 1. | BATE BORISOV | 16 | +12 | 30 | DDWLL |
| 2. | SHAKHTYOR | 16 | +7 | 30 | WDDDW |
| 3. | NEMAN GRODNO | 15 | +9 | 29 | WWWWW |
| 4. | ENERGETYK | 16 | +8 | 29 | DLDWW |
| 5. | DYNAMO BREST | 16 | +11 | 26 | WWWLD |
FIRST LEAGUE
Saturday 4th July
Smorgon 1 Lokomotiv Gomel 2 (300)
Volna 1 Naftan 2 (580)
Oshmyany 1 Gomel 1 (300)
Orsha 0 Sputnik 0 (250)
Sunday 5th July
Slonim 1 Krumkachy 0 (500)
Granit 2 Khimik Svetlogorsk 1 (125)
Lida 1 Arsenal 0 (350)
Sputnik still lead the first league table but could only manage a 0-0 draw at Orsha. They are closely followed by Lokomotiv Gomel who came back from 1-0 down to Smorgon to win 1-2 with Pavel Markov scoring the winner in the 90th minute.
(Courtesy Cannon Killer on Insta)
SECOND LEAGUE
Saturday 4th July
GROUP A
Baranovichi 2 Ostrovets 0 (350)
Ivatsevichi 1 Stenles Pinsk 3 (150)
Dynamo Malorita 9 Pershiy Regien 1 (150)
Kronon 0 Molodechno 6 (100)
BGU Minsk 6 Chayka Zelva 0 (70)
GROUP B
Viktoriya Maryina Horka 3 Bumprom 0 (70)
Dnepr Mogilev 2 Shakhtyor Petrikov 1 (900)
Gorki 5 Polotsk 0 (100)
SMI Autotrans 10 Zhlobin 1 (40)
In the big Second League game it was DNEPR Mogilev who won a close game 2-1 and now look set on a move upwards to the first league for the 2021 season. The game was played in front of a decent crowd of 900 people.
It was a great day for Minko Alexander who scored six of SMI Autotrans ten goals against Zholbin.
(Answer to quiz question)
In the 2013 season BATE Borisov lost to both Gomel and Neman Grodno home and away.
Gomel 3 BATE 2 (18/8/13)
(Home - D Khlebosolov 24', P Kirilchik 62' and A Yanchenko 84')
(Away - A Pavlov 27' and D Mozolevskiy 59')
Dmitri Khlebosolov is currently playing for second league side Baranovichi.
Pavel Kirilchik is now 39 years old but still playing. He is one of the many veteran players for first league side Arsenal.
The scorer of the winning goal Aleksandr Yanchenko played for Gomel up to 2019 when he moved to Naftan in the first league.
(Home - D Khlebosolov 24', P Kirilchik 62' and A Yanchenko 84')
(Away - A Pavlov 27' and D Mozolevskiy 59')
Dmitri Khlebosolov is currently playing for second league side Baranovichi.
Pavel Kirilchik is now 39 years old but still playing. He is one of the many veteran players for first league side Arsenal.
The scorer of the winning goal Aleksandr Yanchenko played for Gomel up to 2019 when he moved to Naftan in the first league.
BATE 1 Gomel 2 (24/5/13)
(Home - V Rodionov 79')
(Away - A Matveenko 28' and A Karnitskiy 90+4)
Mindfelder Anton Matveenko is now with Vitebsk.
Alexsandr Karnitskiy must of impressed the BATE scouts with his 94th minute winner as he went on to play for them between 2014 to 2016. He last played in the Premier League for Gomel in the 2017 season. He was last with Hungarian side Mezokovesd-Zsory SE.
(Home - V Rodionov 79')
(Away - A Matveenko 28' and A Karnitskiy 90+4)
Mindfelder Anton Matveenko is now with Vitebsk.
Alexsandr Karnitskiy must of impressed the BATE scouts with his 94th minute winner as he went on to play for them between 2014 to 2016. He last played in the Premier League for Gomel in the 2017 season. He was last with Hungarian side Mezokovesd-Zsory SE.
Neman Grodno 2 BATE 1 (17/4/13)
(Home - P Savitiskiy 44' and E Savostjanov 50')
(Away - V Rodionov 26')
25 year old Pavel Savitiskiy still plays in the top league for Dynamo Brest. He was only 18 years old when he scored in this game.
Evegeni Savostjanov now plays in the First League for Smorgon.
Vitali Rodionov is now retired after a eight year spell with BATE.
Former Arsenal player Aleksandr Hleb was red carded for BATE in this game.
BATE 0 Neman Grodno 1 (27/10/13)
(Home - G Essame 75')
Cameroon International midfielder Guy Essame scored in this game. He spent the 2013 season with Neman and this was one of only two goals scored for them in 14 games played.
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