Fixtures and Results >  SEASON-2013

FC BATE — FC Torpedo BelAZ

In comparison with the Belarusian Cup game against FC Smorgon a week ago, BATE's coaching staff made several changes to the starting eleven. Andrei Harbunou, Ryhor Filipenka and Dzmitry Mazaleuski appeared as starters while Germans Māliņš, Dzianis Paliakou and Artsiom Kantsavy were moved to the bench.

From the first minutes it was quite clear it would be a voltage game. The referee Andrei Soroka added to the nervousness of the teams with his dubious decisions, including a stonewall penalty not given to BATE.

On the whole the match was quite tough with few opportunities in the first half. BATE had possession and controlled more area of the pitch, but did not manage to create good opportunity to score. Torpedo should be praised for their competent defensive play which created a lot of problems to the Yellow Blues.

On the other side of the pitch Andrei Harbunou was very confident clearing all the Zhodino efforts.

In the second half BATE added in aggression and game composure. And ten minutes after the start of the second half the Yellow-Blues managed to break the deadlock. A quick counterattack by BATE was stopped by a foul not far from the box. Siarhei Kryvets made a good cross into the box. Ryhor Filipenka headed the ball into the 6-yard box for Pankavets to head the ball into his own net.

That goal added to BATE's confidence and they pressed the opponents even more aggressively. Soon the referee forgave Zhodino one more time when did not notice a clear handball in the box after a piercing pass by Siarhei Kryvets.

Nevertheless, BATE managed to net the second goal of the match. It was a header again. Maksim Valadzko, who was outstanding in the second half made an inviting cross into the box for Dzmitry Baha to head the ball home.

BATE controlled the rest of the game Alex Hleb, Vitali Radzionau and Aliaksandr Paulau who appeared as substitutes added speed and velocity to the attacks by the Yellow-Blues. Radzionau was close to a goal, but the shot by Professor lacked a bit of power.

The closer final whistle came, the more chances BATE created with the space that opened up behind Zhodino players who were desperately seeking for a goal to come back into the game. Although the Yellow Blues did not score, they grabbed important three points. FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk lost to Dnepr and BATE's margin behind the leaders melted up to just one point. The Borisovites will have the chance to continue the chase in the second part of the Belarusian Championship when the teams will be divided into two parts of six.

Igor KRIUSHENKO (FC Torpedo-BelAZ):
- We knew it would be a tough game. BATE like to control the ball and have enough skill to do it brilliantly. We expected we would have to tackle a lot. In the first half we were attacking quite regularly, but this impetus was lost in the second half. Maybe the guys were too happy that Belshina was trailing against Slaviya, a result we needed to get into the top-6. On the whole the second half was a failure. The goals were quite easy, but we did not mark the players to the end. But BATE's win is absolutely fair. I would like to congratulate Viktar. Now we are to fight for top-3 place. We have an ambition to get into European Cups, but we lost in the Cup, so the Vysshaya Liga is the only option. And we are going to fight for it.

Viktar HANCHARENKA (FC BATE):
- In the first half we were a bit too fussy. We did not take our time in simple situations. In the second it was a different game. We pressed the opponents more and were rewarded for that. I also liked the way we regrouped to defend after our attacks. I am also very thankful to Dnepr Mogilev and our former reserves coach Vyacheslav Gerashchenko. He did great job to help us by beating Shakhtyor. Now there is just one point between us.

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№	Player	Substitutions	G	P	PG	PNS	GC	ПП	ОП		О
35	Harbunou A.										8
2	Likhtarovich D.	84'									7.5
17	Paulau A.	84'									6
3	Haiduchyk V.										6.7
8	Valadzko A.										6.5
10	Krivets S.										7.5
19	Mazaleuski D.	64'									6.3
13	Hleb A.	64'									6
21	Filipenka R.										8.1
23	Aliakhnovich E.										7.5
25	Baha D.		1								7.5
42	Valadzko M.			1							7.6
71	Niakhaichyk P.	74'									6.4
20	Radzivonau V.	74'									6.7

The number of users who rated players — 28