Gil's quick goal was an almost perfect start for a trip to Makhachkala. From there the game could be played from structure, from the mid-block, from discipline without the ball. The problem is that Baltika decided too early that this was already enough. And that, it seems, is the staff's main conclusion after the game.
Before the break everything looked tolerable, not because Baltika dominated but because it didn't let the match fall apart. After the break it went the other way. They failed to close down a cross and lost the header. Then they gifted the opponent a penalty. This isn't a story about one episode that went wrong. It's a story about losing control of their own penalty area.
Hence the split verdict. On the one hand, 2:2 after 1:0 is, of course, two points dropped. On the other, if you look only at the second half, Baltika got off fairly lightly. At least it didn't collapse, although everything was heading that way. And in exactly that sense the set piece in the 81st minute wasn't just an episode but a reward for the team keeping a minimum of composure.
Baltika's best was Ilya Petrov. He was involved in both goals and was the only one who consistently influenced the team's attacking episodes. Varatynov is right there with him: his goal is literally a point. Gil is in credit too, but more for taking his chance than for the full match. The main minus is Gassama. For a centre-back, far too many episodes where alarm appeared instead of control.
To put it very briefly, Baltika played a match of two parts. In the first it entered the game correctly. In the second it reacted incorrectly to its own advantage. So the draw was fair on the pattern of play but unpleasant in the way it unfolded.
Tactics by phase: Baltika vs Dynamo
From the very start it was clear we'd consciously abandoned the short build-up from the back. Dynamo sat in a compact 5-4-1, and there was no point trying to pick that bus apart along the ground. So the plan was simple and vertical - balls in behind into Gil's zone and a fight for the second phase. Dynamo, by contrast, tried to play through passes, but buried themselves with constant errors.
Minutes 0-15
The goal came not from our structure but purely from their mistake. Alarcón played the ball out very badly, the first touch was terrible, there was no cover. Gil and Petrov read it instantly, Gil took the gift and went through one on one. After 1:0 we quite logically sat back and switched to a more pragmatic mode.
Minutes 15-40
The game became very sticky and heavy. The main signal for us in this spell was Agalarov's chance, when he blasted over from a killer position. So on the whole our defence holds, but the aerial duels with Agalarov need to be won stone dead. Here it was a bit weak.
Minutes 40-60
Dynamo reshuffled: took off the number ten and sent on another forward (Miro). They were clearly lacking a target for the crosses. We replied at half-time with a substitution - Belikov for Yenne - wanting to shore up the centre and add size in the battle for the crosses. But it didn't work. Dynamo's goal was a classic: Civic went for the ball, let Agalarov go and lost his position at his own spot. A very frustrating mistake.
Minutes 60-72
A run of substitutions followed. We threw Lacerda into the fray and effectively switched to an out-and-out forward. But at that moment everything in our own box fell apart completely. Gassama's foul, a penalty after VAR. The cause is obvious and systemic: once Dynamo started playing vertically, our centre-backs kept finding themselves facing their own goal and simply couldn't get into contact in time.
Minutes 72-90+
We levelled from a set piece. A lovely corner routine: Petrov - Belikov - Varatynov. A pure coaching goal; set pieces genuinely saved us today. After 2:2 the game finally disintegrated into isolated episodes, there was almost no structure left. It became open football. Dynamo had a good break from Miro, we had a killer chance for Lacerda in the 84th.
A draw, all in all, on merit. The mistakes in our own box wiped out all the good we did in other episodes. A shame.
Baltika player ratings
Starting line-up
Borisko - 5.5No obvious howlers, but no sense that he carried the team either. An ordinary match for the goalkeeper of a team that allowed too much after the break.
Varatynov - 7.0One of Baltika's best. Not only because he equalised, but because it was his goal that left at least some kind of decent aftertaste from this match.
Gassama - 4.5Far too nervous a performance for a defender to get a good mark. Gave away the penalty, and in the closing stages they ran round him like a mannequin
Andrade - 5.5Same story. Before the break the team held firm; afterwards the defence no longer looked solid.
Civic - 5.0Without the reliability expected of him. Deservedly substituted. Lost the aerial duel to Agalarov for the first goal
Yenne - 5.5One of the worst of the starters. A half-time substitution is almost always a verdict on a player.
Ilya Petrov - 7.0An assist for the first goal, the delivery for the second, and overall one of the few who genuinely moved the numbers on the scoreboard in the right direction.
Titkov - 5.5The volume was there, the dominance wasn't. After the break the team rather lost the midfield.
Manelov - 5.5Tried, but never became the figure who could keep the game from falling apart. Didn't close down the cross before Agalarov's first goal
Maksim Petrov - 5.5Started brightly but faded. After a start like that you wanted more from the attacking group.
Gil - 7.0Scored, did his job, was the most dangerous player up front. But the match wasn't good enough to rate him any higher.
Substitutes
Belikov - 5.5Came on to fix the structure after the first half. Didn't fix it completely, but there's nothing to pin on him individually either. Picked up a yellow quickly and was close to being sent off. Provided the assisting header
Ryadno - 5.5Brought freshness, but not a turning point.
Lacerda - 5.5A decent cameo in what was already a heavy match. Two shots on target, but both very weak, and nearly scored from 5 metres - over
Kovalev - n/aToo little time for a serious rating.
Offor - n/aThe same - came on for the closing stages.
