The Borisov team received its 12th (in total) and 10th (in succession) champion’s title by defeating Vitebsk in an away match — 2:0. Alexander Yermakovich’s team had a single goal: to win. It did not matter who they defeated and what the score line read. It was essential to earn three points and secure the champion’s title at least until next year. A draw would have pushed them to aim for the Slutsk-Dinamo (Minsk) match — played the following day. However, the 12 time champions are not used to relying on someone else: BATE smashed Vitebsk.
In the first half, BATE enjoyed a comfortable advantage. In its main line-up, forward Dmitry Mozolevsky played for the first time in two years — after a long injury period. As a result, he became the major ‘hero’ of the champion’s match. Mozolevsky passed to Alexey Rios who opened the score in the 25th minute. Shooting from the corner of the penalty area, Rios was actually making a diagonal pass rather than a kick. However, the hosts’ goalkeeper — Dmitry Gushchenko — failed to save it and the ball shot into the farthest corner of the net to make the score 1:0.
Six minutes later, the Borisov footballers scored again, also thanks to Mozolevsky. From the 6-yard line, he converted Denis Polyakov’s pass making it the first goal for Dmitry since his return from injury in August. In the second half, the hosts tried hard but BATE played steadily and kept their advantage. After the match, the Borisov footballers were clearly delighted: becoming the country’s champion for the tenth time in a row is truly a unique achievement.
This season, BATE has also won three national trophies: The Belarus’ Super Cup, Belarus’ Cup and the gold medal in the national championship. A truly worthy collection!
By Igor Grishin
