Game 1, Europa League Group Phase
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Volksparkstadion, Hamburg
Dynamo Kiev-Lazio 0-3
Three first half goals give Lazio first three Europa League points
The game was played in a neutral venue due to the tragic events ongoing in Ukraine. The chosen location was the impressive Volksparkstadion in Hamburg in northern Germany. The crowd was sparse in the big stadium, 7,751.
The two teams had played four times before in European competitions. In 1999, in the Champions League, Lazio had won both home and away in the group stage while in 2018, in the Europa League, Lazio had won in Kiev and drawn in Rome. Lazio were therefore so far unbeaten against the White and Blues from Kiev.
With the new Europa League format, a single group of 36 teams playing 8 different opponents once, this would be the only clash this time round.
The teams
Baroni opted to make quite a few changes compared to the recent unlucky league game against Fiorentina.
First keeper Ivan Provedel was confirmed between the posts. In the defensive line however Adam Marušić and Luca Pellegrini came in as full-backs instead of Manuel Lazzari and Nuno Tavares while in the middle Alessio Romagnoli took Mario Gila's place alongside Patric.
In midfield Matteo Guendouzi was rested and Matías Vecino linked up with Nicolò Rovella.
The three-quarter line was changed completely and in came Loum Tchaouna, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and veteran Pedro.
Up front Boulaye Dia was moved forward to out and out centre-forward.
The line up had been shuffled around considerably, the so-called turnover, however Lazio this season have less stars but many players of similar and decent level. The chopping and changing of the starting XI does not drastically change the quality and level of the performance.
The Ukranians had their captain Vitalij Buyalskiy on the bench. Dynamo Kiev's main danger man was Andriy Yarmolenko who in the past had also played for Borussia Dortmund and West-Ham United and had 124 caps and 46 goals for Ukraine. A talented player was also midfielder Mykola Shaparenko while a player who combined quantity and quality very well was Volodymir Brazhko.
Dynamo Kiev are considered a competitive team and are top of their domestic league but the situation in their homeland and a 19 hour bus trip just to get to Hamburg had to be thrown into the mix.
First half
The game started perfectly for Lazio who took the lead in the 5th minute. Matías Vecino combined well with Pedro outside the box and the Spaniard won a challenge and set up Dia, the big Senegalese weaved his way into the box and beat Georgiy Bushchan with a low right foot into the right hand corner. Dynamo Kiev 0 Lazio 1. An ideal start for the Biancocelesti's 11th Europa League campaign.
In the 19th minute the Ukrainians lost Colombian defender Brayan Ceballos to injury and he was replaced by Kristian Bilovar.
Lazio controlled the Ukrainians reaction well and were always threatening on the break. In the 27th minute Tchaouna did well to conquer a ball in midfield and send Vecino surging forward, the Uruguayan at the edge of the box squared to the Nigerian who had followed the move and he cracked a left foot that the keeper parried away to his left.
In the 34th minute Lazio doubled their lead. The Ukrainian defence cleared the ball to Vecino in midfield but left a gap in their central defence which the Lazio midfielder spotted and put a low ball through it, Dele-Bashiru sprinted forward and brilliantly curled a mid-height shot past Bushchan. Dynamo Kiev 0 Lazio 2.
The Ukrainians were rattled and conceded again a minute later. Dele-Bashiru put in a cross from the right and found Dia unmarked in the middle, the centre-forward headed it in to the keeper's left, 0-3 and Lazio in dreamland.
At this point Lazio sat back a bit and Dynamo had various chances. In the 39th minute Shaparenko turned at the edge of the box and drilled a low shot but it was not angled enough and Ivan Provedel dived low and blocked. In the 42nd minute Brazkho blasted a superb freekick but Provedel tipped it over the bar from the top left hand corner. In the 44th minute Yarmolenko combined well with Olexsandr Pikhalyonok and curled a left footed shot towards the far post but again Provedel was there to palm it away. Half time Dynamo Kiev 0 Lazio 3.
An eventful first half with Lazio deadly up front. Dynamo had threatened repeatedly late on but there was the sensation Lazio could very well strike again on the counter attack.
Second half
After the break the Ukrainians attacked but seemed to lose conviction. Lazio defended well and avoided any particular risks.
In the 57th minute the substitutions started. Mario Gila came on for an injured Patric and Gustav Isaksen replaced Tchaouna.
In the 61st minute Dia set up Pedro who raced towards goal from the left but his shot was touched by the keeper just enough to deflect the ball onto the right post, the ball came back to Isaksen but his effort was not sufficiently powerful and cleared off the line by a defender.
More substitutions followed; in the 64th Yarmolenko and Shaparenko went off and Maxsym Bragaru and Valentyn Rubchynskyi came on while in the 68th, for Lazio, Pedro and Dia were replaced by Mattia Zaccagni and Taty Castellanos.
In the 72nd minute things got worse for Dynamo as they were reduced to ten men. After a VAR check Bragaru was given his marching orders for stamping on Zaccagni's foot in a challenge. It seemed a bit harsh as the Lazio forward was already on the ground and the Ukrainian seemed to be going for the ball.
A few minutes later the situation was reversed. In the 82nd minute Noslin, who had only come on for Dele-Bashiru three minutes earlier, was sent off for elbowing a defender in the face, on a Zaccagni cross. It seemed pretty fortuitous and accidental but obviously with frozen TV images everything looks more dramatic and he was off.
Dynamo then made two more changes, bringing on midfielder Oleksandr Andriyevskiy and Panamanian forward Eduardo Guerrero for midfielders Pikhalyonok and Vladyslav Kabaev in the 83rd and 84th minutes.
The Ukrainian White and Blues had one more opportunity from a freekick just outside the box but again Provedel denied them, diving to his right and parrying away. Final score Dynamo Kiev 0 Lazio 3.
A great start to Lazio's European campaign. A clinical first 35 minutes had been enough to clinch the three points. With the new format goal difference would surely play an important role thus making the result even better.
The scoreline was a bit harsh on the Ukrainians who had probably deserved a goal but they had paid for the defensive positioning errors.
Next up for Lazio would be French side Nice at home on October 3 while Dynamo would play in Germany again but away to Hoffenheim.
Who played for Dynamo Kiev
Bushchan, Tymchyk, Dubinchak, Ceballos (19' Bilovar), Mykhavko, Shaparenko (64' Rubchynskyi), Brazkho, Pikhalyonok (83' Andriyevskiy), Kabaev (84' Guerrero), Vanat, Yarmolenko (64' Bragaru)
Substitutes: Neshcheret, Vivchareko, Diachuk, Popov, Karavaev, Malysh, Buyalskiy
Manager: Shovkovskiy
Who played for Lazio
Provedel, Marušić, Pellegrini, Patric (57' Gila), Romagnoli, Vecino, Rovella, Tchaouna (57' Isaksen), Pedro (68' Zaccagni), Dele-Bashiru (79' Noslin), Dia (68' Castellanos)
Substitutes: Mandas, Furlanetto, Tavares, Guendouzi, Lazzari,
Manager: Baroni
Referee: Sidiropoulos (Greece)
Goals: 5' Dia, 34' Dele-Bashiru, 35' Dia
Booked: Dubinchak (D), Romagnoli (L), Mykhavko (D)
Red Cards: 72' Bragaru (DK), 82' Noslin (L)
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