Dynamo striker Matviy Ponomarenko shared his thoughts after the 15th round UPL match against Kudrivka in which Dynamo secured a 2:1 victory.
- Dynamo finally ended a negative streak of four consecutive losses. How do you feel after the win?
- It’s always nice to win. Unfortunately we had an unpleasant rough patch, losing four games in a row. We weren’t in a great mood, to be honest. But a new coaching staff came in, new goals and tasks appeared. The whole team prepared well. You can see the team’s spirit and drive.
We were told that we had to win and no other result would do because we are Dynamo and we need to make up for what we lost. So we went into the match with only one goal – to win.
- Ihor Kostiuk trusts young players a lot. You know him from working with the U19 team. How easy is it to interact in the first team and is there a psychological desire to stay in the main squad?
- It’s very nice that all of us are debuting and that young players are getting a chance. I think we deserve it because the coach sees us in training. Rotation is also needed since not everyone can play 90 minutes every game, especially with the upcoming Conference League matches. We have games every three or four days so players need to be rotated to give them minutes. That’s how it happened today – I came on and Redushko debuted in the starting lineup.
Of course, it’s pleasant. Communication is excellent because the coach trusts young players and talks to everyone. So it’s very motivating.
- Regarding the second goal it’s hard to tell at first glance if you touched the ball. How did it actually happen?
- Honestly I did touch the ball. But I didn’t want to take the goal away from Nazar Voloshyn. I saw him chip the goalkeeper but didn’t see the trajectory of the ball. I ran and a defender was right behind me. He could have cleared the ball so I followed through on the play and it ended up as a goal.
Once again, I apologize to Nazar if I “stole” the goal but I was afraid the defender might clear it so I ran through the play. It’s good that the goal was counted.
