Dynamo midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalonok commented on the narrow home defeat to Karpaty Lviv (0:1) and shared his impressions of the match:
– Of course, we feel disappointed because we lost the match and conceded an early goal. Karpaty pressed from the start, created one chance, then another and probably scored from their third. The team defended very well in an organized way and it wasn’t easy for us to create chances. Still we had our opportunities and needed to convert them. I don’t know about the disallowed goal but today we created too little danger near the opponent’s goal.
– Did you expect Karpaty to play so actively and aggressively from first minutes and create chances near your goal?
– Almost every team tries to win the opening minutes to gain confidence. Unfortunately today Karpaty did exactly that. They won their duels and scored their goal.
– Does this match confirm that games after international breaks are always difficult?
– Yes, they are always difficult but that’s not an excuse. We go out on the pitch to win. Unfortunately today we lost.
– It seems a new refereeing controversy is emerging because of the disallowed goal. From the replay it looked like Ponomarenko’s goal was valid — how did the team react?
– Guys also said the goal was valid but it feels like there’s some refereeing controversy almost every round. Let them sort it out. We’re disappointed because it won’t change anything — we’ve lost three points.
– Did that disallowed goal moment affect the team mentally?
– That moment happened in the 80th minute. Before that we had enough time to score earlier and play better but we didn’t. I’ll repeat — we needed to create more. We had chances but not many. Of course, if that goal had counted and made it 1:1, with 10 minutes left, the match could have gone very differently. But we should have taken our chances earlier. If we had scored even once it would have been easier and the psychological pressure would have shifted to the opponent. Unfortunately, they kept a clean sheet and took three points.
– Can you comment on the clash that almost turned into a fight?
– From my perspective it looked like Ponomarenko accidentally fell on Babohlo. I didn’t see exactly what happened but then everyone ran in, and we did too — to support and protect our teammates because it was close to turning into a fight.
– The Ukraine national team lost to Sweden and today Dynamo lost to Karpaty. What is your emotional state now? How do you improve your mood?
– The only way to improve the mood is to win the next match. These things happen — it’s football, anything can happen — but we have to move forward. If you drop your head nothing good will come of it.
