Head coach of Dynamo Kyiv Ihor Kostiuk spoke to the media after the Kyiv derby victory over FC Obolon Kyiv.
– Why was the game so nervous, especially in the second half?
- First of all the opponent started playing more aggressively using long passes. We stopped controlling the ball, stopped finding open spaces and our play became disorganized – there was some chaos. That was the reason why the match became nervous.
At the same time we managed to reorganize quickly and did not allow the opponent to create chances near our goal. We didn’t let them push us deep except for a few long throw-ins into the penalty area. But overall they had no real chances. We played very organized defensively.
– Was Korobov’s substitution at halftime related to the game or to an injury?
- Maks picked up a muscle injury. He finished the first half but during the game we already understood that we would have to substitute him. He couldn’t continue the match.
– How would you evaluate Yatsyk’s performance today after he started the match?
- I think Yatsyk played well in the first half. On the left flank he looked quite confident. We managed to break through the defense several times from that side, delivered the ball into the penalty area and created dangerous moments. We also reorganized well defensively so I believe he had a good game today.
– After Dynamo took lead the team seemed to calm down. Was that your instruction or were you simply playing according to the score?
- No, the team didn’t calm down. Throughout the first half we created many chances. After scoring the second goal we continued pressing high. The opponent couldn’t launch counterattacks because we reacted quickly whenever we lost the ball.
However in the second half Obolon slightly changed their tactics by using long passes more often. Our central defenders started to feel nervous and stopped building attacks through short passes.
