Vladyslav Kabayev, who scored FC Dynamo Kyiv first goal of the game against FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, has shared his impressions of the match (4:2):
- Victory always feels good. We worked a lot to get ready. The game started poorly for us, but we didn’t give up and eventually succeeded.
- Did the early opener ruin your game plan?
- It has turned out it didn’t, but conceding early opener is tough. But that’s okay, we came back soon.
- Are you saying it wasn’t difficult to rebuild your schemes?
- Actually we didn’t do that. We had to increase the speed, apply pressure and we did. It was just a psychological blow and we withstood it.
- You equalized in the first half. How exactly did that happen?
- There was a mess in the penalty area, I didn’t even think, just took the shot intuitively. Fortunately, the ball went where I aimed at.
- The teams scored a lot in the second half. Did coaches change anything?
- Not really, I guess we’re just in a good shape. We didn’t give up on the game plan we had in the first half. Then we got two goals in front, conceded again, but aimed to score more. I know it’s tough to concede after you just scored. Maybe Metalist 1925 didn’t believe in success anymore, but we didn’t stop for a minute.
- Is this victory the result of fruitful work at the training camp?
- I guess so. You see the score. We were really ready. But this is just the first game, we have a lot of work to do to win the league.
- You played in the right side today. How’s that for you?
- It’s hard to say. Throughout the training camp I played in the left wing, but today coach said I need to play in the right. For some reason I manage to score when I play in this position. What matters to me is to play for Dynamo and enjoy that.
- This was the first game after the winter break. Was it tough physically?
- Late in the game it was a bit, but generally we coped well. As I’ve said, we did a good job at the training camp.
- Taras Mykhavko made his debut for Dynamo first team today. How did teammates congratulate him?
- I came to the locker-room a bit later, so I don’t know. He did a good job in this game, I didn’t see any fear in his eyes. Well done. Personally I praised him. I hope he has a great future.
- Dynamo next game is against Chornomorets – your native team. Will it be special for you?
- I guess it would have been if we played in Odesa, but in Kyiv – I’m not sure. There’s no doubt Chornomorets did a lot for me, so of course there’re certain special feelings, but I can’t say this will be some special game to me. Every game is important to us.
- Perhaps fans will soon return to stands in limited numbers. Are you looking forward to that?
- Of course, although we’ve kind of got used to playing behind closed doors. It’s feels unusual when we play in front of fans abroad. Those are totally different emotions. As I know, the quota in question is small, but it’s good that at least some people will be able to watch football. It’s good both for us and for them.
