Magnitka downs Dynamo again. September 17 round-up

Two weeks after Dynamo Moscow suffered a heavy Opening Cup defeat to Metallurg Magnitogorsk the teams met again – but in Moscow it was a slightly different story. This time it was goalless after 65 minutes of action before Metallurg took the verdict thanks to shoot-out goals from Danis Zaripov and Chris Lee. Dynamo, lifted by its 3-2 win over Ak Bars last time out, produced a performance far more in keeping with what we’ve seen from the Blue-and-Whites in recent seasons, with Harijs Vitolins’ team putting the defensive blocks on Magnitka’s free-scoring forward line. It made for a tense, technical battle on the Luzhniki ice, a game more reminiscent of a play-off decider than an early-season scrimmage, and both Alexander Lazushinand Vasily Koshechkin had to make some big saves at times. There was controversy late on. First Dynamo’s Maxim Pestushko thought he might have won a penalty shot when he tumbled when clear on goal; the officials deemed the challenge fair. Soon afterwards Se ...