Dinamo Brest saw off Belshina 4-0 in the Belarusian Premier League on Saturday, a result that keeps them fifth in the table with 21 points from 21 games. The hosts had already lost 1-2 to Slavia Mozyry the week before, so this was a chance to steady the ship. To be fair, they did more than steady anything — they ran the show from the first whistle.
Z. Popovic opened the scoring after six minutes, a quick strike before Belshina could settle. Kortsov added a second thirteen minutes in, and by then Dinamo were breathing down the visitors' necks. The yellow card for A. Pavlovets on 45+1 came too late to change the mood. The break offered Belshina a chance to regroup, but they returned to a second half where the hosts played the second half a man up, or at least looked like it.
Kortsov found the net again on 75 minutes, his second of the afternoon. By then he had already been substituted off, so perhaps the timing was more symbolic than tactical. Butarevich added a fourth on 90+2, a late flourish that left the scoreboard looking respectable. The substitutions came in waves — Nikonorov and Levitskiy off together at 46, Achapovskiy at 61, Khralenkov at 67, Lozhkin at 73, Vikhrov at 74, and Kortsov's own exit at 80.
The numbers tell part of the story. Dinamo held 55 per cent possession and registered nine shots on target against Belshina's two. Their accuracy sat at 45 per cent, while the visitors managed only 13. Eight shots went off target for the hosts, ten for the visitors — plenty of effort, little precision. The old head settled them down, as they say, and the shooting board reflected that.
Five points separate the two sides now, though Belshina sit fourteenth with seventeen points from twenty games. They lost 0-4 to Isloch last time out, so this result extends a run that isn't going their way. Dinamo, meanwhile, dropped points against Slavia before this, so the table still has room to move. Cup football has its own rules, but league football is cruel to those who can't finish.