Slavic hosted Vitebsk in the Belarus Cup on Saturday, losing 2:3 at home. Both sides enter this fixture having won four of their six league games so far, though neither has claimed a draw yet.
The visitors took control early and never truly looked back. Slavic fought hard to stay in touch but could not find a way past a Vitebsk defence that stayed compact. And here's the thing — it was that discipline that separated them.
Slavic have been scoring freely lately, netting three against Zhlobin and five against Kaluga in their last two outings. Vitebsk showed similar firepower with a 5:2 win over Lokomotiv Orsha before dropping points against Gomel.
By then, the gap was clear enough. Both teams sit near the top of the table with identical records, but cup football does not care about form guides. It cares about who takes their chances.
Vitebsk now move into second place, while Slavic remain third. The difference between them is just one point, and this result keeps the pressure on the hosts for the next round.