Torpedo Zhodino hosted Torpedo in a club friendly on Friday evening, and despite arriving with three defeats from their last five outings, the visitors secured a 2:1 victory. Oganesyan gave the hosts a lead in the second half, only for Torpedo to turn the match with two late strikes. The result extends a slightly better recent run for the away side, who had drawn twice and lost twice in their previous five matches.
Oganesyan found the net in the fifty-ninth minute, catching the game before it had fully settled into its rhythm. By then the visitors had been looking for something more than a share, and they found it. Ajibona ended the evening with a goal in the eighty-second, completing a comeback that Torpedo had been building toward.
To be fair, the home side had not been in freefall. A 4:2 win over Arsenal and a goalless draw against Dnepr Mogilev showed they could compete, but the three straight defeats — 0:6 to Vitebsk, 0:1 to Nemman, 1:2 to Gomel — had cast doubt. Torpedo, meanwhile, had shown more consistency. Two draws against Ufa and Velez, a loss to Nizhny Novgorod and Shinnik, and that victory over Tekstilshchik suggested they were better placed going into this fixture.
And here's the thing about friendlies: results matter less than what they reveal. Torpedo Zhodino's defensive frailties were on display again, particularly in the second half. Three goals conceded after the break, two of them in quick succession, tells a story that statistics alone cannot capture. Torpedo's ability to respond after going behind was the telling moment.
The visitors now carry a point from this encounter into whatever comes next. Torpedo Zhodino will need to address the patterns that have crept into their recent performances. One win and three defeats in five games is not a foundation to build on, and this friendly offered little comfort.
