Belarus vs Luxembourg

Alexander Hleb (Belarus)

On 10 October Borisov Arena played host to Belarus’ 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg. Alexander Khatskevich’s men seized the initiative virtually from the very first minutes of the game, but the team’s attacking strategy remained unsuccessful for a long time. Persistence, however, finally brought the hosts the so-much-needed change in the game: substitute Pavel Savitsky opened the scoring in the 80th minute, finishing off a set-up by Timofei Kalachev and Denis Polyakov. Aurelien Joachim netted the equalizer with his free kick five minutes later, helping Luxembourg to come from behind for a 1-1 draw. The game was refereed by German umpires led by Tobias Welz. Details of the match are here.

Group A standings following three matchdays: France – 7 points (goal difference – 5-1), Sweden – 7 (7-1), Netherlands – 4 (5-3), Bulgaria – 3 (5-10), Belarus – 2 (2-5), Luxembourg – 1 (4-6).