Belarus round-up: Gomel win again

FC Gomel extended their winning streak to seven games with a 3-0 victory against Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk to move within one point of Belarussian first division leaders Torpedo-MAZ Minsk.

Early lead
Andriy Nazarov put Belarus Cup winners Gomel ahead in the seventh minute, and 13 minutes later the lead was doubled by Dmytro Karsakov. Gennadiy Bliznyuk scored the third goal eight minutes from time to help Gomel leap to second place.

Five-goal thriller
FC Neman-Belcard Grodno also won to remain level on points with Gomel, beating FC Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev 3-2 in a dramatic encounter. Dmytro Kovalenok and Oleg Radusko gave the hosts a comfortable 2-0 lead, but Belarussian Under-21 international Roman Kirenkin pulled one back to set up a thrilling finale. Kovalenok then scored again, but Andriy Rastopov responded with a goal to keep the pressure on Neman until the very end.

Champions win
Meanwhile, defending champions FC Belshina Bobruisk overcame FC BATE Borisov 2-1 at home. Belshina dominated throughout the game, Denis Korlik and Valeri Stripeikis both scoring to secure the victory, with Valeri Tarasenko claiming a consolation goal in the final minutes.

Dinamo victory
Elsewhere, FC Dinamo Minsk beat FC Molodechno 2000 4-1, FC Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk overcame FC Slavia Mozyr 2-1, while FC Dinamo Brest outlasted Shakhtior Soligorsk 1-0.