Belarus round-up: Neman set the pace

FC Neman Grodno went top of the Belarussian first division after beating FC Dinamo Brest 2-1 tonight.

Quiet first half
After a quiet first half, both teams poured forward in the second period, and Neman's Dmitri Kovalenok and Alexey Suchkov were both on target on 55 and 58 minutes respectively. Vadim Savchuk handed Dinamo a lifeline, but his goal was not enough to prevent Neman from going top, two points ahead of Torpedo-MAZ Minsk.

Hard-fought victory
Torpedo themselves earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over FC Molodechno 2000. The Minsk side enjoyed the better of the play throughout the match, but Vitaly Mikhalev latched on to an Igor Sarasek pass to give the visitors an unlikely lead.

Penalty miss
Andrey Cherenkov levelled matters three minutes into the second half, but Andrey Pletnev wasted the chance to put Torpedo in the lead with the first penalty miss in Belarus this season. Sergey Dorohovich then gave Molodechno the lead again, only for late goals from Alexey Naumov and Andrey Pletnev to earn three points for Torpedo.

Victory for Belshina
Elsewhere, FC Belshina Bobruisk beat FC Torpedo Zhodino 1-0, the only goal recorded by the league's top scorer, Valery Stripeikis. FC Gomel drew 1-1 with Shakhtior Soligorsk, while Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk overcame FC Zvezda-VA-BGU Minsk and FC Slavia Mozyr lost at home to FC Dinamo Minsk.