Belarus round-up: Tarasenko settles title race

Valeri Tarasenko struck an extra-time winner to clinch the Belarussian Premier League title for FC BATE Borisov in today's play-off decider against FC Neman Grodno.
 
Tarasenko breaks stalemate
For the first time in the history of the Belarussian top-flight, the end-of-season match was needed after both teams finished the campaign level on 56 points. But it was BATE, whose only other title success came in 1999, who clinched the crown when Tarasenko finally ended 101 minutes of stalemate.

Tense affair
The match was a tense affair at the Tractor stadium in Minsk and was an unfortunate outcome for Neman, who led the title race until the closing weeks of the season.

Difficult conditions
Snowfall overnight had made conditions at the stadium extremely difficult and this was reflected in the play. Both sides tried to move the ball around with some purpose but neither could take the upper hand. After a barren 90 minutes, it took a moment of inspiration from Tarasenko to settle the entire season.

Powerful header
BATE midfield player Igor Chumachenko sent a free-kick into the Neman box and Tarasenko was on hand to leap the highest and write himself into the club's history books with a powerful header. Neman had time to recoup in the second half of extra time but were deflated by the goal and failed to create any openings.