BATE clinch eighth successive Belarus title
Saturday, November 9, 2013
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"BATE are the best of the best as always," said Aleksandr Hleb after FC BATE Borisov clinched their eighth successive Belarusian Premier League title with two games to spare.
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FC BATE Borisov have secured their eighth successive Belarusian Premier League title with two games to spare thanks to a 3-1 victory over FC Torpedo Zhodino.
Yegor Filipenko and the league's top scorer Vitali Rodionov put BATE in charge at half-time and they never looked back after Zaven Badoyan added a third in the second half. "This is Viktor Goncharenko's title," said BATE coach Aleksandr Yermakovich about his predecessor. "We just tried to finish what he started. I will definitely call and congratulate him. The lads who had not already won the title before are now as happy as the rest.
"I am thankful to the lads for their approach to a difficult game. Though we are champions before the end of the season, we will not allow ourselves to play in a relaxed mood in the two last matches. We can give some playing time to younger players."
BATE midfielder Aleksandr Hleb added: "Nothing changes, BATE are the best of the best as always. We could have won it earlier but it is very nice now too because the Torpedo match turned out to be a good spectacle with lots of goals. So everything was great."
