Georgia round-up: Dinamo in pole position
Friday, December 13, 2002
Article summary
FC Dinamo Tbilisi will hold a two-point lead over FC Torpedo Kutaisi when the Georgian Premier League resumes.
Article body
Scoring streak
Despite heavy snow, the Football Federation of Georgia decreed that the first phase of the league had to end prior to the break. So the difficult conditions did not prevent Dinamo from beating FC Dila Gori 3-0, as Rati Alexidze continued his scoring streak. Alexandre Amisulashvili and Vitali Daraselia added the other goals to take their side's first-phase tally to 50.
Six for Torpedo
Torpedo themselves made the half-century with an impressive 6-3 victory over FC Gorda 2000 Rustavi. The Rustavians shocked their hosts with an early strike, but Zurab Ionanidze was the hero for Torpedo, as he recorded four goals. Malhaz Asatiani and Andriy Poroshin were also on the scoresheet. Ionanidze now leads the scoring charts with 17 goals.
Gallardo winner
FC Lokomotivi Tbilisi overcame FC Dinamo Batumi to stay within three points of the leaders, Rafael Gallardo scoring his second winning goal in a row to secure a 1-0 victory. FC WIT Georgia Tbilisi are level with Lokomotivi after a 2-0 success over FC Kokheti-1913 Poti, Vladimer Gochashvili and Georgi Adamia the scorers.
Title play-offs
Elswehere, FC Merani-91 Tbilisi edged past FC Sioni Bolnisi 3-2, while FC Metalurgi Zestaponi thrashed FC Milani Tsnori 5-0. Dinamo (28 points), Torpedo (26), Lokomotivi (25), WIT (24), Sioni (15) and Kolkheti-1913 (15) will continue playing for the title in the spring, while the other group of six will play off to avoid relegation along with two second-tier clubs.
