FC Krasnodar 5-2 (1-2) PFC CSKA Sofia
Goals: Culma, 12 (Atanasov, 0:1), Despodov, 24, penalty kick (0:2), Wánderson, 28 (Pereyra, 1:2), Pereyra, 51, penalty kick (2:2), Pereyra, 53 (Ari, 3:2), Ari, 74 (Fomin, 4:2), Laborde, 85, penalty kick (5:2).
FC Krasnodar (Russia): Kritsyuk (Adamov, 79), Petrov (Paradin, 79), Martynovich (Tatayev, 79), Strandberg (Morgunov, 79), Bystrov (Vorobyov, 70), Eboué (Kaboré, 46), Gazinskiy (Fomin, 70), Ahmedov (Torbinski, 70), Pereyra (Podberyozkin, 62), Joãozinho (Laborde, 46), Wánderson (Ari, 46).
PFC CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria): Konov, Atanasov, Chorbadzhiyski (Yordanov, 56), Dyulgerov (Stanoev, 39), Marin, Malinov (Kolev, 62), Galchev (Vitanov, 62), Ayass (Nunes, 46), Culma (Viana, 46), Despodov (G. Minchev, 70), Malamov (I. Minchev, 66).
Yellow cards: Kritsyuk, 23 (foul play), Kaboré, 63 (unsporting behaviour) – Konov, 74 (foul play).
Referees: Hirschbichler, Knapp, Stiger (all Austria).
7 July 2016. Austria. Mittersill. Mittersill Fussballplatz Stadium. Cloudy. 24 degrees. 250 spectators.
Only two days after their arrival to Austria the Bulls were to hold the first scrimmage of the six scheduled for the second training camp. On the eve of the match against the most honored Bulgarian club FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov exposed his players to a very serious workload; two heavy sessions were held by the team the day before the game while another intensive one took place in the morning of the matchday.
Hence there was no wonder why early in the game the black-greens looked heavy in comparison with their opponents that would repeatedly envelop the Krasnodar team with their high pressure depriving them of the ball and launching attacks at high speed. As early as on the 3rd minute PFC CSKA earned and executed a free kick with only a goalpost saving the Russian team from a conceded goal. Four minutes later FC Krasnodar keeper Kritsyuk parried a solid shot by Despodov from a killing position, but the Armymen of Sofia still celebrated a success on the 12th minute. Gustavo Culma from Colombia won an aerial duel after a set piece had been served from the left flank and took an unsaveable header into the bottom corner of the goal.
Soon after that Pereyra the Uruguayan Bull barely missed scoring an equalizer as his shot lacked a few inches to become a scoring one. Then in the middle of the first half the Krasnodar team conceded a goal again. Kritsyuk attempted to make up for a positional mistake of his defenders taking a dive into the feet of the CSKA player as the latter was running to meet him one-on-one. The referee decided that FC Krasnodar keeper committed a foul there and called for a penalty kick. Kirill Despodov made no blunder as he executed it increasing the score to 2-0.
Only after that the black-greens managed to run up a little and took the ball under control getting to harass the Bulgarian defense seriously and shortening the gap soon enough. Pereyra stole the ball away from an opponent in the corner of PFC CSKA box and found Francisco Wánderson with a pass, and then the latter effectively feinted past the defenders and the goalie and hammered the ball under the crossbar.
A few minutes passed and Wánderson was very close to scoring a brace. Having played a good pass sequence with Joãozinho and Gazinskiy he arrived to a shooting position, but the Bulgarian Army team was saved by Konov the keeper who parried the ball with his leg. A bit later the ref did not order a penalty kick against the Reds when they brought both Martynovich and Gazinskiy down in their box during a set piece execution.
Anyhow, it turned out later that Herr Hirschbichler merely saved the PKs against PFC CSKA for the second half. Three fresh players, Kaboré, Ari and Laborde, came in for the Krasnodar team after the half-time interval, and five minutes after the game resumed the last of the three produced a skillful attacking action making a Bulgarian defender commit a foul in his own box. This time the Austrian ref was confident in pointing to the penalty spot, and Mauricio Pereyra took an unsaveable shot from there.
The playing advantage of the Russian squad was overwhelming in the beginning of the second half, and soon enough it led to the third scored goal. Same Mauricio Pereyra brought FC Krasnodar ahead in cold blood after he had been led to a rendezvous with the keeper by Ari and his accurate pass.
With an hour of the game done both teams’ bosses began to put their substitutions in force actively, but these numerous alterations did not affect the course of the game too much. The black-greens would control the flow of events on the pitch confidently even though half of their squad consisted of junior players, so they made the score big one in the end. At first Ari marked himself with a scored goal making a good use of the one-on-one situation with the keeper, and then five minutes before the full-time he was the one to earn the third PK in game. This one was effectively executed by Ricardo Laborde, and the final score 5-2 of the scrimmage was set.