FC Amkar (Perm) – FC Krasnodar – 1:2 (1:1)
Goals: Wánderson, 26 (Joãozinho, 0:1), Kireyev, 44 (1:1), Joãozinho, 74, from penalty kick (1:2).
FC Amkar (Perm): Gerus, Balanovich, Cherenchikov (Picusceac, 84), Phibel, Wawrzyniak (Zanev, 79), Takazov, Dzakhov, Gol (Solomatin, 57), Kireyev, Jovičić, Ogude.
FC Krasnodar: Dykan, Jędrzejczyk, Sigurðsson, Granqvist, Kaleshin, Gazinskiy, Akhmedov, Pereyra (Ari, 60), Burmistrov (Adzhidzhal, 68), Joгozinho, Wanderson, 74 (Laborde).
Yellow cards: Dzakhov, 34 (foul play), Balanovich, 38 (attack breakdown), Cherenchikov, 73 (foul play) – Kaleshin, 27 (foul play), Dykan, 90+2 (unsporting behaviour), Jędrzejczyk, 90+3 (unsporting behaviour).
Referees: Matyunin (Moscow), Drozdov (Moscow), Lunev (Novosibirsk).
22 September. Perm. Zvezda Stadium. Clear. 16 degrees. 6800 spectators.
Krasnodar team which has never lost a single game in Perm in their history went to this Ural city for a win. A tie would hardly suit the Bulls after their losses and no goals scored in the two previous fixtures of the domestic league championship. Same thing was true for FC Amkar who took to the artificial turf of Zvezda Stadium with a strong resolve to obtain maximum number of points. In the couple of recent matches the Perm team defeated two top clubs, namely FC Spartak Moscow and their Ural derby rival from Yekaterinburg, FC Ural, so of course, they were eager to continue such a successful run and attempt “scalping” one more team, this one of most inconvenience for them. Moreover, the former FC Krasnodar boss and now the head coach of FC Amkar, Slavoljub Muslin, was easily predicted to be supermotivated for this confrontation, so he prepared his players for the match accordingly.
Permyaki’s program to fight was obvious from the very fist seconds of the match, but their emotional pressure was quenched quickly enough by the away team. By as early as the 6th minute the Krasnodar players took the ball under their control and started looking for the weak spots in the defense of the Red and Blacks. It should be said that the latter defended competently enough and did not mind to launch the counterattacks themselves. In one of those on the 11th minute FC Amkar earned a corner kick, and after Kireyev launched the ball, Ogude shot it with a header from the near corner of the goal area, but it was Dykan’s luck that the former missed the goal. Less than three minutes later, Joãozinho brought Wánderson into a wonderful position, but the striker of FC Krasnodar failed to receive the ball and made no shot on goal.
Nevertheless, 12 minutes later the mentioned Brazilian union of FC Krasnodar got an A mark. The goal attack was started by Pereyra who intercepted the ball on the opposition’s half of the pitch and made a fine dip delivering it Joãozinho at the line of the penalty area. No. 22 of the Bulls literally put the ball with an elusive move of his foot on Francisco Wánderson’s leg, and the latter, surrounded by three defenders at once, shot a screamer with a lightning speed into the far corner.
After taking up the running the Bulls never ceased their pressure on the goal guarded by Gerus. Five more minutes passed, and another brand “aerial” combination by the virtually entire attack group of FC Krasnodar was finished by Jędrzejczyk, the right defender, who rushed into the opponents’ box like a whirlwind. He was aiming the spot Wánderson had missed earlier, but his shot lacked just a tiny fraction to become a scoring one.
It seemed that nothing would prevent the away team from going into the dressing room at half-time being at the lead, but FC Amkar, which had not been creating even an apology of a danger for the Bulls’ net, suddenly scored an equalizer when the first half was almost over. After a cross from the flank Gol, a Polish from Perm, splendidly received the ball in a fight with his opponent and made a roundhouse kick; Dykan managed to react to this, but Igor Kireyev beat everyone at the rebound and shot the ball firmly under the crossbar.
In the second half the opponents had to start everything over again. The game once more went in the tideway of the first half with mostly the Bulls dictating their terms to the home team. On the 52nd minute Jędrzejczyk supported the attack in good time again, but Wánderson failed to shoot out of the box in a fight with defenders. Shortly after, Pereyra made a shot on goal from 17 meters, but the ball whistled off target centimeters away.
After the lapse of an hour of the match Ari, the second “true” striker of FC Krasnodar took to the field of play substituting Pereyra. It was indeed No. 9’s appearance that became the key moment of the game. The Brazilian would prove himself later, as at first Dykan saved the away team from the big trouble parrying the kill shot of FC Amkar’s Solomatin who had earlier taken to the field as a sub.
The match affair came to its head on the 74th minute. During the regular lengthy attack of the Bulls Wánderson kept the ball in a fight with his opponent and gave it to Ari, who shielded it “Ari-style” and took a blunt push in the back from Cherenchikov. Matyunin, the referee, after having consulted briefly with his assistant Drozdov, pointed to the penalty mark. The protests of the Perm players, who claimed the offense occurred out of the box, proved to be useless and groundless. The video replay clearly shows that at the moment of the foul Ari was inside the box. Joãozinho executed a PK in his usual way and left no chance for the keeper taking a guess in the opposite direction.
In the last quarter of an hour the Krasnodar team was not just protecting their lead defensively, but kept attacking instead. And even though Joãozinho’s strike on the 83rd minute and Ari’s header on the 90th were not accurate enough, even though an attempt by the same Ari to outplay Phibel and make a rendezvous with Gerus was not a successful one, the players of Oleg Kononov achieved what really mattered: FC Amkar was unable in the end of the match to launch a single dangerous attack. Moreover, the home team was not relieved with an “all hands on deck” substitution of a defender Cherenchikov for Picusceac, a forward, who spent 10 minutes on a pitch with his partners keeping him on a starvation diet.
2:1 and Perm is still a no-lose city for the Krasnodar squad. It was a hard-earned win and its value is difficult to be overrated. Not only it allowed the Bulls to catch up with the group of leaders but it also brought the team its confidence which had been shaken a bit after the two home losses.