The Rain did not spoil the Russian Euro Battle

FC Krasnodar  – FC Zenit (Saint Petersburg) – 2:2 (2:1)

Goals: Sigurðsson, 7 (1:0), Mamayev, 21 (Ari, 2:0), Javi García, 39 (Garay, 2:1), Hulk, 60 (Danny, 2:2).

FC Krasnodar: Dykan, Jędrzejczyk, Granqvist, Sigurðsson, Kaleshin, Gazinskiy, Akhmedov, Pereyra (Laborde, 64), Mamayev (Petrov, 74), Joãozinho, Ari (Wánderson, 75).

FC Zenit (Saint Petersburg): Lodygin, Smolnikov, Neto, Garay, Anyukov, Fayzulin, Javi García, Arshavin (Kerzhakov, 72), Danny (Lombaerts, 72), Hulk, Rondón (Witsel, 62).

Yellow cards: 74, 26 (foul play), Kaleshin, 55 (unsporting behaviour) – Javi García, 58 (attack breakdown).

Red cards: Garay, 68 (last-ditch foul).

Referees: Arslanbekov (Moscow), Bogach (Lyubertsy), Bereznev (Rostov-on-Don).

18 October. Krasnodar. Kuban Stadium. Rain. 13 degrees. 10 000 spectators.

FC Zenit’s arrival brought real autumn weather from Saint Petersburg to Krasnodar. It started to rain on the MD’s eve, and but for an occasional respite now and then the rain did not stop till the kick off and gave everyone a severe washing during the match. The pitch of the Kuban Stadium was in due time dressed into a special waterproof coating which was removed just an hour before the starting whistle. The drain was absorbing the rainwater as much as it could, but it was unable to take it all in, so the two Russia’s representatives in UEFA club tournaments had to engage one another in the conditions of some “water resistance” on behalf of the pitch.  

For this fixture FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov could not rely on two important players of the middle line, namely Bystrov who did not fully recover after an injury, and Izmailov who had unexpectedly felt sick the day before. As a result, for the first time after almost a half-year break due to an injury Pavel Mamayev made a start in the game. In his turn, FC Zenit manager André Villas-Boas from Portugal was deprived to field Shatov for the game as the latter had been injured in the match of Russia national team, and Criscito who had been suspended. In their absence Anyukov and Arshavin, two seasoned fighters from Saint Petersburg, took to the field.

The Krasnodar team, having emerged from the tunnel wearing T-shirts with an inscription made in Portuguese wishing best health to Ari’s grandfather who fell seriously ill, were a bit timid at first, and as early as on the 2^nd minute conceded a goal from a corner kick. Luckily for them, it was cancelled because the ball on its way to meet Neto’s header left the boundaries of the pitch. Instead, the first set piece next to FC Zenit’s net ended with an entirely legitimate goal. Pereyra made a cross from a free kick, the ball rebounded from Rondón of the Sine-Belo-Golubye, flew to the goal area’s line and Ragnar Sigurðsson, the best one to assess the situation, one-touched the ball under the crossbar of Lodygin’s domain.

The stung FC Zenit rushed forward with a vengeance and just a few minutes later Rondón and Danny made things hot next to Dykan’s goal, but none of the away team players was able to make a decent shot. The Bulls replied with Mamayev’s header after Ari’s high cross from the right; Lodygin chose his position correctly and got hold of the ball. Then several times Dykan got involved into the game. The Bulls’ keeper parried an unexpected shot from afar by Rondón, coped with a tricky shot by Arshavin and a couple of times played well coming out of the goal area.

The keeper’s confidence transmitted to his partners, so they created one more goal in the middle of the first half. Ari was in the right sector of the box and splendidly outplayed Smolnikov making a drill cross to the centre, and Pavel Mamayev very effectively one-touched the ball into far corner of the net with his heel. 2:0!

The Saint Petersburg team did not get confused even then. Zenitovtsy kept their stubborn advance forward adopting the far shots as their weapon; those in the weather like this promised to become a very efficient weapon indeed. Arshavin tried to shoot past Dykan from “open play” and Hulk tried to do the same from a set piece, but FC Krasnodar’s goalie both times was confident in parrying the wet ball flying into the frame.

The Bulls did not forget to counterattack, and on the 30^th minute Joãozinho got the ball splendidly over Lodygin who came out of the goal area, but the supporter’s joy was to no good, as the referee assistant marked a reasonable offside by the Brazilian. Nevertheless, on the 39^th minute the away team finally managed to break the seal on Dykan’s domain. After an executed free kick the defenders left Anyukov unchecked next to the corner of the goal area, the No. 2 of FC Zenit made a drill cross along the goal, the Krasnodar players failed to clear the ball as it bounced to Garay and the latter passed it to Javi García who scored after a point-blank shot.

The first half ended with attacks of FC Krasnodar. On the 43^rd minute Ari wasn’t lucky enough in receiving the slippery ball and missed a chance to get into the killing position. Also, in the injury time the free kick combination was finished with the header by Granqvist, and the ball landed from above on Lodygin’s net.

The start of the second half saw the opposing teams making an exchange of far shots; both Smolnikov from Saint Petersburg and Akhmedov from Krasnodar lacked some accuracy to score. A bit later Pereyra, a Black-green from Uruguay, made a shot on target but it was not strong enough to strain the goalkeeper. It was one hour in the game when Hulk finally presented his loaded word. Krasnodar players got too much carried away with their attack and missed the counterattack of the opposition.  No. 7 of FC Zenit received a long diagonal pass from Danny, appeared one-on-one in front of Sigurðsson, feinted past the defender and accurately shot the ball under the crossbar with no chance left for Dykan.

The open football continued as the draw was on the wish list of neither team. Oleg Kononov threw the swift Laborde into the fight, and “Ricky” almost immediately organized the numerical advantage for FC Krasnodar. The Colombian was breaking away from Garay for a rendezvous with Lodygin, and FC Zenit’s defender was forced to knock him flat about 23 meters away from the goal. Arslanbekov the ref showed a red card to the offender at once, and Laborde himself attempted a shot from a free kick; it was a precise one but arrived directly above keeper’s head, and the latter caught the ball.

FC Zenit boss Villas-Boas reacted to one of his players being sent off the pitch with a double substitution: Kerzhakov and Lombaerts took to the field instead of Arshavin and Danny. Oleg Kononov immediately made two subs himself realigning his players, so Mamayev and Ari were substituted by Petrov and Wánderson. FC Krasnodar locked the leader of the Russian league championship in their half of the pitch, but the Zenitchiki successfully defended using both their numbers and skills. It turned out that one can actually park the Blue-White-Sky Blue bus when needed.

Anyways, the Bulls still had a few chances to snatch a victory. On the 85^th minute Jędrzejczyk just barely missed the closer corner of the net with the ball whistling some inches away from the goalpost. 4 minutes later after a corner kick Gazinskiy won the fight in the air but missed the target with his header. In the injury time Akhmedov in the box shot on the volley, but Lodygin sent the ball over the crossbar saving FC Zenit from defeat.

2:2 as a result, but certainly those 10 thousand supporters, who did not get scared by the downpour, had no compunction for coming to the stadium and getting soaked through, as the game of the Russia’s representatives in UEFA club tournaments proved to be of the real European quality and hardly left anyone indifferent.