FC Krasnodar (
Goals: Granqvist, 37 (own goal, 0:1), De Bruyne, 46 (Naldo, 0:2), Granqvist, 50, from penalty (1:2), Luiz Gustavo, 64 (Vieirinha, 1:3), De Bruyne, 80 (Vieirinha, 1:4), Wánderson, 86 (Akhmedov, 2:4).
FC Krasnodar (
VfL Wolfsburg (
Yellow cards: Sigurðsson, 56 (attack breakdown), Laborde, 73 (foul play) – Naldo, 49 (unsporting behaviour).
Referees: Dias, Miranda, Tavares, Miguel, Machado (all – Portugal).
23 October.
As it happened during the home match vs. Everton F.C. three weeks before, Kuban Stadium was once again practically filled to capacity. The fans arrived to support FC Krasnodar in its most important fixture (if one takes it tournamentwise) of the UEFA Europa League against VfL Wolfsburg. The black-greens’ desire is to qualify for the next stage of the tournament, and they were in a great need of a victory that night. The problem was that the German clubs represent a traditionally uncomfortable opposition for Russian teams, and this was once again proved by the defeat of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg at the hand of Bayer Leverkusen in the EUFA Champions League fixture that took place the day before.
Still suspended Joãozinho and injured Bystrov and Izamailov constituted the list of unavailable players FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov was unable to rely upon in the upcoming game. The lineup that took to the field was almost the same that confronted FC Zenit in the recent clash of the domestic league championship; the only difference was Laborde on the attacking flank replacing Joãozinho. For the German squad, which in the previous two MDs obtained just a single point, the fixture also had a significant tournament meaning, and that is why VfL Wolfsburg Head Coach Dieter Hecking threw all the best players he had at his disposal into the fight.
During the first minutes of the game Ari was the most prominent player of FC Krasnodar; the central forward kept unmarking throughout the whole attack front and his partners willingly played the ball to the Brazilian who was outstandingly clinging to it whenever it flew in his direction. The German defense gave it first crack on the 9th minute when Pereyra reacted to the Ari’s dropped ball and made a shot from about
No sooner had 20 minutes of the match passed, and Krasnodar players created one more sharp episode; Akhmedov made a calculated dip launching into “Joãozinho’s channel” his fellow countryman Ari, the latter dropped the ball to Laborde at the corner of the goal area, but the Colombian made a shot on the run and hit the side of the net. Soon Ari in his unique style threw the ball over the defender and took a shot from a sharp angle, and Akhmedov almost pushed the ball into the goal with Benaglio parrying it with his palm away from the goal line in the very last moment. VfL Wolfsburg replied with a counterattack and a powerful shot by Perišić over the crossbar.
The exchange of lunges continued, and if Laborde’s shot on the 36th minute after a sweeping breakaway arrived directly into the keeper, then the Germans in a return attack managed to score an opener. Krasnodar players forgot De Bruyne in their box and the latter made a low shot; Dykan tried to get hold of the ball but it kept going to the goal, and the clash between Andreas Granqvist and Ivica Olić resulted in it rolling into the net all the same.
The
For the second half FC Krasnodar appeared on the pitch before their opponents, but they were the last to start playing seriously, as merely 45 seconds passed and the home team conceded the second goal. Kevin De Bruyne was successful in avoiding the offside, picked up the ball on the right flank, strolled into the Bulls’ box, got rid of Sigurðsson with a feint and shot past Dykan from the corner of the goal area.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the black-greens to come to their senses, and 4 minutes later they returned to the game. Ari received a lengthwise pass from Pereyra and tried to get the ball smart over Naldo, and the latter stopped it with his forearm. Dias, the Portuguese referee, had no doubts in pointing to the penalty spot, and since Joãozinho was absent, the team captain Andreas Granqvist approached it. The Swedish made a perfect shot, both strong and precise, and hit the top corner of the net.
The
Alas, the efforts of the Bulls to save the match were crushed by the Brazilian Luiz Gustavo from the German team who probably scored his most beautiful goal in career. His shot from
Oleg Kononov, the Head Coach of the home team, attempted to amend the situation somehow with a double substitution: Wánderson and Adzhindzhal took to the field instead of Pereyra and Mamayev. But VfL Wolfsburg was not ever thinking of falling back to defense, as on the 70th minute Naldo one more time made a dangerous shot from a free kick and the ball hit the outer side of the Bulls’ net. The shot of FC Krasnodar’s Akhmedov from the penalty area line a minute later was even more precise, but Benaglio once again made a classy display of his performance and warded off the threat.
The game became open for good with the ball swiftly passing through the centre of the pitch and going back and forth between the penalty areas, but the profit out of such football was extracted once again by the Wolves. Kevin De Bruyne, indisputable player of the match, personally sped up the regular quick lunge of the away team, received the return pass from Vieirinha and shot precisely on goal from the penalty spot. 1:4!
As a result VfL Wolfsburg brought the match to a victory, and FC Krasnodar received its first serious European lesson. If before the wastefulness next to the away team’s net deprived the Bulls of their victories and resulted in ties, then the Germans, as usual, did not forgive the Russian team and proved once more the validity of a great football dogma “If you don’t score a goal you’ll let it in”. The players of Dieter Hecking squeezed four goals out of their three chances while the attack output of the Bulls was no more than 25 percent …