FC Krasnodar – FC Krylia Sovetov (Samara) – 1:3 (0:0)
Goals: Yatchenko, 47 (Jahović, 0:1), Chochiyev, 55 (0:2), Wánderson, 71 (free kick, 1:2), Tsallagov, 88, from penalty (1:3)
FC Krasnodar: Sinitsyn, Jędrzejczyk (Granqvist, 70), Martynovich, Sigurðsson, Petrov, Gazinskiy, Adzhindhal (Akhmedov, 51), Mamayev, Izmailov (Ari, 51), Joãozinho, Wánderson.
FC Krylia Sovetov (Samara): Mucha, Tsallagov, Nadson, Simaeys (Bozhin 28), Yatchenko. Kontsedalov, Pomerko, Drahun, Tkachuk, Chochiyev (Yeliseyev, 86), Jahović.
Yellow cards: Mamayev, 73 (attack breakdown) – Pomerko, 22 (foul play).
Referees: Rushakov (
30 October.
This season FC Krasnodar for the first time in its history wages a three-front campaign and each of those fronts has the same priority for the Club. Nevertheless, the effects of the superdense playing schedule made FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov conduct the so-called rotation of the squad for the Russian Cup clash vs. FC Krylia Sovetov, a team the Bulls had never defeated before. Dykan, Kaleshin, Granqvist, Akhmedov and Ari stayed on the substitution bench, Pereyra kept being suspended and Bystrov was still recovering after an injury. Moreover, Laborde didn’t make the match sheet having felt a little unwell. On the other hand, Izmailov came back to the squad and took to the field in the starting lineup.
From the start FC Krasnodar occupied the pitch with no trace of resistance from the visiting team who made virtually all of the players sit in defense save for the mighty central forward Jahović looming in the central circle, and Tkachuk and Chochiyev spending their efforts to support the counterattacks of the Samara team from the depth of their ranks. It took just 10 minutes for the one to occur, and that period was spent by the Perya to counter the persistent but rather monotone attacks of the Bulls. Then Jahović hauled off and made a shot not even bothering to approach the arc of FC Krasnodar’s box. Sinitsyn in a beautiful dive failed to reach to the ball, but it passed by the goalpost.
These 10 starting minutes basically became the preimage of the whole first half of the game. It was marked by the complete territorial advantage of FC Krasnodar which nevertheless provided the home team with no benefits at all. The black-greens were conducting the attacks in a slow manner, either saving their pains or trusting that they would eventually succeed even in such a tempo. At the same time the Bulls kept bunching up in the centre where they would repeatedly sink in the crowd of the away players, so before the half-time they were able to get into striking positions only twice. On the 13th minute Joãozinho dropped the ball softly behind the backs of the defenders on Wánderson who one-touched it over the goalkeeper attempting a rush out, but the goal was denied scoring by Nadson who covered Jan Mucha the Slovak at the goal line. 10 minutes later Joãozinho himself after a short pass by Izmailov toe-kicked the ball and hit the goalkeeper.
As for the Samara team’s counterattacks a few of those had some outlook but in the end they never came close to be finished, as the home team was performing no less reliably in defense than their opponents did.
Unfortunately the second half was started by the black-greens in the same manner they did in a recent match vs. VfL Wolfsburg: they came out of the dressing-room but they didn’t enter the game. So the very first attack of the away team resulted in a scored goal. Drahun threw the ball into the penalty spot area, Jahović fought with the defenders a bit and passed it into a free space where Dmitri Yatchenko, the right defender, rushed in at full speed and took a strong and precise shot into the low corner of the net.
FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov reacted to the conceded opener with a double substitution; instead of Izmailov and Adzhindzhal Akhmedov and Ari took to the field. Samara reacted to this with one more scored goal. This time Alan Chochiyev made everything by himself outplaying one defender and making a shot in front of another one aiming by the second goalpost; Sinitsyn did not save it and FC Krylia Sovetov made a 2:0 lead.
It was an hour in the game, and if Jahović after an excellent turn in the home penalty area shot on target, the match could have been finished with. But the Macedonian from Samara missed the goal and the
There was still more than enough time to score an equalizer and the black-greens pushed the away team to the goal line, but their performance in defense was still well-coordinated. With Granqvist substituting Jędrzejczyk FC Krasnodar switched to playing with three defenders, and Petrov, who became a right halfback, on the 77th minute had a chance to score the second goal, but he made a shot out of the box exactly above Mucha and the latter managed to deflect the ball over the crossbar. A few minutes later Ari made a really good performance save for the finishing strike which came out rather weak, frankly speaking.
After the 85th minute tall Granqvist assumed a role of the central forward, but the
3:1 was the score of the well-deserved win FC Krylia Sovetov celebrated and they once again proved their repute of a notably uncomfortable opposition for FC Krasnodar. Now in the beginning of March Samara team, which represents Russian Football National League (FNL), is facing CSKA Moscow in the quarterfinal fixture of the Russian Cup, and the Bulls should work hard to keep playing not only in the domestic league championship next season.