First Time the Bulls Returned Defeated from Saransk

FC Mordovia (Saransk) – FC Krasnodar – 2:1 (0:1)

Goals: Joãozinho, 38 (0:1), Lomić, 56, from penalty (1:1), Lomić, 76 (free kick, 2:1).

FC Mordovia (Saransk): Kochenkov, Shitov, Niasse, Vasin, Lomić, Božović, Dudiyev, Le Tallec, Vlasov (Ruslan Mukhametshin, 92), Sysuev, Lutsenko (Nakhushev, 87).

FC Krasnodar: Sinitsyn, Jędrzejczyk, Granqvist, Sigurðsson, Kaleshin, Akhmedov, Mamayev, Pereyra (Laborde, 61), Izmailov (Petrov, 46), Joãozinho, Ari (Wánderson, 81).

Yellow cards: Niasse, 84 (unsporting behaviour), Kochenkov, 90+1 (unsporting behaviour) – Kaleshin, 52 (foul play).

Referees: Meshkov (Dmitrov), Kalugin, Averyanov (both Moscow).

2 November. Saransk. Start Stadium. Occasional blizzard. – 3 degrees. 2000 spectators.

On the second day of November the Krasnodar team played their first “winter” match this season; the air temperature in Saransk dropped to three degrees below zero (centigrade) accompanied with a strong gusty wind. Not very comfortable conditions, to put it mildly, if one considers that the game took place during blizzard on an artificial turf (even though it had been cleared of snow) which has nothing common with the natural pitch when frozen. In this sort of weather the ball turns into a “plastic” projectile, and its rebound becomes completely unpredictable.

FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov replaced Gazinskiy (who missed the game due to an excessive amount of received yellow cards) with Akhmedov in the position of the defensive midfielder, and the goal of the visiting team was unexpectedly occupied by Sinitsyn. As for the rest, FC Krasnodar’s lineup was quite normal and ready for the fight.

The “fight” was the right word in the weather like that. The teams had to fight as it was virtually impossible to play normal football. Nevertheless, Krasnodar players tried to play the ball out and threatened the goal of FC Mordovia with their very first attack, however none of them really managed to make a finishing shot. The home team also made an active start, but the first threat for Sinitsyn’ goal came from ... Sinitsyn himself, who made a risky and not very accurate pass to his partner on the 10^th minute. As a result, Lutsenko won the ball back for his team at the penalty area line, a cross followed and Božović ran in and shot by the goalpost from 17 meters.

For a long time the opponents were like two heavyweight boxers clinch fighting and trying to tie each other up. It cannot be said that the teams acted in a passive way, but in this snowy commotion they were definitely better at being destructive rather than being creative. At the same time the opposing teams made their attacks in completely different ways. FC Mordovia made a bid for a quick transition through the middle of the pitch with the long and medium vertical passes and flank crosses, meanwhile FC Krasnodar stubbornly tried to weave their trademark “lace” pattern. Finally, after half an hour in the game the away team started to do something right.

On the 34^th minute Pereyra received the ball in the center of the box and one-touched it to Ari; the home team was rescued by defender Niasse who made a selfless block of the shot of a Brazilian centre-forward. 4 minutes later the Bulls scored an opener. After a cross in the direction of penalty spot Lomić kind of cleared the ball with a header but not too far. Joãozinho in the corner of the box picked the ball up and made a classy curled shot throwing it accurately into the far top corner of Kochenkov’s domain. It remained nothing for Mordovia’s keeper to do except to take the ball out of the net and put his funny hat back on out of pique, the one he took off after the first 10 minutes of the game.

The first half ended with Krasnodar team just one goal ahead, and it seemed that after the interval it would become easier for them, because now the home team needed to go forward and expose the rear. The blizzard stopped while the teams were in the dressing-rooms, and for the second half Petrov took to the field replacing Izmailov. Saransk was predictable in rushing to attack; on the 49^th minute Vlasov made an aimed shot from the penalty area arc, so Sinitsyn had to show his reaction parrying the ball. 5 minutes later, Le Tallec won an air duel near the away goal, but his shot lacked some focus.

FC Mordovia earned a penalty kick in the next attack. Akhmedov caught Sysuev in his own box with the latter located either on the verge of offside or offside in earnest. Anyway, Averyanov the assistant referee did not raise his flag, but the referee Meshkov saw a foul by the No. 10 of the Bulls and pointed to the penalty spot. Marco Lomić with his shot left no chance for Sinitsyn to become a hero.

For the following several minutes it seemed as if the teams tried to realize how they were to keep playing since the balance had been restored. FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov released his “hint” to the pitch and Laborde was its name, and the Colombian player joined the action seriously as is his custom. On the 72^nd minute in a counterattack he dragged the ball through almost the entire pitch and made a solid shot from about 22 meters; Kochenkov parried both this shot and the one by Akhmedov a few seconds later. A couple of minutes later Laborde earned a free kick executed Joãozinho who crossed the ball exactly on Granqvist’s head. The Swede made a header being virtually unchallenged and incredibly missed the goal somehow.

The payback for this miss was not long to wait. During FC Mordovia’s response action Lutsenko took a fall near the penalty area line of FC Krasnodar, and Meshkov considered Sigurðsson guilty in the episode. Marco Lomić with his left foot got the ball splendidly past the wall from a free kick and Sinitsyn once again could do nothing against the shot of the home team’s Serbian defender.

In the remaining time Saransk team focused on holding the winning score and the Bulls attacked desperately. Wánderson executed a set piece from almost the same place as Lomić, but to a much smaller effect. Petrov fell down entering the home team’s box almost as Sysuev did in the penalty episode, but Meshkov’s whistle this time was silent. On the 90^th minute the same Petrov Petrov took a shot from about 20 meters, FC Mordovia was saved from a true goal by Kochenkov leaping splendidly and taking the ball out of the top corner.

As a result FC Krasnodar suffered its second defeat this week. The difference from the Russian Cup match vs. FC Krylia Sovetov is that the defeat in Saransk can hardly be called natural, but the Bulls are none the better for it. It is the first time the team returned defeated from the capital of Mordovia having lost three most important tournament points.