Stepping on the Same Rake the Bulls Lost the Euro Spring

FC Krasnodar (Russia) – LOSC Lille (France) –  1:1 (1:0)

Goals: Ari, 37 (Mamayev, 1:0), Roux, 79 (Balmont, 1:1).

FC Krasnodar (Russia): Dykan, Petrov, Jędrzejczyk (Martynovich, 45+1), Sigurðsson, Kaleshin, Gazinskiy, Izmailov (Laborde, 46), Pereyra, Joãozinho, Mamayev, (Wánderson, 82), Ari.

LOSC Lille (France): Enyeama, Corchia, Baša, Rozehnal, Béria, Balmont, Gueye, Delaplace (Mavuba, 62), Martin (Rodelin, 67), Frey (Mendes, 80), Roux.

Yellow cards:  Pereyra, 56 (foul play), Petrov, 86 (foul play), Wánderson, 90+3 (foul play) – Gueye, 65 (foul play), Roux, 84 (unsporting behaviour), Baša, 90 (attack breakdown).

Referees: Kružliak, Somolani, Brendza, Trutz, Kralović (all Slovakia).

27 November. Krasnodar. Kuban Stadium. Cloudy. 2 degrees. 15 000 spectators.

For this fixture, in which FC Krasnodar needed nothing else than a win to retain chance to qualify for the next stage of the competition, Oleg Kononov was forced to reshape substantially his line of defense. Two centre-backs at once, namely Granqvist and Martynovich, were left off the starting lineup due to their medical conditions, and as a result Sigurðsson was paired in the heart of the defense by Jędrzejczyk, a nominal right full back. The flanks were occupied by Petrov and Kaleshin with the latter leading the team to the pitch as its captain, and Joãozinho, whose four-match suspension finally had come to an end, assumed his usual position of the left attacking midfielder.

From the first minutes of the game LOSC Lille mounted their favorite hobbyhorse saturating the centre of the pitch and playing densely to the limit with each and every Krasnodar player sometimes going as far as not allowing the latter to lift a head up. However, with the 6^th minute over the Bulls managed a sweeping attack through the centre; it ended with Pereyra performing a clear one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, but the referee cancel the scored goal having observed the blocking by Ari.

3 more minutes passed and the Bulls, their superiority becoming more solid with each revolution of the second hand, earned a corner kick that lead to an aerial shot by Jędrzejczyk; Enyeama threw the ball falling behind his back over the crossbar. 5 minutes later another corner kick was finished with a powerful but not precise volley by Sigurðsson who caught a rebound.

Closer to the end of the first half the French team managed to freeze the game in the centre of the pitch. On the 22^nd minute they made their first shot on goal; Dykan easily captured the ball shot from 35 meters by Balmont.  On the 24^th minute they also earned their first corner kick, but failed to benefit by its execution. The serving from the corner of the pitch by FC Krasnodar was far too dangerous; however LOSC Lille keeper managed to react to the ricochet kick by Mamayev and saved his team from the trouble. Anyway, on the 35^th minute the pushy Bulls finally got ahead. A classy attack arrived through the centre, both sweeping and cutting through the opposition defense. In its end Mamayev saw Ari to a rendezvous with Enyeama, and the Brazilian player struck the ball neatly over the oncoming goalkeeper precisely into the far corner.

The away team became more active immediately, so Martin with his shot from afar made Dykan work. No more dangerous situations occurred next to FC Krasnodar’s goal before the half-time, the most serious trouble being the injury sustained by Jędrzejczyk just a few heartbeats before the half-time whistle; he was substituted by Martyniovich who had not yet fully recovered after getting injured in a fixture of his Belarus national team.

Oleg Kononov made one more sub during the half-time interval: Izmailov was replaced by Laborde on the pitch. The second half started with a dangerous shot of LOSC Lille centre-back Rozehnal from Czech Republic, but Dykan was confident parrying it. The two most dangerous counterattacks of FC Krasnodar followed. At first, Laborde broke away from his opponents and burst into the box where he was knocked down with a push in the back by someone of the visiting team; even so, Kružliak the ref from Slovakia did not observe any foul in that episode. Soon Ari was lucky to avoid offside, but his shot from 18 meters lacked some accuracy.

The away team stubbornly kept shoving themselves forward making a bet on diagonal passes and flank crosses. On the 59^th minute Roux made a bicycle kick as splendid as it was inaccurate. Soon LOSC Lille boss made two rearrangements in the middle line one after another; instead of Delaplace and Martin, Mavuba and Rodelin took to the field. That did not change the game character, as Les Dogues kept seeking their fortune in offense and they finally found it on the 79^th minute. Balmont served the ball smartly from the right, and Nolan Roux playing to be the first on the ball hammered it into the net with a header at a short distance.

The score became even, so now the Krasnodar team rushed forward. Laborde sped up the attack through the centre, but instead of an obvious pass to Ari he decided to make a shot by himself and failed it. LOSC Lille defender Mendes during the counterattack made a better shot from a good position, but FC Krasnodar was saved by Dykan. The home team received a last chance to avoid the tie as late as in the injury time set by the ref. LOSC Lille defender Baša stopped the burst by Laborde with a foul and was lucky to get off lightly with a just a yellow card. Wánderson who substituted Mamayev got the ball behind the defensive wall from a free kick; Enyeama reached the ball in the low corner of the net and completely covered it with his second attempt leaving behind Joãozinho who was rushing in for finishing.

1:1 as a result, and that was already the third fixture of the group stage where FC Krasnodar looked better than their opposition and scored an opener, but in the end the team stepped on the same rake conceding an unnecessary goal and letting the victory at hand slip. This failure left the Bulls without the Euro spring, so now Oleg Kononov’s squad may fully focus on the domestic league championship. As for LOSC Lille, the draw retained them chances to qualify for the Round of 32, as Everton F.C. beat VfL Wolfsburg 2:0 in an away game, so now the French team needs to win against the Germans in the MD 6 at home to keep fighting for the main trophy of the UEFA Europa League.