The Bulls Finished the Year with an Away Win against the Founders of Football

Krasnodar
UEFA Europa League. Group H. MD 6. Everton F.C. (England) – FC Krasnodar (Russia) – 0:1

Everton F.C. (England) – FC Krasnodar (Russia) – 0:1 (0:1)

Goal: Laborde, 30 (Izmailov).

FC Krasnodar (Russia): Sinitsyn, Petrov, Granqvist, Sigurðsson, Kaleshin, Gazinskiy, Izmailov, Pereyra, Laborde (Burmistrov, 73), Joãozinho (Ageyev, 90+1), Wánderson.

Everton F.C. (Liverpool, England): Robles, Browning (Jones, 90), Alcaraz, Barry, Garbutt, Oviedo, Ledson, McAleny (Long, 80), Atsu (Dowell, 11), Pienaar, Koné.

Yellow cards: Koné, 42 (foul play), Pienaar, 60 (unsporting behaviour) – Granqvist, 2 (foul play), Sigurðsson, 81 (foul play)

Referees: Kovács, Nagy, Oniţă, Avram, Comanescu (all Romania).

11 December. England. Liverpool. Goodison Park Stadium. Rain. 5 degrees. 31 500 spectators.

FC Krasnodar was to finish its first autumn-winter part of the season with a fixture of UEFA Europa League in England, the cradle of football, and the match itself could be deemed as a friendly game. Oleg Kononov, the Head Coach of the black-greens, brought only 12 players representing the first team to Liverpool, and 11 of those made a start in the game. To run a few steps forward, it should be noted that no itchy feet were observed with the players in view of their upcoming vacations, and each and every Bull despite the weariness after more than four super busy playing months proved himself to be a worthy fighter and totally gave all he had got that cold rainy night.

Roberto Martinez, whose management allowed Everton F.C. to occupy the first position in the Group H ahead of schedule, also allowed many key players to rest giving a chance to prove themselves to those footballers, who had not seen too much playing time as the season progressed, and several representatives of the youth team. He explained that he would like to achieve a better result, so he would field those players who would be motivated with a desire to show themselves in a most positive way and thus earn a place in the first team.

In the typical monotone English rain the game started rather easily save for the yellow card that was earned as early as on the 2nd minute by Granqvist, team captain of the Bulls, who made a rough sliding tackle under Atsu. Everton F.C. winger was forced to leave the pitch soon, but not a mighty Swede from Krasnodar was a reason to it, but a slippery pitch itself which left the player with a crick of his back thigh muscle on the 9th minute after he tried to reach the ball exiting the field of play.

With the first 10 minutes of the half being almost over this measured flow of game was interrupted with a corner kick which the home team just barely missed implementing into a goal really British-style; Alcaraz won an air duel and missed the corner of the net just a fraction. Soon the striker of The Toffees Koné made a solid shot out of the box, and Sinitsyn got involved into the game for a first time in the match parrying the ball away. The Bulls did not wait long for the reply, so Wánderson after a timely pass from Gazinskiy evaded an offside trap, entered the box and made a powerful shot from a sharp angle. The keeper of English team Robles blocked the ball with his hands… and his face, which led to medics spending a couple of minutes to stop his nosebleed. In the end the goalie did not require a sub, but his sweatshirt did as it got covered with blood.

By the middle of the first half some progressive advantage of the away team could be observed as they tried to make fine combinations playing short and medium pass even on this wet and slippery pitch. The attacks of FC Krasnodar were led by Maestro Izmailov who provided his Colombian partner with a brilliant pass on the 30th minute. Everton F.C. keeper came out of the net in proper time and made Ricardo Laborde shift aside, but the No. 21 of the Bulls did not get confused with that. He made a turn showing with his body language that he was about to make a pass along the goal line, and when Robles went to intercept the cross he kicked the ball next to the first goalpost instead. La Torcida of the Bulls started singing “Hey Jude” by the Beatles to celebrate, but it was not supported by the British as they just froze listening to the imperishable masterpiece of their fellow countrymen performed by the fans from distant and mysterious Russia.

Then the British supporters urged their team forward. The ending of the first 45 minutes was marked with the territorial advantage of the home team, but the defensive line of the Bulls produced some quality teamwork and Sinitsyn played effectively both in the net and coming out. Having gained not a thing before the half-time The Toffees pushed the tempo immediately after the game resumed … and missed the most dangerous lunge by the Krasnodar team. Robles saved his team on the 49th minute after the point-blank shot by Laborde, while Pereyra looking for continuation of this attack failed to kick the ball hard. Then for several minutes it was rather hot in the away penalty area. Anyhow, that night Sinitysn really made a flawless performance, so even the “home” weather would not assist the English players in scoring while he was in the net.

An hour of the game passed and the attacking fervor of the Blues subsided a bit, or to be more precise, it was damped down by the Krasnodar players who confidently held the ball and made several sharp lunges. In one of those on the 63rd minute the left back Kaleshin found himself at the attack spearhead, but he was deprived of a precise finishing shot from the corner of the goal area in a rough contact duel with an opponent; as for the ref, he considered that everything was done within rules. When there was less than 20 minutes remaining to play another sweeping counterattack of the Bulls just by miracle missed scoring a second goal into Robles’s domain. Joãozinho received the diagonal pass from Pereyra next to the home 18-yard line and could have tried a shot on his own, but he preferred to trick the defender away with a pause and then rolled the ball to Marat Izmailov who was making a run-in. The pause by Marat turned out to be even more efficient, as the home defenders and the keeper were basically outplayed and it remained just to kick the ball into the empty corner of the net, but it deceitfully rolled next to the goalpost.

In football for a miss like that a severe punishment is accustomed to follow with a goal into the opposite net, but this was not the case. Although the home team would not cease trying to score an equalizer until the very final whistle it was only once, 10 minutes before the full time, when they created some sort of a chance next to Sinitsyn’s domain. However, an effective shot by Koné with the back of his head missed the target.

Krasnodar team finished the match with young Ageyev on the pitch substituting Joãozinho, who had suffered some knocks at his legs, and they confidently led the game to a win which became a first win in Club’s history in the group stage of UEFA Europa League. And not the last, for sure: the first step is the hardest, as they say, but the new victories are to come in the following seasons. This Euro campaign was finished by the Bulls at the 3rd position in the group as they left behind LOSC Lille from France which lost 0:3 against German VfL Wolfsburg in the final MD.

Group H

Final Standings

Position

Team

P

W

D

L

+/-

Pts

1

Everton F.C.

6

3

2

1

10 – 3

11

2

VfL Wolfsburg

6

3

1

2

14 – 10

10

3

FC Krasnodar

6

1

3

2

7 – 12

6

4

LOSC Lille

6

0

4

2

3 – 9

4