Opposition Scored Twice from PKs, Wánderson Replied with Two Goals of His Own

News
Exhibition game. FC Krasnodar – FC Kairat (Kazakhstan) – 2:2

FC Krasnodar – FC Kairat (Kazakhstan) – 2:2 (1:1)

Goals: Gohou, 3, from penalty kick (0:1), Wánderson, 23 (Petrov, 1:1), Li, 74 (1:2), Wánderson, 90+4 (Laborde, 2:2).

Missed penalty kick: Gohou, 74 (goalkeeper).

FC Krasnodar (Russia): Kavlinov (Sinitsyn, 46), Petrov (Kaleshin, 46), Martynovich (Sigurðsson, 64), Sigurðsson (Granqvist, 46), Burmistrov (Joãozinho, 46), Adzhindzhal (Lanin, 46), Shirokov (Petrov, 64), Pereyra (Izmailov, 46), Bystrov (Laborde, 46), Mamayev (Ageyev, 64), Wánderson.

FC Kairat (Almaty, Kazakhstan): Plotnikov, Darabayev (Moro, 85), Marković, Gurman, Pliyev (Kuantayev, 79), Rudoselskiy, Bakayev, Islamkhan (Baitana, 85), Riera (Lunin, 67), Isael (Li, 67), Gohou (Ceesay, 79).

Yellow cards: Kavlinov, 3 (attack breakdown), Martynovich, 46 (foul play), Laborde, 61 (unsporting behaviour), Joãozinho, 63 (unsporting behaviour), Gohou, 31 (unsporting behaviour), Marković, 78 (foul play).

Red card: Bakayev, 86 (striking an opponent).

Referees: A. Al Bloshi, Al Zaabi, B. Al Bloshi (all Oman).

2 February. UAE. Dubai. Jebel Ali Sports Complex. Clear. 26 degrees. 50 spectators.

In a match closing the first winter training camp program Oleg Kononov was once again forced to do without Dykan, Gazinskiy, Akhmedov and Ari. FC Krasnodar boss produced as many as six changes in the starting line-up if compared to a clash vs. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors from South Korea, and the Krasnodar team started the game rather cheerfully. Vladimir Bystrov in the very first minute of the match had two chances to shoot on opposition’s goal from a killing distance, but firstly he failed to shoot the ball with his foot properly, and then merely brushed it with hair.

Immediately after that FC Kairat replied with a smashing counterattack; former FC Krasnodar player Gohou answered to a pass from a depth of the field and ran away to a rendezvous with Kavlinov, dropping finally on a pitch in attempt to outplay the keeper. Omani ref pointed to a penalty spot, although the Ivorian player obviously found a contact with Kavlinov on his own accord. Anyways, Gerard Gohou approached the mark and scored an opener with a powerful shot almost into the centre of the net.

Such a development of the game partly unsettled the Krasnodar players, so until roughly 20th minute they couldn’t manage to put in order their play in the centre of the pitch. Meanwhile their opponents from Almaty fell back behind the line of the ball with their full team (save for Gohou being at the spearhead of their assault) and kept releasing the spring of their counterattacking actions.

On the 7th minute the same Gohou burst into the box of the black-greens along the left inside position and missed the second corner of the goal. 4 minutes later another former FC Krasnodar player, Isael from Brazil, brought Islamkhan with an accurate pass to a rendezvous with the goalkeeper; the Bulls were saved from troubles by a goalpost. Another 5 minutes passed and Isael himself made a shot from the corner of the box; fortunately, Kavlinov assumed the right position and displayed a firm grip. In the attack that followed Pliyev barely missed the bottom corner of FC Krasnodar goal from a far distance. On the 19th minute, when the goal of the Russian team was threatened from a short distance by the restless Gohou, the keeper once again played above praise and warded the threat off.

Having decided that the strength test was passed in full by FC Krasnodar young goalie, his partners starting from the 20th minute finally put their best foot forward and scored an equalizing goal relatively fast. Using the high pressing the Bulls took the ball away from the opponents close to their own penalty area, Petrov made an original heel pass, and then Fransisco Wánderson completed the episode the way a centre-forward should: he received the ball, handled it a bit and made an unsavable low shot from about 16 meters next to the second goalpost.

The score became equal and so did the game, in which connection both teams started to play more strictly in defense. A mighty volley by Isael after a corner kick execution on the 43rd minute became, in fact, a single more or less dangerous moment that occurred in the second part of the first half.

After the half time the Head Coach of the black-greens released seven fresh players on a pitch at the same time including Sinitsyn the keeper. FC Kairat Slovakian boss Vladimír Weiss in his turn kept the starting 11 composed of the key players of his team making several rearrangements only in the end of the match. The game itself in the second 45 minutes became more closed. FC Krasnodar players having been training their physique for two weeks clearly lacked some attack freshness and speed, but they wouldn’t allow their opponents to do much, too.

Anyway, on the 49th minute Almaty players were once again close to success: Isael made the ball past the wall splendidly from a free kick and for the second time in the game the goalpost came to the Bulls’ rescue. 4 minutes later the principal creative players of FC Krasnodar reminded of themselves. Shirokov with a fine pass found Mamayev next to the box of the team in yellow, and the latter attempted an accurate shot into the top corner of Plotnikov’s domain and missed just a fraction.

When on the 64th minute this creative duo left the pitch the game became even bleaker. But a sluggish ending of the match was spared… by the main referee who on the 74th minute observed a foul by Laborde in his own box against Lunin from Almaty and punished FC Krasnodar with a second PK. This decision of the ref surprised everyone including the supposedly aggrieved player. Gohou once again approached the penalty mark, but this time Sinitsyn unraveled his plans and parried the shot. It’s a pity the black-greens lost on the rebound, and Vitali Li who had come out as a sub finally managed a scoring shot several meters away from the goal with a ball bouncing into the net from a goalpost. The woodwork refused to assist the black-greens for the third time…

To the credit of the Bulls they did find powers for the final onslaught. The less time there was left till the end of the match the harder it was to defend for the team in yellow. So when on the 86th minute FC Kairat halfback Bakayev’s nerves snapped and he pushing roughly Laborde after a whistle earned a direct red card, the defense of the Kazakh team really started cracking at the seams. The free kick by Wánderson turned out not powerful enough to become a problem for Plotnikov though. A minute later the same No. 14 Brazilian from Krasnodar met a cross by Petrov with a header and missed the target. Kaleshin’s fall in the penalty area on the 2nd minute of the injury time was caused by a foul on the part of opposition and merited a penalty kick, but this time Abdullah Al Bloshi found no corpus delicti in the actions of the defending team.

Nevertheless, with the 4th added minute almost done the black-greens escaped the defeat. Fransisco Wánderson, the only player in the team who played the full match from kick-off to full time, gathered his remaining forces and after playing a wall pass with Laborde invested them into his final shot. Again, the way it happened in a first scoring episode, the ball went right into the bottom corner of Plotnikov’s domain. The full time whistle sounded just as the Almaty team was starting from the centre of the pitch …

So, the first training camp of FC Krasnodar is over. The team finished it without showing any bright football, but it displayed character and the will to fight for a result until the very last moment. This is the quality, perhaps, that may prove the most decisive in the final run of the season which promises to be very hot. As for the time to put the play in order, Oleg Kononov and his assistants still have more that enough of it. The Bulls are facing two more foreign training camps. They are to travel to Spain, where the next stage of training is to be done, in the morning on 7 February.