FC Krasnodar – FC Amkar Perm – 1:0 (1:0)
Goals: Mamayev, 33 (Kaleshin, 1:0).
FC Krasnodar: Kritsyuk, Kaleshin, Granqvist, Sigurðsson, Torbinski, Eboué, Pereyra (Gazinskiy, 63), Podberyozkin (Bystrov, 77), Mamayev, Wánderson, Laborde (Joãozinho, 60).
FC Amkar Perm: Selikhov, Idowu, Zaytsev (Pantsyrev, 83), Dzhikiya, Butko, Gol (Shavayev, 69), Ogude, Dzakhov (Salugin, 67), Gigolayev, Komolov, Prudnikov.
Yellow cards: Torbinski, 36 (foul play), Kaleshin, 74 (foul play), Joãozinho, 84 (unsporting behaviour), Bystrov, 89 (unsporting behaviour) – Zaytsev, 29 (attack breakdown), Ogude, 84 (unsporting behaviour), Gigolayev, 90+2 (foul play).
Referees: Turbin (Moscow), Vorontsov (Yaroslavl), Cheltsov (Moscow).
21 May 2016. Krasnodar. Kuban Stadium. Clear. 22 degrees. 11 150 spectators.
In the final match of the season against the Perm team a win alone would suffice for FC Krasnodar since only it would leave the Bulls a chance to repeat their last season’s bronze-medal success. The bad thing was that before the clash vs. FC Amkar the black-greens encountered some serious lineup troubles. The company of injured Strandberg, Ahmedov, Petrov and Ari and suspended Kaboré was joined by the team’s and Championship’s top scorer Smolov who had fallen sick literally on the eve of the game. FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov had a real hard time deciding which players to field in the first eleven. As a result, Kaboré in the defensive midfield was changed by the 18-year-old Eboué who in such a way made his debut in the official games with the Bulls. As for Smolov, his position of a centre-forward was a bit surprisingly occupied by Laborde, a nominal winger.
This unusual lineup and almost summer-like hot sun became the reasons the Krasnodar team began the game in a rather placid way. Still, the not-so-high tempo did not prevent them from getting a firm hold on both the ball and the space. At the same time the Permyaki adopted a typical tactics of the visiting teams playing mostly defensively, as had been expected.
It was not easy for the home team to break the FC Amkar saturated defense open, so they put their trust in shots from afar. The first one was taken by the debutant; Eboué, far from taking a back seat, took a volley from 25 meters a bit over the crossbar. In the middle of the first half Pereyra attempted a shot from roughly the same distance; his shot was on target, but the keeper was able to parry the ball in front of him and there was no one of the black-greens nearby for a second ball.
Step by step the Perm concrete defense began to crack under the onslaught of the Bulls, so on the 30th minute Wánderson took a header from within the penalty area; Selikhov saved his team reaching to the ball and covering the second corner. Three more minutes passed, and FC Krasnodar scored quite a natural opener. Kaleshin replied to a penetrating pass by Laborde and burst into the Amkar box drawing the keeper out of his goal area and giving a purposeful pass to Pavel Mamayev in the centre, and the latter shot the ball in call blood into the now empty goal.
Having scored this goal the Bulls went on besieging the opposite penalty area. After one of the numerous set pieces Granqvist won an aerial duel, but he shot the ball exactly where Selikhov stood. This shot was the last one in the first half, as it turned out.
The second half was begun by the visitors in a more aggressive way, and the game itself became more open. Anyhow, the defensive lines of the both teams performed without mistakes, hence only a small amount of really sharp chances took place next to their goals. FC Amkar Idowu crossed the whole pitch arriving to the home team box, but he was merely able to push the ball towards Kritsyuk. Kaleshin broke loose into a killing position next to the opposite goal choosing a lateral pass over a shot, and that one came out inaccurate. The Krasnodar crowd puller Joãozinho, who had come in as a substitution, took a volley from 14 meters on the 82nd minute directly into the keeper. As late as in the injury time Bystrov, another player of the black-greens released on pitch from the bench, wasted a sweeping counterattack with an inaccurate pass of his, and that one really could have become a scoring one.
Still, in any event FC Krasnodar ended the season the way they began it, with a minimal 1:0 win against FC Amkar Perm. This time the Bulls ranked fourth in the standings, while in the previous Russian Football Championships they took the fifth and the third positions. And since from now onwards the black-greens have no desire to drop out of the first five teams, the focus for the next season becomes clear as the noonday. No less than one of the two highest positions that the team has not reached yet!