FC Krasnodar 1-2 (0-1) FC Lokomotiv Moscow
Goals: Samedov, 41 (Miranchuk, 0:1), Smolov, 48, penalty kick (1:1), Henty, 56, penalty kick (1:2).
FC Krasnodar: Kritsyuk, Kaleshin (Bystrov, 70), Granqvist, Martynovich, Jędrzejczyk, Gazinskiy, Pereyra, Ahmedov (Torbinski, 64), Podberyozkin (Joãozinho, 64), Ari, Smolov.
FC Lokomotiv Moscow: Guilherme, Shishkin, Pejčinović, Ćorluka, Denisov, Tarasov, N'Dinga (Mykhalyk, 90+3), Miranchuk, Samedov, Maicon (Kolomeytsev, 55), Henty (Škuletić, 86).
Yellow cards: Torbinski, 90 (attack breakdown) – Ćorluka, 45 (attack breakdown), Tarasov, 77 (foul play), Denisov, 85 (foul play).
Referees: Lapochkin (Saint Petersburg), Kudryavtsev (Saint Petersburg), Shimarygin (Sosnovy Bor).
28 August 2016. Krasnodar. Kuban Stadium. Clear. 29 degrees. 12 780 spectators.
The Bulls returned from Albania, where they played the second leg match of the UEFA Europa League play-off round, only two days before their fixture vs. FC Lokomotiv Moscow. The injuries and departures of the two centre-backs also robbed the team boss Oleg Kononov of more or less one third of his squad. And yet the Krasnodar players entered their home turf thinking solely of winning. Players of FC Lokomotiv, an engine stuck in a figurative depot after four consecutive ties early this season, were doing the same though. Their supporters were hoping that the new Head Coach Yuri Semin, who had assumed the post in the engineer’s cab for the fourth time in his career merely three days prior to the match, would finally succeed in directing the Red-Green train to the victory track.
The match was started very actively by the home team with Ahmedov being the most prominent among them. FC Krasnodar No. 10 earned a prospective free kick at first (it was executed by Smolov who hit the defensive wall with his shot), and then he also became the one who deserved a penalty kick in favor of his team. Lapochkin the ref paid no regard to the push in the back committed by the visiting team’s defender Shishkin however. Later on Pereyra and Kaleshin took turns in sending the ball into the sky with their shots, and then starting from the 15th minute the Moscow team managed to make the game even changing its course to a more comfortable development.
Both teams traded bursts of activity at regular intervals. Hence in the middle of the first half Henty the centre-forward of the Railroaders attempted a shot from the 18-yard line firing the ball exactly where Kritsyuk stood. On the 34th minute it was Ari’s turn to get knocked down in the opposite box after a duel with FC Lokomotiv defender, but Lapochkin’s whistle produced not a sound in this episode either.
Still, with the first half almost done, the visitors achieved a scored opener. A counterattack was launched when Aleksandr Samedov arrived one-on-one with Kritsyuk; and even though the keeper parried his first shot, FC Lokomotiv No. 19 succeeded with the second ball attempt sending the rebounded ball precisely into the top corner of the net.
After the half-time the Krasnodar team entered the pitch again five minutes before their opponents did. The game hardly resumed when they threw themselves forward scoring an equalizing goal pretty soon. Ari received the ball in the corner of the goal area beating Ćorluka skillfully. What the latter did was clutching at the Brazilian striker taking him down. This time Lapochkin was unable to omit such an obvious foul, so he waived his hand towards the penalty spot. The PK was accurately executed by Fyodor Smolov who sent the ball into the net next to the left goalpost. It was incomprehensible though why the referee did not show a yellow card to the offender, his second yellow card that would inevitably result in sending him off the field.
The Krasnodar team went on attacking, so the most experienced FC Lokomotiv boss Yuri Semin immediately reacted to the game’s change of nature with a substitution. Kolomeytsev replaced Maicon on the pitch, and the former earned a return PK merely a few seconds after his entry. While in attack he challenged bravely several opponents at the same time finding a contact with Martynovich and getting knocked off his feet. Lapochkin was eager to call for a penalty kick again, while Ezekiel Henty executed it no less confidently than Smolov had done before leaving no chance for Kritsyuk to save it.
The Head Coach of the black-greens, Oleg Kononov, spent all of his available substitutions within a five-minute period. The freshly fielded Torbinski, Joãozinho and Bystrov added more speed to their team, but FC Krasnodar still lacked some finesse with their attacks. Meanwhile the free spaces appeared in the back areas of the Bulls as they rushed forward en masse, so Kritsyuk the keeper was forced to enter the game a few times saving his partners.
The home team did have some chances to make the score equal again. Thus on the 76th minute Joãozinho was hugged and grounded by the Lokomotiv player in his very penalty area, but Lapochkin displayed his loyalty to the Moscow team for the umpteenth time in this match. A bit later the ref spared Ćorluka for the second time failing to show another yellow card to the Loko’s Croatian captain when the latter obviously smashed Ari’s head with an elbow during an aerial due. On the whole, the Railroaders were absolutely unshy of playing dirty considering that the ref was quite forgiving to them; they would also play for time at every opportunity, so they gained their end after all keeping the score and celebrating the first win this season.
The performance of the Bulls in this match was perhaps far from its ideal, but they have never looked any weaker then their opposition tonight deserving a tie at the very least. And yet, it is unfortunately not the first or the second time for FC Lokomotiv Moscow to have an upper hand over FC Krasnodar thanks to the decisions made by the referee from Saint Petersburg.