FC Arsenal Tula 0-0 (0-0) FC Krasnodar
FC Arsenal Tula: Levashov, Tesák, Gorbatyuk, Belyayev, Vergara Amú, Khagush, Steklov, Berkhamov (Gorbatenko, 46), Burmistrov, Mukhametshin (Appayev, 52), Brown Forbes.
FC Krasnodar: Kritsyuk, Bystrov, Granqvist, Martynovich, Petrov, Kaboré, Gazinskiy, Eboue (Okriashvili, 72), Podberyozkin (Laborde, 66), Joãozinho (Izmailov, 46), Ari.
Yellow cards: Steklov, 71 (foul play) – Martynovich, 80 (attack breakdown).
Referees: Eskov (Moscow), Safyan (Moscow), Bolkhovitin (Leningrad Oblast).
16 October 2016. Tula. Arsenal Stadium. Cloudy. 3 degrees. 7 000 spectators.
The two-week break in the Russian Football Championship caused by the fixtures of the national teams did not make the black-green infirmary any less. Jędrzejczyk, Kaleshin, Torbinski, Pereyra, Wánderson and Smolov did not travel to Tula at all due to injuries; Naldo and Ahmedov stayed in reserve for the same reason. As for Mamayev, who had recently resumed training with the team, even though he was put on the match sheet he could be fielded only in case of a dire need.
Anyhow, FC Krasnodar boss Igor Shalimov is accustomed to assembling his squad of the players available at the moment. Immediately following the kick-off the Bulls pushed the game peremptorily into the opposite half and began shaking loose the massive defenses of the red-yellows. FC Arsenal were playing the first match under the leadership of their new head coach, Sergei Kiriakov, and they did not conceal they had placed stake on counterattacks. As early as on the 4th minute one of those ended with Brown Forbes disturbing the away keeper with a shot from
Afterwards it was FC Arsenal goalie Levashov who kept on entering the game one time after another. On the 7th minute he took the ball away after a header by Eboue; then, with a quarter of an hour of the game done, he parried an acute angled shot taken by Podberyozkin. Four minutes later the goalkeeper really saved his team when he defused a one-on-one situation with Eboue.
The Canoneers would snarl back sporadically with abrupt lunges of their own, but those were merely the strokes that diversified the general canvas of the game a bit. The principal groundwork of that particular picture was composed of lengthy FC Krasnodar attacks, and it seemed under the circumstances that the goal was just a matter of time. And yet, the heavily echeloned FC Arsenal defenses, even though they cracked soundly sometimes, would commit no outright failures, hence the first half ended with a nil-nil on the scoreboard.
Both teams entered the pitch for the second half with alterations done to their squads. Berkhamov was substituted by Gorbatenko in the Tula team, while Izmailov replaced Joãozinho on pitch with the visitors. The home team had probably received some serious scolding on behalf of the coaching staff during the half-time interval, so they produced a very perky start going as far as serving a few corner kicks in row; so now it was FC Krasnodar players who had to work hard in defense. But no more than 10 minutes passed, and everything came back to normal, since the visitors regained their playing advantage firmly. FC Arsenal was literally locked off in their own half of the pitch thinking little of the attacking actions; but the red-yellow defensive bastion stood an impregnable wall nevertheless. The Tulyaki entrenched themselves at the approaches to their box defending desperately with sliding tackles and blocking shots taken on goal. On occasions, when the Bulls actually managed to force their way through this live fence, their shots lacked some accuracy.
In a couple of episodes Eskov the ref had a reason to punish the home team with a penalty kick, but he did not react to both the handball by someone of the Arsenal players in their box and the foul by Tesák against the freshly fielded Laborde.
When the full-time whistle interrupted the final general assault launched by the visitors heralding the game was over, the Tula supporters gave their team a real standing ovation; in their book the tie was worth of a victory. The Krasnodar players treated the result differently, as for them it was a loss of points in a match they could have and should have won.