FC Krasnodar (
Goals: Mallo, 52 (0-1), Aspas, 80 (Guidetti, 0-2).
FC Krasnodar (
RC Celta de Vigo (
Yellow cards: Kaboré, 21 (foul play), Gazinskiy, 42 (unsporting behaviour), Granqvist, 43 (foul play), Wánderson, 47 (unsporting behaviour) – Radoja, 54 (unsporting behaviour).
Red card: Kaboré, 87 (2nd yellow card, foul play).
Referees: Buquet, Gringore, Cano, Rainville, Miguelgorry (all France).
16 March 2017.
It is well-known the appetite comes with eating. FC Krasnodar had ventured into the UEL Round of 16 for the very first time in their history, and the Bulls were anything but stopping at this point. In order to advance further in the tournament however the team led by Igor Shalimov had to beat a representative of the world’s best club league, the Spanish Primera División, at home. Merely winning the game was not enough, since the 1-0 or even a better score was urgently needed.
RC Celta de Vigo at the same time was in a serious mood to uphold their minimal lead obtained in the first leg of a tie in
The two rearrangements the Bulls made to their starting lineup if compared to the game in
The game began in a very active way with the two teams displaying both high speed and aggressive pressing. On one occasion even Granqvist the centre-back joined the attack of the Bulls as he ventured far from his defensive domain. By the 14th minute both teams had managed to trade shots on goal. Wánderson of the black-greens attempted an acute shot which posed little trouble to the away keeper Álvarez, while left winger Sisto of the Celestes fired an aimed one under the crossbar. It was the reaction of Sinitsyn the goalkeeper that saved the home team.
Step by step the Spanish team achieved a small playing advantage. The visitors had a better ball possession while the Bulls obviously lacked some freshness. The latter should have been predicted though, since they had had less than three days to recover after a most difficult match against FC Lokomotiv Moscow and a return flight. Even so, with half an hour of the game done FC Krasnodar just barely missed scoring an opener. Pereyra earned a free kick
This set piece reversed the flow of events in game, so in the final third of the first half it was the black-greens who dictated their will on a field of play. Claesson took a couple of trial shots making the ball travel a bit off target. A mighty volley by Petrov was on target, but it met Gazinskiy’s back on its way to the net. Yuri also became the principal character of another episode that followed in the away box. His fall there as a result of a duel with one of the Celta defenders was deemed cheating by the French referee, so the No. 8 of FC Krasnodar was shown a yellow card.
The first half was a shutout, so the 33 thousand-strong army of supporters in the overcrowded stands of the Krasnodar arena urged their favorite players forward after the half-time with all their might. Mamayev entered the game in the most active way after the interval replacing Podberyozkin on pitch. The Spanish team was not willing to hole up in defense either, and they took the lead on the 52nd minute. Guidetti avoided an offside on the left flank crossing the ball dangerously to the centre of the penalty area. Aspas proceeded with a shot that hit Petrov, and then Celta team captain Hugo Mallo, first on the rebound, kicked the ball as hard as he could plunging it under the crossbar of Sinitsyn’s domain.
FC Krasnodar had to score at least two goals now, and considering a game with such a minimal amount of scoring chances it really looked an impossible task. Something could have probably changed if the referee sent Mallo the scorer off pitch for punching Claesson openly in the face. The French referee Buquet, however, never punished the Spaniard with as much as a yellow card.
Igor Shalimov refreshed his flanks of attack releasing Joãozinho and Laborde one at a time, and indeed it became more dangerous next to the goal guarded by Álvarez. Wánderson took a decent shot on one occasion, and then Joãozinho did the same twice from good positions, but the ball just kept on missing its target. Instead, one of the rare counterattacks of the away team resulted in their second goal on the 80th minute when Guidetti sent Iago Aspas to Sinitsyn’s domain with a fine pass. Our keeper attempted to arrive first to the ball leaving his goal area, but he lost this race to the Spanish striker who ballooned the ball along a high arc over the goalie and into the net.
Late at the death the French ref (he kept on ignoring the misconducts committed against the Krasnodar team) eagerly awarded Kaboré with a second yellow card for some foul in an aerial duel. By that time the outcome of both the game and the tie in general was obvious however, so RC Celta de Vigo has effectively advanced to the next round of the tournament. What is left for the Bulls now is to focus on the Russian Football Championship in the remaining part of the season in order to provide their supporters and the stadium with the matches of one of the UEFA Cups next autumn.