FC Krasnodar 0-0 (0-0) FC Ufa
FC Krasnodar: Sinitsyn, Petrov, Martynovich, Granqvist, Kaleshin, Shishkin (Gazinskiy, 58), Kaboré, Pereyra, Zhigulyov (Mamayev, 46), Claesson (Laborde, 79), Wánderson.
FC Ufa: Belenov, Alikin, Putsko, Sukhov, Carp (Vaněk, 61), Zhivoglyadov, Zaseyev, Stotsky (Krotov, 80), Paurević, Sysuyev (Jokić, 67), Fatai.
Yellow cards: Putsko, 36 (attack breakdown), Stotsky, 42 (unsporting behaviour), Alikin, 79 (attack breakdown).
Referees: Levnikov (Saint Petersburg), Bolkhovitin (Leningrad Oblast), Shalamberidze (Moscow).
19 March 2017. Krasnodar. FC Krasnodar Stadium. Cloudy. 10 degrees. 15 365 spectators.
FC Ufa arrived to Krasnodar after the three wins in the first three fixtures of the spring part of the season. The Bashkortostan squad could also boast the status of one of teams aspiring to qualify for the UEFA Cups, since their high fifth position in the standings after the nineteen MD’s played allowed them to consider themselves as such. The Ufimtsy had had a good opportunity to spend the whole previous week preparing purposefully for a clash with the Bulls. Eager to push the Krasnodar team down from the fourth position, they were in altogether optimal physical conditions.
The team led by Igor Shalimov was to play their eighth official match in the last 32 days and the third one this week. They had had less than three days to recover from a most energy-consuming match against RC Celta de Vigo. Smolov, Okriashvili and Ramírez stayed off the match sheet due to injuries. Gazinskiy, as he had been playing regularly and with no substitutions lately, was allowed to have some rest and was left in reserve by the coaching staff. Three players, who made no appearance in a recent game with the Spanish team, joned the FC Krasnodar first eleven. Kaleshin found himself on the right of defense with Zhigulyov placed in attack at the same flank. Finally, Shishkin assumed a position in the defensive midfield next to Kaboré.
Strangely enough, in the very beginning the home team looked fresher and more aggressive than the away one. The black-greens launched a decent pressing against the opposition, and they also displayed good ball possession creating chances next to the Belenov’s domain now and then. In this manner on the 7th minute Claesson brought Pereyra to a shooting position, but the bent shot the Uruguayan player took lacked a bit of accuracy. Ten minutes later it was FC Krasnodar Swedish attacking midfielder himself who worked forward to the away goal and just barely missed the second corner of the net after he had beaten the goalie to the ball and pushed it past him.
FC Ufa defended en masse, and their only more or less dangerous counterattack was launched mid through the first half. Anyhow, the shot that followed posed little trouble to the goalkeeper of the Bulls, Sinitsyn. As for FC Krasnodar, even though they had a great territorial and playing advantage, they failed to convert it into a scored goal before the half-time. It was lack of accuracy with their last pass that let the home team down most of the time. On one occasion Shishkin was finally able to take a shot on goal with a header after a corner kick, but the visitors were saved by their keeper Belenov again as he got hold of the ball on the very goal-line.
It was obvious the black-greens had to strengthen their game, so a tactical move called to do exactly that led to Mamayev’s appearance on a field of play. The latter came in for the second half substituting Zhigulyov. Soon enough Gazinskiy replaced Shishkin in the midfield, but the flow of events on pitch never changed as much as to be seen. The Krasnodar team would still attack a lot, but they found it really hard to break through the sticky and saturated FC Ufa defense.
From time to time scoring chances took place next to Belenov’s goal after the set pieces. Early in the second half Martynovich sent the ball next to the goalpost with a header after a ball had been served from one of those. Fifteen minutes later Ufa defenders grabbed the same black-green No. 4 by his shirt in their own penalty area when the latter was rushing towards the ball thrown by Pereyra. The whistle of Levnikov the ref remained silent in this episode however.
Mamayev had an outstanding chance to bring FC Krasnodar forward in the middle of the second half when he arrived one-on-one with Belenov after intercepting a miscalculated pass by some player of opposition. The away keeper held his domain intact though as he parried a shot with his foot. Some time later Wánderson took a classy shot past a defender, but that one went next to the pole and off target.
In the last fifteen minutes of the match the Bulls somehow found an untapped reserve of energy and launched a true general assault of the away goal pushing the visitors against it. The Ufa defense did not cope with this desperate onslaught, so they began letting the black-greens arrive to the shooting positions. And yet, Belenov acted beyond praise in his goal area as he kept on saving the Bashkir team over and over again. It was him in many respects the Ufa team should be grateful to for the match ending in a shutout. The Krasnodar players failed to finish off their opponents who had been playing super defensively the whole game, but they can console themselves with the fact that even after this tie they kept the fourth position in the standings.