FC Krasnodar in the Lead after a Comeback Draw
FC Krasnodar 1-1 (1-1) FC Lokomotiv Moscow
Goals: Krychowiak, 5 (0-1), Suleymanov (Stotsky), 43 (1-1).
FC Krasnodar: Sinitsyn, Stotsky, Fjóluson, Spajić, Petrov, Vilhena (Kambolov, 72), Utkin (Namli, 68), Olsson, Wanderson, Suleymanov, Ignatyev (Berg, 76).
FC Lokomotiv Moscow: Guilherme, Zhivoglyadov, Höwedes, Ćorluka, Murilo, Idowu, Krychowiak, Barinov, Anton Miranchuk (Aleksei Miranchuk, 72), Zhemaletdinov, Smolov (Đorđević, 84).
Yellow cards: Vilhena, 46 (attack breakdown), Wanderson, 56 (unsporting behaviour) – Zhivoglyadov, 38 (foul play), Zhemaletdinov, 55 (foul play), Idowu, 84 (foul play).
Referees: Bezborodov (Saint Petersburg), Gavrilin (Vladimir), Khatuyev (Grozny).
24 August 2019. Krasnodar. FC Krasnodar Stadium. Clear. 28 degrees. 31231 spectators.
Since FC Zenit Saint Petersburg had suffered defeat by FC Ufa, the game of FC Krasnodar vs. FC Lokomotiv Moscow became a clash for the lead in the Russian Premier League, and it began badly for the Bulls. Early on the 5th minute Grzegorz Krychowiak fired a shot from afar and Safonov made a mistake as he was trying to secure the ball, so it found its way past him and into the net.
Despite the fatigue of the previous match with Olympiacos F.C. and massive losses of players (Gazinsky, Claesson, Ari, Martynovich and Sinitsyn were unavailable due to health problems), the home team managed to turn the course of the game. The black-greens began creating prospective chances on a regular basis, and one of those resulted in an equalizing goal. On the 43rd minute Wanderson Maciel exploded the situation on the left flank and passed the ball to Stotsky. The latter immediately served the pigskin to the second pole where Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov directed it accurately into the corner of the goal with a header. The score thus became 1-1.
In the second half both teams had decent scoring chances, and the Bulls came very close to achieving a comeback win. On the 83rd minute Marcus Berg arrived in time to finish a rebound after a shot by Namli, but what he did under the circumstances was merely sending the ball along the goal-line. On another occasion, Guilherme coped with a dangerous shot taken by Wanderson.
As a result, after the Saturday MD7 fixtures the Bulls have become the leaders of the RPL standings with 14 points. FC Lokomotiv and FC Zenit were left behind behind on a tie-breaker due to higher number of points earned by FC Krasnodar so far in games played among the teams in question.
