FC Krasnodar 2-0 (0-0) FC Ufa
Goals: Berg, 68, Ari, 83 penalty kick.
FC Krasnodar: Safonov, Ramírez, Sorokin, Kaio, Petrov, Olsson, Chernikov (Berg, 46), Utkin (Suleymanov, 57), Fernandes, Wanderson (Sergeyev, 89), Ari.
FC Ufa: Belenov, Jokić, Tabidze, Urunov, Thill (Terentyev, 79), Bizjak (Vombergar, 76), Nedelcearu, Sukhov, Fomin, Aliyev, Krotov (Agalarov, 69).
Yellow cards: Petrov, 45+1, Kaio, 48, Olsson, 58, Wanderson, 70 – Sukhov, 24, Thill, 67, Jokić, 81, Belenov, 82, Vombergar, 85.
Referees: Vasilyev (Izhevsk), Zhvakin (Leningrad Oblast), Shalamberidze (Moscow).
1 March 2020. Krasnodar. FC Krasnodar Stadium. Cloudy. 7 degrees. 31 966 spectators.
A turn of injuries brought FC Krasnodar to the spring part of the Russian Premier League (with a new Tinkoff brand now) in an unusual starting lineup. The centre of defense looked experimental with Kaio and Sorokin. A triangle of midfielders Olsson-Chernikov-Utkin made their first appearance on a field of play in this form, too. Three Club Academy-trained players were fielded among the first eleven, and there were eleven of them in total on the match sheet, a record of sorts.
The first hour of the match was spent in adjusting the teamwork. Within this period of time both teams created a minimal amount of sharp attacks. The defensive ranks of FC Ufa were finally broken open with the Wanderson-Ari combination on the 68th minute. A wall pass, Wanderson’s rendezvous with the keeper, a save by Belenov, and finally Marcus Berg finished the rebound. It took only a few seconds for the Ufa defensive plan to collapse in this way.
The black-greens then unleashed a squall of attacks against the visitors. Shapi had the best scoring chance, but Belenov saved his team again. Another corner kick was served, and thanks to the VAR system the referees detected a handball on behalf of the Ufa defender. The Bulls thus received a right for a penalty kick.
Ari executed it properly and made the score final. FC Krasnodar began its spring part of the season with a win that gained them a foothold in the second position of the RPL standings.