A Goal by Ari Helped the Bulls to Beat FC Spartak Moscow
FC Spartak Moscow 0-1 (0-0) FC Krasnodar
Goal: Ari, 71 penalty kick.
FC Spartak Moscow: Maksimenko, Yeshchenko (Til, 58), Kutepov, Dzhikiya, Gigot (Mirzov, 82), Ayrton, Zobnin, Z. Bakayev, Král, Ponce, Larsson (Sobolev, 67).
FC Krasnodar: Safonov, Ramírez, Sorokin, Kaio, Petrov, Olsson, Fernandes (Fjóluson, 90), Chernikov (Suleymanov, 59), Berg, Wanderson, Ari (Utkin, 90).
Yellow cards: Yeshchenko, 41, Gigot, 45+1, Zobnin, 63, Sobolev, 77 – Chernikov, 25, Ramírez, 37, Ari, 83.
Red card: Zobnin, 90+2.
Referees: Lapochkin (Saint Petersburg), Lunev (Novosibirsk), Vereteshkin (Saint Petersburg).
9 March 2020. Moscow. Otkritie Arena Stadium. Partly cloudy. 8 degrees. 28 245 spectators.
Due to the injuries of several first team players, FC Krasnodar starting eleven in the spring fixtures has looked rather unusual. In a game against FC Spartak Moscow the black-greens fielded a Sorokin-Kaio variant in the centre of defense again. The Krasnodar Academy-trained Aleksandr Chernikov assumed the box-to-box position, while two experienced fighters, Ari and Marcus Berg, were placed at the attack spearhead.
In the first half both teams traded some sharp chances. FC Krasnodar was up for scored goal after two somewhat inaccurate volleys by Fernandes and Ari. As for the home team, they made Safonov parry two or three shots, too.
On the 59th minute the black-green coaching staff went for the attack-boosting substitution, hence Suleymanov replaced Chernikov on a field of play. This allowed the Krasnodar team to win the initiative. More shots were fired on the Spartak goal. Berg missed the second top corner of the net on one occasion. Then Ari actually shot the ball on target, but Maksimenko coped with that one.
Soon enough the active endeavors on behalf of the Bulls resulted in an opener though. Berg was knocked down in the penalty area, and Ari made the score 1-0 executing a penalty kick. In the time that remained FC Krasnodar both kept the win alive and could have scored more goals. The Bulls began the spring part of the Russian Football Championship with two consecutive wins, and they keep their second position in the RPL standings.
