FC Krasnodar – FC Kuban Krasnodar – 1:1 (0:0)
Goals: Melgarejo, 50 (Kulik, 0:1), Smolov, 90 (Sigurðsson, 1:1).
FC Krasnodar: Dykan, Kaleshin, Granqvist, Sigurðsson, Petrov, Gazinskiy, Ahmedov (Pereyra, 57), Mamayev, Smolov, Wánderson (Bystrov, 77), Ari (Laborde, 57).
FC Kuban Krasnodar: Belenov, Bugayev, Xandão, Šunjić, Armaș, Tlisov, Rabiu, Kulik (Baldé, 89), Ignatyev (Khubulov, 90+1), Tkachyov (Arshavin, 82), Melgarejo.
Yellow cards: Pereyra, 72 (foul play) – Tlisov, 70 (attack breakdown), Šunjić, 85 (foul play), Armaș, 87 (foul play).
Referees: Meshkov (Dmitrov), Bogach (Lyubersy), Petrosyan (Bronnitsy).
10 August. Krasnodar. Kuban Stadium. Clear. 33 degrees. 25 250 spectators.
Both teams from Krasnodar did not make a start in this season in a way they and their supporters would like to, so this particular derby game was a wonderful opportunity for the rivals to mend their position in the standings and vindicate themselves for the relative failures of the first three matchdays.
FC Krasnodar boss Oleg Kononov highlighted the match priorities for his players with the first 11 consisting of three “pure” forwards (Smolov, Wánderson and Ari) and Mamayev the midfielder as well, and Pavel’s affinity to attack is a secret to no one. Meanwhile, FC Kuban Head Coach Dmitri Khokhlov fielded a far more careful starting lineup with three nominal centre backs, Šunjić, Armaș and Xandão (with the Brazilian player on the right flank though) supported by the Kulik–Tlisov–Rabiu trio in the midfield and Melgarejo the Universal Soldier as a lonely forward.
A relatively calm beginning of the game declared no advantage of either team. On the 10th minute FC Kuban finished their combination with a splendid but inaccurate shot on volley by Melgarejo. A minute later Wánderson of FC Krasnodar found himself at a spearhead of the attack, but Belenov and his pals did not allow him to shoot the ball on target. Step by step the attacks of the guest team became more and more persistent, so on the 24th minute Melgarejo produced a dangerous header and missed again. A minute later his potentially troublesome shot was blocked in time by Sigurðsson.
Just four days ago the Bulls visited Slovakia playing a rather tough match of the UEFA Europa League there, so they lacked some agility while developing their attacks. Most of the offensive actions of the black-greens were sinking in the saturated defensive lines of the Kuban team at the far approaches to the penalty area. Considering this viscid type of game with almost no scoring chances, a 0:0 tie became a natural outcome for the first half.
The second half began with the pressure applied by the Cossacks, so when the 47th minute was almost done a corner kick was served and Armaș made a shot with a header making Dykan enter the game. Three minutes later Lorenzo Melgarejo got past Granqvist in his own box making a shot on the turn. The ball pierced the second corner of FC Krasnodar net.
The Yellow-Greens didn’t drop back after scoring an opener, and neither did their centre-forward from Paraguay. Soon enough Melgarejo created another threat for Dykan’s domain with the ball passing just a bit off target. Oleg Kononov released two fresh players on the pitch in attempt to change something in the performance of his players, so Ahmedov and Ari were substituted by Pereyra and Laborde. The Bulls switched to more dynamic offensive actions en masse, but for the time being their attacks could boast little to nothing increase of sharpness. Laborde was not making any progress even with his trademark speed dribbling either. So when Bystrov was fielded instead of Wánderson, it did not change the whole picture at first with the team in yellow defending firmly and confidently.
Still, in the very end of the match the Bulls were able to find some power reserve pushing the tempo and finally scoring an equalizer on the 90th minute. Mamayev executed a free kick with a combination to Bystrov; the latter made a full-speed break-through to the goal line giving a pass back. Sigurðsson addressed the ball with a fine touch further into the centre to Fyodor Smolov who made a solid low shot past Belenov frozen still at the goal line.
The 4 minutes of the injury time passed accompanied by a final assault against FC Kuban’s box, but the Yellow-Greens conceded no more goals. The clash ended with a tie which hardly satisfied anyone of the rival teams.