FC Krasnodar 0-1 (0-0) FC Akhmat Grozny
Goal: Ismael, 60 (Gashchenkov, 0-1).
FC Krasnodar: Sinitsyn, Stotsky, Spajić (Pereyra, 65), Martynovich, Ramírez, Shishkin, Gazinsky, Cueva, Wanderson, Claesson (Suleymanov, 72), Ari (Ignatyev, 72).
FC Akhmat Grozny: Gorodov, Utsiyev, Wilker, Semyonov, Rodolfo (Pliyev, 88), Mohammadi, Gashchenkov, Ivanov, Doumbia, Ismael, Mbengue (Berisha, 69).
Yellow cards: Spajić, 47 (unsporting behaviour), Gazinsky, 67 (unsporting behaviour), Pereyra, 80 (foul play) – Rodolfo, 36 (unsporting behaviour), Gashchenkov, 37 (foul play), Semyonov 42 (unsporting behaviour), Ismael, 61 (unsporting behaviour), Gorodov, 87 (unsporting behaviour).
Referees: Meshkov (Dmitrov), Averyanov, Bolotenkov (both Moscow).
21 October 2018. Krasnodar. FC Krasnodar Stadium. Drizzle. 16 degrees. 22 628 spectators.
After a two-week break in the Russian Football Championship caused by the matches of the national teams, FC Krasnodar resumed following its season fixture schedule with a home game against FC Akhmat Grozny. The starting eleven of the home team underwent some changes if compared to the previous matches. Kritsyuk had fallen sick, and so Sinitsyn assumed a position between the sticks. Ari was placed at the attack spearhead of the black-greens given that he had recovered from an injury. Petrov was suspended for a red card received in Saint Petersburg, so he was replaced by Stotsky at the right flank of defense. Finally, FC Krasnodar boss Murad Musayev fielded versatile player Shishkin as a defensive midfielder instead of Kaboré who had been exhausted with long flights and fixtures of the current Africa Cup of Nations qualification.
Predictably, FC Akhmat manager Rashid Rakhimov chose a formation that included five defenders and a saturated midfield. The home team was forced to solve a problem of getting through this solid and sticky defense the opposition erected from the very kick-off. An early opener could have made it easier though, and on the 9th minute the Krasnodar players came closest to it. Unfortunately for them, Wanderson made the ball bounce off the ground with a header after he had met the cross from the left by Ramírez, so the ball lost its momentum and arrived directly to the hands of the Grozny goalie Gorodov
The visitors would not launch counterattacks that often, but they barely missed scoring on the 18th minute after one of their ripostes. Mbengue came a few inches short of meeting a super dangerous low cross by Mohammadi from the left. The Wolves got emboldened with the episode though and went as far as to lock the home team up in their own half of the pitch for a few minutes. And yet, this attacking streak did not benefit FC Akhmat that much, so the last fifteen minutes of the first half passed with FC Krasnodar boasting some obvious territorial and playing advantage. Wanderson and Gazinsky had scoring chances that could be a menace to Gorodov’s domain, but the shots they took sent the ball directly into the keeper. Neither got the black-green goalkeeper Sinitsyn scared of a shot by the Grozny midfielder Ivanov. A few minutes to the half-time Cueva the attacking midfielder famously feinted past his marking player in the opposite penalty area and fired a shot into the second corner, but the ricochet made the ball bounce resulting only in a corner kick.
The second half began with an even more persistent offensive on behalf of the home team. On the 53rd minute the goalpost of the away goal parried the ball after a header taken by Spajić. It seemed as if a little more was needed for the Krasnodar team to gain their ends, but then the visitors scored a goal that came as a bolt from the blue. Ismael was allowed to take an aimed shot from twenty meters, and the ball entered the bottom corner of the goal guarded by Sinitsyn who was a bit late with his dive.
The black-green boss used all of the substitutions available to him quickly enough, so Pereyra and young players Ignatyev and Suleymanov came in. The Grozny goal was bombarded with an unceasing hurricane of the attacks that the home team launched, but the visitors, locked up in the own box, defended in a dedicated manner. In the end they managed to stand their ground and consequently achieved their first win over the black-greens away in Krasnodar in more than six years.