After the thirteenth round, Kuban football clubs continue to be at different ends of the standings in the Russian Premier League

FC Krasnodar lost for the first time this season in the Russian Premier League; The Bulls were stopped by CSKA; PFC Sochi suffered its tenth defeat in the Russian championship, the most in the season – “MK in Kuban” about the main sports news in the Krasnodar region.

They hit a lot, but didn’t score

In the thirteenth round of the Russian Premier League, Vladimir Ivich’s team played in Moscow against CSKA. Despite the fact that the army team was ten points behind the leader, the confrontation turned out to be equal. The teams took turns controlling the ball, at times forcing each other to defend exclusively in their own half of the field. At the same time, both teams acted quite carefully. At the beginning of the match, Krasnodar had a good chance to score a goal after playing set pieces. So, in the fourteenth minute, Eduard Spertsyan made a good shot, the ball was flying into the goal, but John Cordoba put his head down and changed the flight path.

A few minutes after this episode, Vitor Tormena, after a corner kick by Kadi Borges, won the second floor against Sasha Zdelar, who had chosen the wrong position, and headed it home. Igor Akinfeev no longer reacted to this shot, but Milan Gayich knocked the ball off the goal line.

CSKA responded with dignity. Fedor Chalov was especially dangerous for Krasnodar. First, the CSKA forward headed a shot at Matvey Safonov, the goalkeeper made a save and eliminated the threat. But just before the break, the striker received an excellent pass from Abbosbek Faizullaev, who had previously dealt with Russian national team defender Sergei Volkov perfectly on the left flank. In the penalty area, Chalov quickly worked on a projectile, got away from Junior Alonso and fired into the far upper corner of the goal. Having received a blow from such a short distance, Safonov was powerless to fix anything.

After the break, the hosts gave the initiative to Krasnodar. The guests, naturally, tried to win back. But the “citizens” had little success. CSKA controlled the game well. In the 56th minute of the match, the “CSKA” team should have scored a second goal when, after Anton Zabolotny’s pass from the right edge of the penalty area, Ilya Agapov joined the attack and shot from the penalty spot. This time Safonov reacted in time and with a beautiful jump passed the ball to the corner.

Ivic, as always, tried to change the game with substitutions. At the end of the hour, he immediately released ex-army player Ilzat Akhmetov and forward Moses Cobnan. Krasnodar increased its attacking pressure. City finally struck their first shot in the second half. Spertsyan found himself in the CSKA penalty area, unguarded by anyone. But the midfielder of the Armenian national team sent the ball straight to Akinfeev.

After Nikita Krivtsov entered the field, the Krasnodar team managed to organize an attack on the opponent’s goal. In the 77th minute, Agapov made a mistake at his own goal, Cordoba passed into the center of the penalty area, where Moses rolled to Krivtsova, who shot low into the far corner, Akinfeev helped out CSKA. Almost immediately after this, Akhmetov found Krivtsov in the penalty area, Nikita beat Moises and crossed into the goalkeeper, where Kelven beat Cordoba and cleared the ball. By the way, during the entire game Vladimir Fedotov made only one substitution in his team. In the 81st minute, Konstantin Kuchaev entered the field instead of Chalov.

In the 88th minute of the match, CSKA missed a rally, Spertsyan rolled to Lucas Olaza from the left corner of the field, the Uruguayan shot into the far upper corner – the ball hit the post. Ninety minutes into the match, Cordoba made a header from the goal line, the ball flew into the goal in a high arc – Akinfeev reached out and deflected the projectile to the side.

CSKA lost twice in shots – 8:16 (on target – 5:7, from the penalty area – 6:11), nevertheless they deservedly won – 1:0. Krasnodar lost for the first time this season in the Russian Championship. In general, the record unbeaten streak in the Russian Premier League amounted to eighteen matches (twelve this season and six last season, ten wins and eight draws, thirty-eight points scored). After thirteen rounds, the Bulls still occupy first place in the standings with 28 points. But now Zenit is only two points behind the leader.

Krasnodar will play the next match as part of the sixth round of the group stage of the “Path of the Russian Premier League” of the Russian Cup. The Black-Greens meet away with Spartak on November 1 (the match has not been played at the time of writing). In the next round of the Russian Premier League, Ivic’s team will play at home against Krylia Sovetov, who are third in the standings. And then there will be an away trip against Zenit – serious tests await the Bulls.

Missed two penalties

In the thirteenth round, Barsy played away against Paris Nizhny Novgorod. After a crushing victory (1:4) in Yekaterinburg over Ural, it seemed that the situation for the Sochi team would begin to improve. The previous success clearly gave Alexander Tochilin’s team confidence. Sochi immediately ran to attack. Already in the second minute of the match, Martin Kramaric responded to a throw into the penalty area of ​​the Paris Nizhny Novgorod team and shot from an acute angle – Artur Nigmatullin pinned the ball at the near post.

At the twelfth minute there was another episode when the guests could celebrate scoring a goal. Kirill Zaika adjusted well to the ball and fired a half-volley from the edge of the Nizhny Novgorod penalty area – Nigmatullin deflected the ball into the center of the penalty area. Kirill Kravtsov, who came running, hit the ball in such a way that the ball flew above the goal.

The owners could do little to counter such activity. For a long time, Sochi goalkeeper Nikita Goylo did not have to enter the game. Nevertheless, it was he who missed the only goal in the match. In the 38th minute, Juan Boselli from the center completed a low pass towards Ze Turbo, who was offside. The striker did not touch the ball, and Nikolai Kalinsky, who ran out from behind the Leopard defenders, burst into the penalty area and fired past Goilo into the far corner of the goal. By the way, this effective attack began after an unsuccessful clearance by the Sochi goalkeeper.

The guests did not despair. After the break, they began to put pressure on the Nizhny Novgorod team with even greater zeal. They had enough opportunities to win back and even win, but by a strange coincidence they missed them.

In the sixtieth minute, Zaika picked up the ball in the penalty area, went for a dribble and was hit in the legs by Alexander Troshechkin – the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Vanya Drkusic hit the bottom corner from the penalty spot – Nigmatullin guessed the direction of the shot and kicked the ball to the side.

The Nizhny Novgorod team immediately responded with a sharp blow from Boselli – this time Goilo saved the Sochi team. Then the game took place on both sides.

Already in extra time, the Sochi team had another chance to save this match. Christian Noboa made a throw into the penalty area, Artem Makarchuk crossed and hit Dmitry Stotsky in the hand – again a penalty. Noboa made a good shot from the point, but it went over the crossbar.

The defeat in Nizhny Novgorod was the tenth for Tochilin’s team in the Premier League of the 2023/24 season. Surprisingly, in thirteen rounds the Sochi team never managed to draw. With nine points they settled at the bottom of the standings. The situation is only getting worse, and no changes are visible.

Tochilin’s team will play the next match on November 1 (the match had not been played at the time of writing) against Fakel Voronezh as part of the sixth round of the group stage of the “Path of the Russian Premier League” of the Russian Cup. And then he will play in the Premier League at home against the capital’s Dynamo.