“Bulls” in the lead – “Sochi” is unlucky

Still invincible

The Bulls hosted Ural at home as part of the ninth round of the Russian Championship. By the start of the game, Krylia Sovetov had beaten Sochi and were equal to the Krasnodar team on points. At the same time, in terms of the difference in goals scored and goals conceded, the Samara team was ahead of Vladimir Ivich’s team. But there was also good news for the Black and Greens. Half an hour before the start of the meeting in Krasnodar, the main competitor, Zenit, lost in the last minutes at home to Lokomotiv. Thus, the “bulls” had an excellent chance to break away from their main pursuer by four points.

Before the match, it became known that Krasnodar’s main central defender, Kayo, would not be able to play until the end of this year. The Brazilian suffered a shoulder injury in the sixth round game against Fakel. According to media reports, the football player was operated on in Germany. Now he faces a long recovery. It is expected that Kayo will only be ready for winter training.

“Ural” could well surprise the hosts. This season, Viktor Goncharenko’s team beat CSKA and Spartak, and for some time the team was in the lead. But in the last matches, luck turned away from the Ekaterinburg residents. They lost twice – to Zenit and Akhmat, and then played a draw with Fakel. Perhaps the latest setbacks have forced the guests to start this match very cautiously. In the first half, Krasnodar’s advantage was total. The Bulls had the ball for 65 percent of the game and had six shots on goal, three of which were on target. However, it cannot be said that the hosts had a 100% chance to score. As always, John Cordoba tried, but the Colombian lacked either accuracy or quickness. “Ural” only occasionally ran to Matvey Safonov’s goal, but was unable to do anything dangerous in the first half.

During the break, Ivic clearly adjusted the game of his players: the “citizens” began to move faster and shoot from long distances. This immediately increased the load on the Ural defense and led to a goal. In the 54th minute of the match, Kadi Borges burst along the left edge into the Yekaterinburg penalty area, slipped past two defenders and tried to shoot from the front line into the goalkeeper’s area towards Cordoba. The ball flew along some unrealistic trajectory into the far corner of the goal. The replay showed that Egor Filipenko cut the ball in a tackle. The projectile first hit the crossbar and then flew over the goal line. It is noteworthy that Krasnodar’s Brazilian scored for the third official match in a row.

After conceding the goal, the guests began to play more actively and in the 68th minute they created a truly dangerous moment near Safonov’s goal. Substitute Vladislav Malkevich escaped the Krasnodar defenders and fired at the goal from an acute angle. The Bulls’ goalkeeper dealt with the shot, parrying it with his feet.

In the 73rd minute, Ivic made the first substitution and got the change right. Nikita Kravtsov was replaced by Kevin Lenini. The midfielder from Cape Verde scored instantly. In the 75th minute, Sergei Volkov made a dash from the right, from under the defender he delivered a pass to the goal line, Lenini immediately sent the ball into the goal with his head. The touch judge raised his flag, calling it offside. The main referee decided to check the episode using a video replay and overturned the linesman’s decision.

“Ural” did not give up fighting and had a good chance to score until the end of the match. In added time, Alexander Yushin struggled in the Krasnodar penalty area and then shot through himself. The ball flew near the far post. The Bulls won their sixth victory in the Russian Premier League of the 2023/24 season and broke away from their pursuers with 21 points.

The “citizens” will have to play their next match in Kazan on September 30 against “Rubin”, which is not in the best shape. The closest pursuer, the Samara team, has a more difficult opponent: Spartak.

Changing coaches didn’t help

In the ninth round, the Sochi team played away against Krylia Sovetov. After the dismissal of Dmitry Khokhlov, the team was taken to Samara by Alexander Tochilin. The new-old coach (Before that, Tochilin led the Leopards twice and worked as an assistant to the head coach) carried out a decent rotation. The offensive line has undergone the greatest changes. Artur Yusupov, Nikita Burmistrov and Georgy Melkadze got a chance to distinguish themselves at the start. Ivan Ignatiev remained on the bench and never came out to play. Goalkeeper Nikolai Zabolotny, defenders Ivan Miladinovic and Marcelo Alves, and midfielder Amir Batyrev remained unchanged for Tochilin. The changes didn’t help.

The Resorts conceded a goal already in the fourth minute of the match. First, Yuri Gorshkov made a rebound near the edge of the Sochi penalty area, went forward and made a pass to the center to Nikita Saltykov. The nineteen-year-old striker handled the ball and, on the second touch, sent the projectile through a small rebound into the corner of the goal.

This scenario allowed the hosts not to strain themselves at all, but to continue playing calmly. “Sochi” could not force any game on the opponent. But in the first half, Tochilin’s team outscored their opponents, hitting the goal six times against four. However, it cannot be said that the first half turned out to be spectacular. But the Wings were able to score a second goal before the break. In the 41st minute, they carried out a counterattack, Sergei Babkin passed the ball to Amar Rakhmanovich, who burst into the penalty area, dodged Igor Yurganov’s tackle and hit low past Zabolotny, who had come out of the gate.

Such a comfortable advantage allowed the Wings to play the second half calmly, without wasting much effort. The game was closed. Of course, Sochi tried to win back, but Tochilin’s team only had good scoring chances. So, in the fiftieth minute, Christian Noboa crossed into the hosts’ penalty area, where Roman Evgeniev made an unsuccessful header, as a result of which the ball bounced off Melkadze. The forward took a shot, but only hit the crossbar. Tochilin tried to change the game with substitutions, but it did not bring any results. In the 77th minute, Melkadze again had a great chance to score, he received the ball on the rebound after Batyrev’s shot. The Sochi striker shot, but his shot was interrupted by Glenn Bale.

It is worth paying tribute to the “resort” team: they fought to the last and were rewarded for their efforts already in added time. In the sixth minute of added time, Krylia goalkeeper Bogdan Ovsyannikov took down Melkadze in his penalty area. The chief judge, Sergei Ivanov, pointed to the spot. Sochi’s permanent penalty taker, Christian Noboa, struck hard into the corner of the goal to his left. Ovsyannikov guessed the direction of the shot, but did not reach the ball – 2:1.

This victory allowed Krylia to catch up with Krasnodar and take intermediate first place, ahead of Krasnodar both in the number of matches played and in the difference between goals scored and goals conceded. But in the same round, the “bulls” increased their advantage, breaking away from the Samara team by three points.

Sochi continued its decline. Tochilin’s team lost seven times and with six points took penultimate, fifteenth place in the Russian Premier League standings. And this is already a zone of direct relegation from the Premier League. This means that the situation in the team is more than stalemate. The club’s management needs to take decisive measures, otherwise the team will start the next season in the first league. True, the Leopards still have enough time to fix everything.

The Sochi team will play their next match away against the weakest team in the Russian Championship – Fakel Voronezh. But then they will meet with Zenit.