CSKA won over Krasnodar

In the central match of the 13th round of the Russian Championship, CSKA defeated Krasnodar – 1:0. The leader of the Premier League suffered his first defeat and allowed Zenit to approach him, which is now only two points behind. Meanwhile, in addition to CSKA, Dynamo and Paris Nizhny Novgorod improved their positions.

In the match with CSKA, Krasnodar urgently needed to strengthen its leadership, which had been shaken after Zenit’s third victory in a row, because recently the Kuban team’s comfortable seven-point advantage over the St. Petersburg team had shrunk to two points. Moreover, the margin of safety was simply necessary for Vladimir Ivich’s charges before the upcoming showdown at the end of the first round with their closest competitors – “Wings of the Soviets” and the same “Zenith”.

CSKA, of course, experienced much more serious tournament pressure than Krasnodar, being in eighth place with 18 points. And then before the important confrontation, the army team lost leading central defender Willian Rocha, who had too many yellow cards, and all-rounder Maxim Mukhin, who was out of action for a long time due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Moreover, in recent meetings, Mukhin also served as one of the three center backs.

Despite this, the head coach of the red-blues, Vladimir Fedotov, did not abandon the usual scheme, and Ilya Agapov, as well as the nominal defensive midfielder Sasha Zdelar, joined the trio with Moises. Their main task was to contain John Cordoba. Most often, Moises butted heads with the Colombian bull, for which the Brazilian had to use a wide range of techniques, including those prohibited by the rules. And in the opening, Cordoba earned a dangerous set-piece, which he himself tried to finish, putting his head under the blow of Eduard Spertsyan.

Krasnodar’s corner turned out to be even more dangerous when Vitor Tormena headed it and CSKA was saved by defender Milan Gaich, who knocked the ball out of the empty goal. But the hosts’ striker Fedor Chalov also had a good moment when goalkeeper Matvey Safonov already helped his team out. In general, the game was a draw, but shortly before the break, Abbosbek Fayzullaev aggravated the situation in the guests’ penalty area with one pass, and Chalov, thanks to his technical work, easily peeled away from the tenacious Junior Alonso and with his second touch delivered a blow that was irresistible even for such a master of saves as Safonov.

“Krasnodar” lost the first half for the third time in a row, while in the two previous matches they still achieved a positive result. Now the championship leader faces very big difficulties. The Kuban team needed to equalize the score, but CSKA practically did not give them such opportunities. But Agapov, who joined the attack, could double the army team’s advantage. The defender, apparently confused, found himself completely alone in front of someone else’s goal, and shot at Safonov.

However, the same Agapov almost brought it to his own when he fell only at the sight of Cordoba pressing him. The forward took the ball and instantly redirected it to Nikita Krivtsov, in front of whom only Igor Akinfeev remained. But the famous goalkeeper has repeatedly proven that in his case there is only one warrior in the field. And then CSKA was also lucky – first when Cordoba did not have time to close in Krivtsov’s cross, and especially when Lucas Olasa spun the ball into Akinfeev’s dead zone and hit the post.

In the hot ending, Krasnodar constantly hung on the opponent’s goal and nevertheless failed to avoid defeat, which became its first in the current championship. And now his leadership is in question. Ivic’s team stopped at 28 points, while Zenit had 26.

CSKA came in fifth place with 21 points. Dynamo has the same number, moving up to fourth place. The blue and whites did not win for five rounds, but against Ural, who came to visit them, this streak was seven matches. As a result, the Muscovites won the long-awaited victory – 2:1. Konstantin Tyukavin scored with a header from Dmitry Skopintsev, and Bitelo was helped by Fedor Smolov and a rebound from Yekaterinburg defender Emerson. Ilya Ishkov only reduced the difference before the final whistle, although he did it very beautifully.

Alexander Ilyin