FC Krasnodar and FC Sochi played the first matches in the Cup of Russia, as well as between themselves

The score is the same, the result is the opposite

The group stage of the Russian Football Cup started last week. The Citizens played their first match in this tournament in the Moscow region, playing against Khimki. As is often the case in cup matches, there are many players on the field who receive little playing time in the season. So, Stanislav Agkatsev got into the goal – Matvey Safonov remained on the bench. They gave rest to Cayo, John Cordoba, Eduard Spertsyan, Alexei Ionov, Alexander Chernikov, Christian Ramirez, Olakunle Olusegun. The first three still took part in the last twenty minutes of the meeting – the rest remained on the bench.

In this match, the intrigue ended in the first half. In the 26th minute, the defender of the hosts Zakhar Volkov knocked down Krasnodar striker Jonathan Okoronkvo on the way into the penalty area. Chief referee Anton Frolov took advantage of the video replay, after which he issued the Khimki player a red card. Left in the minority, the hosts conceded on the move. After a set piece was played, the ball flew into the Khimki penalty area, first Vyacheslav Yakimov tried to hit the goal – the projectile hit the hosts’ defenders. Vyacheslav Litvinov did not miss the second chance: the central defender of the “bulls” was face to face with the goalkeeper and calmly sent the ball into the net. Khimki had a chance to win back this goal quickly. At the thirtieth minute of the match in one of the attacks, Denis Glushakov hit the goal from thirteen meters. Akgatsev reached for the ball – the projectile only changed the direction of flight, but the bar helped here. The decoration of the match was the goal of Ilzat Akhmetov. At the fortieth minute of the match, the newcomer of Krasnodar burst into the left flank with the ball, first wound Daniil Kamlashev, entered the penalty area, where, leaving Ilya Kukharchuk and Artur Cherny, from an acute angle he accurately brought the projectile into the far upper corner of the goal – 0: 2.

After the break, Krasnodar just finished the game. Khimki tried to win back on set pieces. At the ninetieth minute of the match after a corner defender Alexander Filin dangerously shot on goal, but turned out to be inaccurate. After this game, Khimki fired head coach Nikolai Pisarev. By the way, his place was taken by the former footballer of Krasnodar and Kuban Spartak Gogniev. The victory allowed the “citizens” to take first place in group A. The next match in this tournament, the team of Alexander Storozhuk will play on September 14 in the capital against Lokomotiv.

Barca started in the Cup in Yekaterinburg, playing against Ural, which had previously invited a new mentor, Viktor Goncharenko. The game was the final one for Sochi’s old-timer forward Maxim Barsov. A place in the starting lineup of the “resorters” was also given to those who rarely take to the field. Denis Adamov, Sergei Terekhov, Christian Noboa, Artur Yusupov and Georgy Melkadze did not fly to Yekaterinburg. Vladislav Sarveli and Vanya Drkusic started this match on the bench. After a long break in the defense of Sochi, Ivan Miladinovich appeared, Kirill Kravtsov, Timofey Shipunov and Kirill Ushatov made their debuts in the starting lineup. For the first time this season, the same Barsov and Soslan Dzhanaev appeared on the field. The captain’s armband returned to the goalkeeper.

The game started in pouring rain. Problems with the “holidays” began immediately. In the seventh minute of the match, a failure in the Sochi defense led to the fact that Alexander Yushin, after a long pass, found himself face to face with Dzhanaev. In this confrontation, the striker of “Ural” became the winner.

Guests tried to recoup, but they failed. In the first half, Joaozinho tried to shoot through himself – that’s all the dangerous moments at the gates of Nikita Alekseev. On the fiftieth minute “Ural” brought the ball into the goal again. Nikita Burmistrov head-butted Miladinovich’s projectile in his half of the field, but Ramazan Gadzhimuradov turned out to be quicker: the midfielder made a good interception and scored a goal. True, after watching the video replay, the chief referee Evgeny Turbin decided that the goal was from an offside position. The game was played on an equal footing, but Ural was clearly more lucky. In the 59th minute of the match, the same Gadzhimuradov received the ball from the left, shot into the penalty area, Igor Yurganov wanted to eliminate the threat, but in the end became the author of an own goal – 2: 0.

The score of the match could have been devastating, but Dzhanaev saved the Sochi residents several times. After the first round, Vadim Garanin’s team takes third place in group D. Now in the Bars Cup, a home game against the capital’s Torpedo is waiting, which will be held on September 14.

After the meeting in Yekaterinburg, Sochi announced the acquisition of the 21-year-old Malian defender Moussa Sissako. He is a graduate of the academy of the French club Paris Saint-Germain, spent two seasons in the Belgian Standard, for which he played in 34 matches. According to rumors, Sunderland and Burnley wanted to see the footballer in their squad. Sissako is a footballer for his country’s national team. According to Transfermarkt, the player’s value is 1.2 million euros. According to media reports, in Sochi the Malian will earn four hundred thousand euros a year.

Derby succeeded

The next was a face-to-face meeting between Krasnodar and Sochi in the eighth round of the Russian Championship. The Citizens were the hosts in this game. Here, both teams have already put up the strongest lineups at the moment. After all, the outcome of the meeting made it possible, in a successful scenario, to be in third place in the standings. It is noteworthy that Sochi’s newcomer Sissako remained on the bench in this game.

The match got off to a rather boring start. For a long time, no team could create dangerous moments. The pace of the meeting was also slow. At the seventeenth minute, Chernikov was replaced. The football player injured his left leg while trying to take the ball from Noboa. The midfielder has a suspected ankle ligament tear. According to media reports, with a high degree of probability, the football player will be operated on in one of the clinics in Germany.

In the first half, Cordoba could score a goal. But Adamov made a save and repelled the threat. For the graduate of Krasnodar, who moved to Sochi, this match was generally special. Adamov obviously wanted to show his former club what kind of goalkeeper they had lost, but he failed to leave his goal intact.

Krasnodar could open an account before the break. After the corner kick was taken, the ball flew into the Sochi goal. But referee Pavel Shadykhanov canceled this goal. Already in stoppage time of the first half, Melkadze put his foot under the cross from the left, the ball flew into the goalkeeper’s area, where Drkusic could not push it past Safonov.

In the second half, the game changed dramatically. First of all, she began to pass at good speeds. And then came the goals. In the 49th minute, Olusegun moved to the center and shot in touch – 1: 0. In this episode, Mikhailo Banjats, who replaced Chernikov, should also be noted. The Serb made a solo pass into the penalty area and gave a pass to the Nigerian.

After a couple of minutes, Adamov missed again. Bulls defender Sergei Volkov cleared the ball off the line after a corner from the guests and thus gave rise to a counterattack. Olusegun passed to Spertsyan, the midfielder threw the goalkeeper, thus chalking up the seventh goal of the season.

At the 62nd minute, the ball from Volkov again flew into Adamov’s goal. It happened after Banyats’ corner kick. But here again the judge intervened. Shadykhanov watched the video replay and determined that Vyacheslav Litvinov was offside at the moment the defender hit.

After that, the Sochi residents managed to win back one ball. Noboa gave a pass into the penalty area, Burmistrov moved to the center and made a counter pass, Melkadze jumped into the net and shot past Safonov. The defense of the “citizens”, as is often the case this season, failed.

To be fair, it should be noted that the guests had every chance to take away a draw from Krasnodar. Margasov hit the post, Safonov saved several times. Nevertheless, the “black-greens” kept the victory and, following the results of the eighth round, took the third place in the standings with seventeen points. The team of Storozhuk has the same number of points as the second-placed CSKA. Krasnodar will have to face the “soldiers” in the next round.

Sochi dropped to seventh place with thirteen points. “Resorters” do not hide the fact that they do not have enough forward striker. They still have some time to find a replacement for Mateo Cassierra, who left for Zenit this offseason.