FC Krasnodar and PFC Sochi played in the next round of the Russian Championship. “Bulls” continue to go without loss of points, “resorters” have serious problems with the game and with the result.

Won but lost the lead

“Bulls” in the third round of the Russian Premier League hosted “Paris Nizhny Novgorod”. At that time, the “citizens” were in first place, their opponent was the only team in the championship that did not score a single goal.

The most memorable event of the first ten minutes of the match was the injury of the side referee Dmitry Semenov. The assistant chief referee from Petrozavodsk injured his ankle. Semenov’s place was taken by the reserve referee – Roman Safyan.

Krasnodar, as it should be in a game with an outsider, immediately seized the initiative on the field. “Paris Nizhny Novgorod” acted as the second number. At the beginning of the game, the “black-greens” carried out several positional attacks, but nothing dangerous came out of them.

The first serious moment came in the 18th minute, when Eduard Spertsyan broke through a set piece from the left side. The ball flew into the near corner of the gate and hit the post.

The guests managed to resist the team of Vladimir Ivic well. Pari Nizhny Novgorod put high pressure, slowed down the pace, dried up the game. Krasnodar did not manage to crack the defense of five defenders. But the “bulls” were lucky: the guests were wrong. In the middle of the first half, the former footballer of Krasnodar Dmitry Stotsky almost brought a penalty to Paris Nizhny Novgorod when he knocked down Sergei Volkov. One leg of the midfielder was already in the penalty area, but the second, which was hit, was outside it.

At the 27th minute of the match, after Krasnodar attacked with three quick passes, John Cordoba took a shot from outside the penalty area, Kirill Gotsuk made a tackle to avoid a goal. Chief referee Artem Lyubimov watched the episode using the video replay system and awarded a penalty. It turned out that before the foul, after Olakunle Olusegun’s discount along the gate, the ball hit Nikolai Kalinsky’s hand. The head coach of the Paris Nizhny Novgorod club, Sergei Yuran, actively expressed his disagreement with the interpretation of the episode, but was powerless to change anything. Spertsyan came out to beat from the point. The midfielder carefully sent the ball to the lower left corner of the goal, Artur Nigmatullin jumped in the other direction – 1: 0.

After the goal, the game did not revive, but the guests, as they say, already had nothing to lose. In stoppage time of the first half, Gotsuk fell in Krasnodar’s penalty area, but the referee considered that the defender was “looking for” this foul.

Immediately after the break, the bulls continued to control the game – Pari Nizhny Novgorod ran without the ball. But after the 55th minute of the match, the guests began to create dangerous moments. First, Edgar Sevikyan missed from a great position. Then Matvey Safonov made a mistake at the exit, and Stotsky could hit the empty net, but launched the ball over the crossbar. In the defense of the “bulls” began a complete confusion. In the next episode, the hosts themselves could score a goal. After hitting Cayo, the ball from Junior Alonso flew into the goal, but then Safonov came to the rescue.

Juran felt it was a good chance to at least bounce back and made a triple substitution. Only Timur Suleimanov, who came out, had a great moment, the forward left Alonso, burst into the Krasnodar penalty area and shot low – the blow came out near the far post. The defense of the hosts just crumbled.

But luck was on the side of the Ivic team. Nizhny Novgorod was not able to take advantage of the chance. Krasnodar brought the match to victory. The goal, scored from the penalty spot, was the only shot of the “citizens” on target in this match. Juran was most dissatisfied with this result and after the final whistle he received a red card for disputes with the referees.

The hosts showed themselves inconspicuous both in attack and defense. Of course, here you can attribute a lot to hot weather, but, on the other hand, this game is no exception. Ivic’s Krasnodar clearly does not show bright, attacking football, which is promoted by the owner of the club, Sergei Galitsky.

But the Serbian specialist brings results. Ivic won in all three rounds of the championship. Never before in its history has Krasnodar been able to start the season like this without losses. Nevertheless, the “bulls” failed to keep the first place. The capital’s “Spartak”, which after three rounds also goes without point losses, scored four goals for “Rubin” and overtook the “citizens” on goal difference.

Sent to the second team

After the match, the Bulls announced a new transfer. The Uruguayan defender Lucas Olas from the Spanish Real Valladolid moved to the club. The footballer has signed a 2 + 1 contract with the Citizens, it expires in June 2025, but can be extended under certain conditions.

Lucas René Olasa Catrofe was born on July 21, 1994 in Montevideo. He began training with the River Plate youth team, where he made his professional football debut. He scored his first goal on February 24, 2013.

Then Olasa played on loan for the Brazilian Atletico Paranaense, also played for the Uruguayan Danubio and the Argentine Taleres. In 2018, he became a player for Boca Juniors, but soon went on loan to the Spanish Celta, for which he played 65 matches, scored one goal and made ten assists. Since 2021, he has been owned by Real Valladolid, having played more than fifty matches for the White-Purple.

Meanwhile, the media reported that the central defender of Krasnodar Yegor Sorokin was suspended from training with the “base”. The club’s management sent the player to Krasnodar-2. The reason was the disagreement regarding the current contract.

Earlier media reported that Ivic does not count on Sorokin this season, the player is likely to leave the team. Now, according to media reports, Sorokin is training with the second team. By decision of the management, he does not participate in matches, but travels to all away games of Krasnodar-2, which plays in the Second League A (Zoloto group).

Sorokin moved to Krasnodar from Rubin in 2019 and signed a five-year contract with the Bulls. Last season, the footballer played 11 games for the Citizens, scoring three assists.

Led in the score, but lost

Sochi hosted Grozny Akhmat at home in the third round. The resort is in hot weather. Perhaps this affected the quality of the game. The meeting started at a high pace. Mohamed Konate had a couple of chances to score a goal. After the first ten minutes, the pace slowed down. Akhmat, who had lost two matches before, pressed. Konate again acted dangerously at the gates of Nikolai Zabolotny. Yevgeny Kharin had a good moment, after a set piece the Grozny midfielder lacked accuracy. A great help for the hosts was the appearance at the start of the undisputed leader – Christian Noboa. The Ecuadorian recovered from his injury, but was able to play only one half.

In the 35th minute, Yasmin Celikovich fouled Miguel Silveira in his penalty area. Chief referee Pavel Shadykhanov pointed to the point. The penalty was taken by Noboa. The midfielder brought the ball into Giorgi Shelia’s goal without any problems.

After a missed goal, Grozny did not lose the initiative. The team of Sergei Tashuev began to furiously recoup and did it in six minutes. First, Darko Todorovich crossed from the right flank from a free-kick, Vladimir Ilyin struck Zabolotny with his head into the corner of the goal. Five minutes after Akhmat’s goal, Artem Timofeev got the ball, the midfielder charged from outside the penalty area and hit the top nine. The Grozny team left for the locker room, leading in the score – 1: 2.

After the break, Sochi tried to recoup. Khokhlov made a triple substitution, but it did not help much. Luka Djordjevic and Ivan Ignatiev had approaches to score, but Shelia was reliable. “Akhmat” predictably gave up the initiative, focusing on maintaining the advantage, acting on counterattacks. Darko Todorovich and Rizvan Utsiev could have scored against Grozny. The hosts played well on defense.

In the 82nd minute, after a good combination on the flank, Yuri Medvedev burst into the penalty area at speed, served to the far post, but the pass turned out to be unaddressed. A couple of minutes later, Drkusic, after filing from the corner of the field, hit his head next to the post, and Timofey Shipunov’s long-range shot was neutralized by the defenders. At the end, Akhmat began to play for time: the team of Sergei Tashuev needed this victory more than ever.

As a result, Sochi, having three points after three rounds, took eleventh place in the standings. By the way, Akhmat is in tenth place with three points. Dmitry Khokhlov has serious problems: in the next round, Sochi will play away against CSKA. It will take a miracle to defeat the Army Men.