FC Krasnodar missed the win again, but moved up in the standings; PFC Sochi interrupted a winless streak by crushing the outsider of the Premier League

Trophies are taken only by young people

The Russian Championship is coming to an end. Last week was the 25th round of the Premier League. Within its framework, Krasnodar hosted Ural. It is noteworthy that now Yekaterinburg is headed by the ex-coach of the “bulls” – Viktor Goncharenko. Of course, this added brightness to the confrontation. But matches that require a Fan ID to attend still attract few spectators. 10,049 fans came to the game against Ural.

“Citizens” from the first minutes established control over the ball and immediately began to shoot at the goal. With the first of them, performed from a long distance by Sergei Volkov, the goalkeeper of the Urals Ilya Pomazun coped. But the Bulls managed to score an early goal. At the thirteenth minute of the match, Eduard Spertsyan shot from a corner into the goalkeeper’s area, where Kayo tried to shoot on goal – Pomazun repelled this threat. The first to finish was Kevin Lenini, who opened the scoring in the match. For a football player from Cape Verde, this goal was the first in the “black-green”.

Further, Krasnodar continued to have an advantage on the field. As always, missed the opportunity to score a goal John Cordoba. At the 27th minute of the match, the Colombian received an excellent cutting pass from Joao Batchi, went one on one with Pomazun, hit the bottom – the goalkeeper hit the ball with his feet. It should be noted that for the entire game, the “bulls” struck two shots on target “Ural”. It is not surprising that the victory was again missed by the hosts.

Guests bounced back in the fortieth minute of the match. First, Denis Kulakov walked along the right flank, hung in the center, to the penalty line, where Eric Bikfalvi threw the ball with his chest to Alexander Yushin. The volley attacker took a shot, the ball hit Cayo and ricocheted into the goal – 1: 1. Safonov could repel this blow, but was disoriented by the change in the direction of the projectile.

After the break, the pace of the game increased significantly. Teams began to create more dangerous moments. So, in the 53rd minute, Christian Ramirez crossed from the left flank, the ball bounced off to Mihailo Bagnac, who played with his back to Ilzat Akhmetov, who, in the fight against the Bulls’ pupil Leo Goglichidze, shot into the near corner. The ball flew close to the post. Then Yushin almost scored a double. In one of the Ural attacks, the striker hit his head on goal from the summer. The ball flew into the corner – Matvey Safonov was able to beat it off in a jump. Only towards the end of the second half did the game calm down. For the remaining time there were two blows – Rai Vluta and Silvie Begich, but they were less dangerous.

According to the results of the 25th round, Krasnodar moved up to sixth place in the standings with 39 points. This was facilitated by the loss to the “Torch” of the capital “Dynamo” (2: 0).

It is possible that both Krasnodar and Ural saved their strength for the Russian Cup. After all, on the third of May (at the time of writing, the matches had not yet been played), both of them will have to fight in the second most important tournament in the country. Krasnodar will play at home with Akron. Ekaterinburgers are also waiting for a home match against CSKA. And on May 7, within the framework of the 26th round, the team of Vladimir Ivic will host Wings of the Soviets at home.

In the meantime, there were rumors about the interest of Borussia Mönchengladbach in Spertsyan. It is noteworthy that now the German team is headed by the former Krasnodar coach Daniel Farke. True, it is highly likely that the German himself will leave the club after the end of the season. Recall that a number of European clubs are showing interest in the Krasnodar graduate and the midfielder of the Armenian national team. Spertsyan’s contract with the bulls is calculated until June 30, 2024. Portal Transfermarkt estimates the transfer value of the 22-year-old Armenian footballer at nine million euros. This season, Spertsyan has made 33 appearances for the Citizens in all competitions, scoring thirteen goals and ten assists.

The fate of the graduate of Krasnodar and until recently the favorite of the fans – Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov is being clarified. The midfielder’s football agent Alan Aguzarov said that negotiations are underway to buy out the player’s contract by the Israeli Hapoel (Beer Sheva). The representative of the midfielder noted that the signing of a contract with Suleymanov for the club is at the forefront, especially since Hapoel has a priority right to buy from Krasnodar, and Suleymanov is comfortable playing in this team. The footballer is one of the leaders of the club. Aguzarov also noted that there are other options for continuing the career of his ward.

Recall that the 23-year-old midfielder, the rights to which belong to Krasnodar, has been playing for Hapoel all season. He has five goals.

The youth team pleased the fans of the “black-and-greens”. Pupils of Krasnodar under the leadership of Alexei Gerasimenko became the winners of the Youth Football League three rounds before the end of the tournament. The title was won in a match with the young pupils of Ural. Krasnodar won a major victory with a score of 5: 1 and became inaccessible to their main competitor, Zenit St. Petersburg. The youth team of the “bulls” became the best for the second time in the history of the tournament.

Finally won

“Sochi” in the 25th round took the house of the absolute outsider of the Premier League – the capital’s “Torpedo”. The hosts scored an early goal. In the seventh minute of the match, after a rally, Luka Djordjevic made a pass into the penalty area, where Artur Yusupov beat the guests’ defenders, moved forward and shot into the center, where Joaozinho sent the ball in touch to the far corner of the goal. By the way, the head coach of “Torpedo” Josep Clotet watched the game from the stands of the stadium “Fisht”. He is serving a suspension.

The goal liberated the “resorts”. They began to play more combinational, to attack more. “Torpedo” could only fight back and look for luck in counterattacks. In the 45th minute, the hosts earned a corner. Joaozinho completed the serve, Kirill Kravtsov outplayed Alexander Ryazantsev, put his foot up and sent the ball into the corner of the goal. Torpedo never hit the target before the break. In Sochi, the Muscovites did not succeed in the attack.

During the break, the Bars replaced Djordjevic: the Montenegrin had problems with the back of the thigh. He was replaced by Georgy Melkadze. At the 63rd minute of the match, the captain of “Torpedo” Ryazantsev was injured and had to leave the field.

In the second half, the hosts continued to control the game, making quick attacks. “Torpedo” improved the statistics of possession of the ball, but still could not reach the gate of Denis Adamov. The tactics of the hosts gave the result: in the 74th minute of the match they scored the third goal. First, Yusupov ran down the flank and threw the ball into the penalty area. There, Kirill Zaika ran in and powerfully shot into the far corner.

Only then “Torpedo” began to act effectively. In the 79th minute, the Muscovites struck the first shot on target and scored. First, Igor Lebedenko made a pass to the center, from where Mikhail Kaymakov went into the free space and from 25 meters shot into the bottom corner of the goal. Adamov could not reach the ball – 3 : 1. In this episode, Ibragim Tsallagov had the opportunity to block the shot, but the midfielder did not.

After the goal, the Torpedo club seemed to perk up. Guests cheerfully spent the end of the match, but could not score more. Sochi won their first victory with acting head coach Dmitry Khokhlov, breaking a three-game losing streak. After the 25th round, “leopards” have 34 points and are in ninth place in the standings.

The next game “resorters” will play in the capital against Lokomotiv catching up with them. The game will take place on May 8 at the stadium in Cherkizovo.