In the second round of the championship, SKA-Khabarovsk will face off against Tyumen

The opponent earned the right to play in the First League last season after losing only one match

It’s probably wrong to call Tyumen newcomers of the First League, they were already here, having earned a promotion in the 2013-2014 season, taking first place in the Ural-Volga region of the PFL. For three seasons in the then-Football National League, the team kept in the middle of the standings, but in the 2017-2018 season it fell sharply into the relegation zone, but retained its place in the FNL due to the refusal of other teams to play in the “World’s Best League”.

It did not help. In the 2018-2019 season, Tyumen takes the last 20th place in the championship and still relegates to the PFL. However, the club did not lose hope of returning. I even set such a task, strengthening the composition. Now comeback. In their group, the Siberians took first place ahead of schedule, earning the right to play in the First League after losing only one match last season.

In the First League, Tyumen started very confidently, defeating the unfortunate Khimki with a score of 3:1. The goal from this match was in the “Top 5” goals scored in the first round. The league appreciated the lightning-fast reaction of Alexander Korotaev, giving him fourth place in the ranking. In general, Tyumen is not going to be an outsider this season, which was announced by the club’s director Alexander Popov before the start of the season.

“We have an even team. This season should show that we are not whipping boys. Yes, many rivals have a much larger budget than ours. But it’s not the money that enters the field, but the players. And we must prove that we are no worse than our opponents. Our main task is to adapt to the new tournament and advance in the standings without even thinking about the fight for survival. Play and cling to points in every match! All this in order to leave for the winter holidays in a good mood,” he said. Alexander Popovbefore the game with Muscovites.

So the game will not be easy. By the way, in the same “Top-5” in the first place is the player of “SKA-Khabarovsk” Kirill Nikitin, who shipped two balls to “Shinnik” and entered the symbolic team of the starting round of the First League.

It is not easy to get into the symbolic team of the tour, but it is worth noting that Kirill Nikitin, a young 20-year-old football player who came to SKA-Khabarovsk only this off-season, was included in this list quite deservedly. The first match of the new season, the first match for the team and two very important goals against Oleksandr Dovbny.

The first one was when Cyril closed the cross of his namesake, driving the ball into an empty corner of the goal. This allowed the army team to play more relaxed. The second goal – a powerful shot in the center, which could, but failed to reflect the goalkeeper of Yaroslavl, hit the cut of the top five goals of the tour.

The young midfielder came to Khabarovsk from Bratislava, where he played for the second team of Slovenia for the previous two years. Kirill is only twenty years old, but he has been in adult football since 2020. That season, he played for the Krasnodar Kuban-Holding, played 25 matches, scored one goal and gave five assists. The contract with the left winger is a long-term contract for 4 years.

Goals against Shinnik are not the only goals scored by Kirill for SKA-Khabarovsk at the training camp, he scored in a match with a team from the Media Football League – GOATS, driving the eighth goal into the Kozlov goal. He also opened the scoring in the next friendly match against Irtysh Omsk.

In the Khabarovsk team, and in addition to Kirill Nikitin, there are enough of those who can and know how to play for the team, scoring the opponent. So we are waiting for a confrontation with geologists from Siberia next Sunday and, of course, we are rooting for ours. Fortunately, the club has become generous again and distributes tickets to the stands for free. Well, the task before the army team remains unchanged – promotion in the class and access to the Premier League of domestic football. This was confirmed by the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Mikhail Degtyarev, at a meeting with the leadership of professional sports clubs in the Khabarovsk Territory.

Read also: Savraska, Velvet and Zhora danced together on the football field in Khabarovsk.

There are other positions that need to be strengthened: Roman Sharonov, head coach of SKA-Khabarovsk. The first match of the season as a whole satisfied the mentor of the army, but the team has room to strive.

First game, first victory: SKA-Khabarovsk beat Shinnik at home. The match with the Yaroslavl team ended with the score 2:0