Krasnodar lost to Zenit, Sochi won over Spartak

Attacking football doesn’t work

The Bulls hosted Zenit in the 24th round of the Russian Championship. Had Murad Musaev’s team won this match, they would have regained first place, two points ahead of the St. Petersburg team. Then the intrigue would intensify in the race for the championship.

The game broke the attendance record for Krasnodar home matches. 35,249 spectators came to watch the confrontation between the two leaders of the Premier League. The previous best attendance figure was at a UEFA Europa League home match against Spanish side Valencia in the 2018/19 season. Then 35,074 people watched the “bulls” game live.

The support of the City fans was felt from the first minutes of the match. The stadium drove the players forward, creating a real atmosphere of the decisive match.

The Citizens were super motivated from the first minutes of the game. They attacked aggressively, completely disregarding the status of the current national champion. But the first real scoring chance in the match was made by Zenit. In the eleventh minute, Claudinho made a throw from deep, Andrei Mostovoy caught the ball near the goal line and fired into the near corner of the goal, between the legs of Matvey Safonov. The rebound off the goalkeeper’s foot allowed Pedro to finish from the center of the penalty area, but the Brazilian striker miraculously launched the ball over the goal.

At the beginning of the match, Lucas Olasa especially distinguished himself. First, the Uruguayan defender fell on the lawn and began to ask for a red card for Mostovoy, but the video replay showed that there was no violation on the part of the Zenit player. In the sixteenth minute of the match, Pedro lost the ball, which ended up on the flank, João Batchi delivered a cross into the penalty area, Nuraly Alip won the top, but the header turned out to be on the penalty spot, from where Olasa hit the ball into the corner of the goal – 1: 0. By the way, the Argentinean could close down Claudinho, but the Brazilian midfielder did not have time to do this.

Having scored a goal, the Krasnodar players liberated themselves even more. They tried to continue to torment the visitors’ defense. In the 23rd minute of the match, Olakunle Olusegun was allowed to take a shot from outside the penalty area, Mikhail Kerzhakov stood tall and deflected the ball to the side. In the second half of the first half the game calmed down. But Krasnodar went into the break with the lead.

Sergei Semak made one substitution at the beginning of the second half. Arthur came on the field instead of Alip. Zenit played with four defenders. Not to say that such changes radically changed the visitors’ game, but the “white-blue-blue” began to score. Already in the 48th minute, Mateo Cassierra received the ball in the penalty area, went up to the line, turned around and executed a magnificent dribbling shot into the far corner of the goal – 1:1.

Four minutes later, the same Colombian striker rolled the ball through the center into the hosts’ penalty area, cutting off the entire defense, but Mostovoy shot simply, straight at Safonov, who was coming out of the gate. The game began to heat up, the players tried to challenge almost every decision of the chief referee Sergei Ivanov. Musaev also expressed dissatisfaction with the refereeing.

In the 63rd minute of the match, Cassierra dispersed the visitors’ attack in the center, then passed to the left edge of the penalty area, where Arthur faked his way out of Kadi Borges’ tackle, and then performed a cool dribbling shot from the right under the far post – 1:2.

“Krasnodar” tried to regain the initiative, but the “bulls” did not succeed. The “townspeople” decided to justify their powerlessness with poor refereeing. More and more complaints were made against the arbitrator. Clashes also began on the field between the players. The game turned into a constant showdown. As a result, not only the players, but also Musaev received yellow cards.

In the 90th minute, Vitor Tormena received a second yellow card for a foul and was sent off from the field. It would seem that the announced seven minutes of extra time should have encouraged the hosts to organize the final assault. Perhaps the “bulls” wanted to carry it out, but in the end Zenit attacked. So, Gustavo Mantuan went one-on-one with Safonov, the shot from outside the penalty area went past Safonov, but to the right of the far corner of the goal. As a result, Zenit won a strong-willed victory and increased its lead in the championship race to four points. The Bulls have not been able to beat the St. Petersburg team for six years.

After the match, Musaev admired the first half performance of his team, and also criticized the referee’s refereeing.

– At first (the referee – MK in Kuban) let me play hard, and then he started whistling nonsense. I don’t understand the decisions (of the referee – MK in Kuban). They don’t go beyond logic. The referee failed the match. “I swam,” said Murad Musaev.

At the same time, Krasnodar did not show attacking football, which Vladimir Ivic did not have, which is why the Serbian coach was allegedly dismissed. Yes, against Zenit, the hosts had a little more possession of the ball (51 percent versus 49 percent), but they made four shots on target (the guests made the same number). Perhaps the referee was wrong in some episodes, but it cannot be said that he made a fatal decision that turned the tide of the game in favor of Zenit.

Theoretically, Krasnodar still has a chance to take first place, but now much depends not on Musaev’s team, but on whether Zenit makes mistakes in the last six rounds. Moreover, there should be several errors.

Lost streak broken

In the 24th round of the Russian Championship, Leopards hosted the capital’s Spartak at home. The Red-Whites are not such a formidable opponent this season; they are in the middle of the standings, so the chances of Robert Moreno’s team to win such a long-awaited victory were quite high.

“Kurortniki” came out with the same starting lineup as against “Rostov” (2:2), which is not surprising, because with Valery Karpin’s team the southerners looked convincing.

The meeting started at an average pace. Sochi had more of the initiative on the field. True, it didn’t come to any scoring chances. “Spartak” perked up in the 16th minute when Alexander Sobolev burst into the penalty area from the left flank and shot low, but hit the defender. Theo Bongonda finished from the penalty spot with a rebound from the lawn, but Nikolai Zabolotny jumped the ball for a corner. Immediately after this, Anton Zinkovsky moved to the center from the right flank, removed Kirill Kravtsov and shot into the far corner, the Leopard goalkeeper punched the ball to the side with his fists.

Sochi also had a chance to score in the first half of the match. In the 26th minute, Yahya Attiyat-Allah burst into the penalty area from the left flank and crossed into the center, Saul Guarirapa picked up the ball and fired into the corner – Alexander Maksimenko parried the shot with his fingertips. Already in extra time of the first half, Martin Kramaric crossed from a corner into the center of the penalty area, Guarirapa shot into the bottom corner of the goal – Maksimenko saved the team in a jump.

In the second half, the teams spent a long time swinging, both coaches made a number of substitutions. Miguel and Sergio Cordova, who came on as substitutes in Sochi, almost immediately created a chance. The Venezuelan worked the ball into the penalty area and crossed to the far post – the Brazilian tried to complete the pass in a sliding tackle, but did not have time to reach the ball.

Sochi continued to be active and achieved its goal. In the 76th minute of the match, Jesus Medina missed the ball after a long pass from Zabolotny. As a result, Miguel got the ball, the Brazilian accelerated along the left flank and crossed into the penalty area, Attiyat-Allah ran and pushed the ball past Maksimenko – 1: 0.

Spartak failed to win back. And Sochi could have scored a second goal. In the 88th minute of the match, Nikita Burmistrov made a pass into the penalty area, Cordova adjusted and shot high – the ball hit the crossbar and flew off to the side.

In the end, the “red-whites” seized the initiative, but were unable to create anything dangerous. As a result, the Leopards broke their ten-match streak without a win and scored eighteen points. Sochi’s victory led to the resignation of Spartak head coach Guillermo Abascal, but did not allow the southerners to rise in the standings. They still occupy the last – sixteenth place.

Changing the coach hasn’t helped yet

PFC Kuban announced the name of the club’s new head coach. It was Robert Evdokimov. In October 2021, the specialist was already heading Kuban, when the team was in the relegation zone with almost a ten-point gap from the saving place. In the first four matches under his leadership, the “yellow-greens” won four victories, and in the spring segment of the 2021/22 season they went on a streak of eleven matches without defeat. However, in the 2022/23 season, the results worsened, the team dropped into the relegation zone of the first league, after a cup defeat inflicted by Volga Ulyanovsk, on November 16, 2022, the club management fired Evdokimov. The new contract with the 54-year-old specialist runs until the end of the 2025/26 season.

“Kuban” lost the first match under the leadership of Evdokimov. The Yellow-Greens hosted KamAZ at home. The hosts managed to score a quick goal in the third minute. But then Kuban conceded two goals, first one in the first half, and then the second at the very end of the second half. With 22 points, the “yellow-greens” occupy the penultimate, 17th place in the standings.

Novorossiysk “Chernomorets” played with Tolyatti “Akron” in the 27th round of the first league. The meeting ended with a score of 0:0, allowing Vadim Garanin’s team with 31 points to rise from fourteenth to thirteenth place in the standings.