Kuban football clubs reached the equator of the Russian championship

FC Krasnodar did not allow FC Zenit to overtake itself. PFC Sochi lost its eleventh match in the Russian Premier League. “MK in Kuban” is about the main sporting events in the Krasnodar region.

We didn’t win the match, but we kept the lead

At the end of the first round of the Russian Championship, the “bulls” played away against “Zenith”. This game became the main one in the first half of the season, because it decided who would take first place. Vladimir Ivich’s team, which had a two-point advantage, settled for a draw to maintain first place. The Serbian specialist did not deviate from his pragmatic style, where the result is at the forefront of everything. The Citizens immediately gave the initiative to the hosts and acted as number two. Sergei Semak’s team also did not immediately rush forward: the price of this meeting was too high.

For the first half hour, the teams played mainly in the center of the field. Krasnodar had a little more possession of the ball. In the first half, neither team shot on target. Due to the fact that Zenit immediately gained the initiative, at first it seemed that the St. Petersburg team looked stronger. Nevertheless, the first half remained in favor of Krasnodar.

The first serious dangerous moment occurred in the 32nd minute of the match. Eduard Spertsyan took a corner from the right flank, John Cordoba headed it in, the ball flew into the goal, but hit Alexander Chernikov, who also shot. Here the shell already hit the Zenit defender. Olakunle Olusegun tried to finish, but missed the target.

At the end of the first half, the “bulls” played more confidently, and in stoppage time they created another wonderful scoring chance. In the response attack, João Batchi’s cross from the left was turned in by Spertsyan’s head. Mikhail Kerzhakov no longer reacted to this shot, but the ball went near the right post.

The game turned out to be quite aggressive. Football players often got into trouble, after which they were revived by medical personnel. Ivich did not like this course of affairs; he constantly expressed complaints to the reserve judge. True, the Serbian coach always behaves emotionally on the field. Perhaps this time it was also about the mentor’s temperament, and not about what was happening on the field.

The home team also had a good chance to score. It happened just before Spertsyan’s headbutt. After Gustavo Mantuan’s cross from the flank, Ivan Sergeev volleyed from the center of the penalty area. Victor Tormena blocked this shot, and the ball flew to Matvey Safonov.

There were no substitutions during the break in either team. But football clearly became more open in the second half. Both teams believed in themselves and began to act more relaxed. Krasnodar fought more actively for control of the ball, and this gave results almost immediately. In the 63rd minute, Batchi drove into the penalty area towards Cordoba, the Colombian shot with a turn, but Kerzhakov helped out. The first to finish was Spertsyan, whose shot was again handled by the goalkeeper, but then the Armenian national team midfielder sent the ball into the net through Strakhinya Erakovic. After the goal, Spertsyan ran to the Zenit fans’ stand to celebrate, putting his hands to his ears: they say, why can’t I hear your screams?

Naturally, the missed goal got the hosts going. They rushed to recoup. Semak decided to freshen up the game and released two forwards at once: Wilson Isidore and Andrei Mostovoy. “Zenith” pushed a little and quickly won back. In the seventieth minute of the match, Vilmar Barrios crossed from the right flank to the goal line, where Mateo Cassierra pressed Tormen and sent the ball into the near corner with his head. Five minutes later, the Colombian could well have scored a second goal after Kadi Borges lost the ball, the projectile flew centimeters from the right post.

Krasnodar began to play to keep the score. The Citizens almost never ran out of their half of the field. Zenit only increased the pressure. Mostovoi had a great chance to score in stoppage time. The forward on the flank beat Alexander Ektov, burst into the penalty area and fired into the far top corner. If the bar hadn’t interfered, Zenit would have taken first place at the end of the first round. As a result, the match ended in a draw. “Krasnodar” again could not beat the St. Petersburg team (the “bulls” last victory over them was away on April 7, 2018; eleven matches have passed since then, four of them ended in a draw, seven meetings ended in defeat), but they retained the lead.

After fifteen rounds, Ivich’s team has thirty-two points, the St. Petersburg team has thirty, the rest of the catching up group – Dynamo, Krylya Sovetov and CSKA – twenty-five points each.

After the game with Zenit, Ivic’s team had the opportunity to take a breath. The Russian Premier League has been suspended for national team games. Thirteen players from the “townspeople” went to the national teams. Matvey Safonov, Alexander Chernikov, Nikita Krivtsov and Sergey Volkov joined the Russian team. Valery Karpin’s team will play a friendly match with Cuba on November 20 in Volgograd.

Eduard Spertsyan and Georgy Harutyunyan went to the Armenian national team. She will have two matches to qualify for Euro 2024: on November 18th at home with Wales and on November 21st away against Croatia.

Cordoba flew to the Colombian national team – the striker had another chance to make his debut in the national team. In qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, the Colombians will play at home against Brazil on November 17, and away against Paraguay on November 22.

A place in the center of defense of the Paraguayan national team has long been reserved for Krasnodar Junior Alonso. Paraguay, in addition to the meeting with Colombia, will have an away match with Chile on November 17th.

Five Krasnodar players received calls to the Russian youth team. From the main team of the Bulls, Alexander Koksharov will join Ivan Shabarov’s team, from Krasnodar-2 – Daniil Golikov, Ruslan Chobanov, Kirill Bogdanets and Dmitry Kuchugura. The youth team will hold a training camp in Belarus, where it will play two friendly matches: on November 15 – with the Belarusian youth team, and on November 19 – with Dynamo Minsk.

First candidate for relegation?

“Barsy” hosted “Rubin” in the fifteenth round. The Kazan team is average this season. This gave Alexander Tochilin’s team a good chance to earn points in this meeting. Christian Noboa was again missing from the Sochi team. The football player continues to heal from his injury. It cannot be said that the Ecuadorian is directly irreplaceable for the Leopards: the Sochi team achieved two out of three victories in this championship without even having a midfielder in the lineup, but his help to Tochilin’s team would obviously not hurt.

Rubin immediately began to press and create dangerous moments. In the seventh minute, Mirlind Daku caught the offside line, received the ball in the Sochi penalty area and fired past Nikolai Zabolotny, who was running out of the goal. The home team were lucky: the ball flew over the crossbar.

The Resort team managed to create a danger near Yuri Dupin’s goal only at the end of half an hour of play. First, Nikita Burmistrov’s cross led to several rebounds in the Rubin goalkeeper, as a result the ball ended up at the feet of Kirill Kravtsov, who missed from a lethal position. In the next attack, Martin Kramaric, after quick handling, made a great low shot – Yuri Dupin grouped himself perfectly and deflected the ball flying under the near post. Sochi failed to create anything else in the first half. But Rubin scored in the fortieth minute. Ruslan Bezrukov accelerated well on the left flank, found himself in the Sochi penalty area and shot on the move – the ball ricocheted off Vanya Drkusic’s leg into the net – 0: 1.

In the second half, Rubin did not give up the initiative to the opponent and continued to attack. So, Daku won the battle near the goal line, rolled the ball into the center of the penalty area, from where Valentin Vada fired an unimpeded shot into the far post. Almost immediately, Kravtsov fouled Daka, for which he rightly received a yellow card, which became the second for the Sochi player.

Left in the minority, and even with such a game, Sochi, of course, died down, and in the 66th minute they conceded the second goal. Dmitry Kabutov played the set piece poorly, but immediately played in the selection, delivered the ball to the penalty area, where Egor Teslenko and Alexey Gritsaenko brought the pass to Daku. The Kosovar hit the corner of the goal with a tight shot – 0:2.

After this goal the game was already formal. Rubin brought the match to victory without any problems. Sochi suffered its eleventh defeat in the Russian Championship. At the end of the first round, Tochilin’s team secured last place in the standings with ten points. After a break for the national team’s matches, things won’t get any easier for the Sochi team. They are waiting for a trip to St. Petersburg for a match against the current national champion. Everything goes to the point that Leopards are the main candidate for relegation from the Premier League.