Kuban football clubs will continue to compete in the Russian Cup in the spring

FC Krasnodar beat Spartak in the last round of the group stage (“Path of the Russian Premier League”) of the Russian Cup, and also retained first place in the national championship. PFC Sochi has not lost two games in a row, but still lives at the bottom of the Russian Premier League standings. “MK in Kuban” is about the main sporting events in the region.

Miraculously they retained the victory

In the middle of last week, the “bulls” played against “Spartak” as part of the sixth round of the group stage (“The Path of the Russian Premier League”) of the Russian Cup. By this match, the “red-whites” had already guaranteed themselves first place and were not very interested in winning. Vladimir Ivich’s team, in order to get into the playoffs (“The Path of the Russian Premier League”), had to defeat the Muscovites and hope for the loss of points from the capital’s Dynamo, which the next day fought with Paris Nizhny Novgorod.

Spartak missed the first goal already in the third minute of the match. After Alexander Selikhov’s inaccurate pass to the flank, Ilzat Akhmetov slipped to the front line and crossed into the goalkeeper’s area, from where Alexander Koksharov, who played ahead, sent the ball into the net.

The goal cheered up Spartak. The hosts ran to attack Stanislav Agkatsev’s goal. First, this led to Alexander Sobolev hitting the post. Immediately after this episode, Kevin Lenini knocked down the Spartak striker in the penalty area. The referee awarded a penalty. The one who earned it volunteered to take the penalty kick. Sobolev struck powerfully, Agkatsev did not guess the direction of the strike – 1:1.

The spectacular game continued after the parity in the score was restored. Both teams attacked and boldly hit the goal. The goalkeepers had to help out a lot in this match. Already in the added time of the first half, Sobolev had a great fight in the opposing half with Lenini, advanced towards the penalty area and made a timely pass in the direction of Nail Umyarov, the midfielder easily beat Agkatsev and rolled the ball into the goal – 2:1.

After the break, it seemed that Spartak was able to control the match. But in the 61st minute, Junior Alonso started Krasnodar’s attack with a long, luxurious pass, Moses Cobnan handled the ball, moved forward and fired into the goalkeeper from outside the penalty area. Koksharov, ahead of the defender, hit the ball into the net – 2:2. This was the first double for the main team performed by the 18-year-old City graduate.

After this goal, Spartak clearly began to have problems in defense. This was especially evident in terms of standards, which the guests had enough of. At first, luck favored the “red-whites”, they repelled the threats, but in the 74th minute the guests played out another corner, Alexander Ektov received the ball outside the penalty area, from where he fired a shot at the goal, and the ball ricocheted off Daniil Denisov’s foot into the net. The game turned over again – 2:3.

Nine minutes later, Ektov was unable to contain Sobolev – as a result, Agkatsev had to foul in the penalty area. Another penalty. Sobolev again calmly converted the kick from the point, the Krasnodar goalkeeper again did not guess the direction of the kick. But the video replay showed that during the execution, Sobolev managed to make two touches – the ball struck the left supporting leg, and the strike from the right went outside the rules. As a result, the goal was canceled. Incredible game development!

After this, the hands of the Spartak players gave up and they were never able to equalize the score. The victory gave Krasnodar hope of making it to the playoffs of the Russian Cup in the “Path of the Russian Premier League”. But the next day Dynamo beat Paris Nizhny Novgorod (2:1), scoring the decisive goal in the 93rd minute. Following the results of six rounds, the “townspeople” took third place in Group D with eleven points. This result forces Ivich’s team to fight in the Russian Cup, following the “Path of the Regions”. In the quarterfinals, the city’s opponents will be Khimki. The game will take place in March 2024 in the Moscow region.

Still first

In the fourteenth round of the Russian Premier League, Krasnodar hosted one of the championship leaders, Krylia Sovetov. Before that, Zenit beat Baltika away (2:0) and took first place in the standings. To maintain the lead, the “black-greens” had to win.

The “townspeople” did not immediately strive to take the initiative into their own hands. In essence, they gave the ball to the visitors. A tactic that completely goes against the club’s philosophy – attacking football – brought results. In the sixteenth minute, Benjamin Garre fumbled with the ball and eventually lost it in a fight with Alonso. The Paraguayan gave a powerful pass to the running John Cordoba, the Colombian entered the penalty area without the slightest resistance from Roman Evgeniev, missed Bogdan Ovsyannikov with his first shot, picked up the ball from the goalkeeper’s area and already hit the empty target – 1:0.

After conceding a goal, Krylia Sovetov were forced to run forward. The hosts did not take the initiative. In the 34th minute, Samara had an excellent opportunity to score a goal. Nikita Saltykov, after shifting to the center, fired a deflecting shot into the far corner. The ball flew a meter from the far post.

Krasnodar did not sit back on defense and could also score. Ovsyannikov pulled one out spectacularly from the bottom corner after a rebound from Dmitry Ivaniseni following a cross from Lukas Olasa. In another episode, Olakunle Olusegun hit the post.

Krasnodar scored the second goal in the 73rd minute. Victor Tormena made a long pass into the Samara penalty area, where Cordoba fought well, made a pass to Joao Batchi, the striker made a throw to the far corner of the goalkeeper, from where the short – 167 centimeters – Olusegun ran in with his head in the opposite direction of Ovsyannikov – 2:0.

Samara were able to win one goal back five minutes before the end of regular time. Nikolai Rasskazov received the pass from the goal line and crossed to the near corner of the goalkeeper’s area, from where Vladimir Pisarsky, who had previously played under the name Sychev, pushed the ball under the post from a difficult position – 2: 1. With this score, the match ended.

Krasnodar scored 31 points and is again in first place. In the next match, the “citizens” will meet with “Zenith”. This game will be decisive for the Bulls.

Missed three penalties in a row

In the match of the sixth round of the group stage (“The Path of the Russian Premier League”) of the Russian Cup, the Leopards played at home against Fakel Voronezh. First, the guests put pressure on the hosts at the start. But Alexander Tochilin’s team withstood it. “Fakel” managed to score in the 22nd minute; Maxim Maximov received the ball in the central part of the penalty area after a cross from the left, processed the ball and sent it into the net. The goal was not counted; the striker was clearly offside.

But Sochi managed to score according to the rules. In the 28th minute of the match, Andrei Mendel fumbled with the ball on the flank and, as a result, trying to knock it aside, he slipped and gave the ball to Martin Kramaric. Timofey Margasov received a pass from the Slovenian and crossed from the left edge of the penalty area towards the goal, where Nikita Burmistrov opened up between two defenders and powerfully fired his header with a ricochet off the lawn – 1: 0.

Thirteen minutes later, Luka Djordjevic beat his opponent at the edge of the penalty area and sharply shot low into the far corner – Vitaly Gudiev parried the shot, but right in front of him. Here Margasov, having picked up the ball, shot from a couple of meters into the net, hitting the goalkeeper between the legs.

There were no goals at Fisht in the second half. “Sochi” calmly brought the match to victory and eventually took third place in Group A. Now, within the framework of one quarter of the finals (“Path of Regions”) of the Russian Cup, the “resort team” will play against “SKA-Khabarovsk”. The game will take place in the Far East in March 2024.

But in the fourteenth round of the Russian Championship, Sochi played an epic match. “Barsy” hosted the capital’s “Dynamo”. In this game, the hosts needed a bloody nose to win. And here the team again could not count on its leader, Christian Noboa. But even without the injured Ecuadorian, the game turned out to be as spectacular and exciting as possible.

The first goal was scored by the Sochi team. On the twenty-fourth minute, after a pass from deep, Kramaric received the ball in the penalty area and rolled a little back to Djordjevic, the Montenegrin shot into the far corner, Igor Leshchuk dragged it, but the Dynamo goalkeeper could not cope with Burmistrov’s finish.

Two minutes later the Muscovites got even. Dmitry Skopintsev burst into the penalty area on the left side and rolled to the center at Fedor Smolov, the striker passed between his legs, and the running Luis Chavez shot Nikolai Zabolotny – 1: 1.

Ten minutes of play and Sochi earned a penalty. Elazar Daza stepped on Djordjevic’s foot. The Montenegrin shot into the corner to his right, but Leshchuk parried the blow. Sochi has failed to score from eleven meters for the third time in a row.

Before the break, Dynamo scored two more goals. First, the Sochi defense missed Konstantin Tyukavin, believing that he was offside. The attacker took it without interference and shot accurately. Then Yaroslav Gladyshev climbed behind the Sochi defenders on the right edge, moved to the center and gracefully curled into the far corner – 1: 3.

In the second half, the hosts ran to get even. The most interesting thing is that they were able to create chances. In the 63rd minute, Kramaric shot from the line of the penalty area, Leshchuk parried it in front of him, and Djordjevic was the first to finish, who, as he fell, sent the ball into the net – 2: 3.

Eleven minutes later the score was already equal. Kramaric crossed from the left corner of the field, the ball did not hit anyone and flew to the far post, where Vanja Drkusic almost from the line hammered it into the net – 3: 3.

The ending turned out to be truly valid. Kramaric hit the crossbar. In stoppage time, Tochilin and Marcelo Alves received red cards. Coach – for being very emotional. The Brazilian received a second yellow, fouling Tyukavin.

The draw did not allow the Sochi team to leave last place in the standings, but they showed that they are quite capable of fighting for survival, snatching points where, it seems, there are no chances left.