PFC “Sochi” has lost a coach, FC “Krasnodar” has not yet lost points

Krivtsov comes to the fore

In the middle of last week, the “townspeople” hosted “Rostov” as part of the “Path of Regions” semi-finals of the Cup of Russia. Fan ID was not required to attend this meeting, so 25895 fans gathered in the stands. Guests in this game could not count on the pupil of Krasnodar Daniil Utkin. Another graduate of the Bulls Academy, Nikolay Komlichenko, remained in the reserve. Also sitting on the bench was another key Rostov player, Maxim Osipenko. In addition, in the 28th minute of the match Dmitry Poloz pulled the back muscle of the thigh. Despite such a weakened squad, Rostov took the initiative from the first minutes of the match, combined and openly pressed Krasnodar. At first, the “bulls” could not even reach the guests’ penalty area.

There were many moments in this game when the chief referee of the match, Vladislav Bezborodov, stopped the match to check if there was a penalty against the bulls. In all cases, the penalty was not appointed. In the first half, the hosts were able to deliver only one shot on target, but they scored. Here, first of all, Sergei Pesyakov blundered, in the 23rd minute the Rostov goalkeeper was fumbling with the ball and came under pressure from Joao Batchi. The decision to get out of an unpleasant situation turned out to be hasty, the goalkeeper delivered a projectile at the feet of Eduard Spertsyan, the midfielder of the Armenian national team did not lose his head and, humiliatingly for Pesyakov, scored a goal, breaking between the legs of the goalkeeper.

In the second half Rostov increased the pressure on the field. Krasnodar looked helpless and fought back with all their might. In the 54th minute of the match, Khoren Bayramyan gracefully passed the ball between his legs after a pass along the penalty line, Roman Tugaev famously sent a projectile from under the defender to the far post – 1: 1.

After that, Rostov only increased the pressure. Krasnodar could only reliably defend itself. As a result, the main time of the match ended in a draw. So, it was necessary to hold a penalty shootout. Spertsyan was the first to hit. The midfielder is increasingly showing leadership qualities, not afraid to take the initiative. His powerful shot opened the scoring of the penalty shootout. After Alexei Ionov, John Cordoba did not miss. Made nervous Junior Alonso. The defender struck with a pause, slightly, Pesyakov guessed the direction, but still could not save his team. Rostovites beat well, only defender Danila Prokhin launched the ball above the gate. Nikita Krivtsov put an end to the penalty shootout. The midfielder hit coolly and accurately. The result is 1 : 1 (5 : 3) in favor of the “citizens”. Now in the Cup of Russia on April 18 they will have a home game with Wings of the Soviets.

The next match of Krasnodar was within the framework of the 22nd round of the Russian Championship with not the strongest club Pari Nizhny Novgorod, so the result was more or less predictable. The goal of the “bulls” happened already in the fourth minute of the game. First, Christian Ramirez took the ball on the left edge of the penalty area, beat Daniil Kornyushin and crossed it to the far side of the goalkeeper’s area. There, Cordoba threw it at Krivtsov, who from a couple of meters drove the ball into the net.

Only ten minutes was enough for the midfielder to score a brace. Again, Ramirez received the ball on the left flank near the penalty area, passed to Alexander Chernikov – he gave a cross pass to Kadi Borges, who passed low into the penalty area. There, Cordoba missed the ball between his legs, which allowed Krivtsov to go one on one with Artur Nigmatullin. Krasnodar beat the goalkeeper, ran into an empty net, sent the ball into the net. For Kryvtsov, this was the seventh goal of the season. The player becomes the leader of the team.

There were no more goals until the end of the first half. After the break, Pari Nizhny Novgorod began to play more interesting, but conceded again. In the 62nd minute, Spertsyan shot Yaroslav Mikhailov in the hand from the penalty area. Nizhny Novgorod stopped for a moment, which was successfully used by the opponent. First, Sergei Petrov made a forward pass – the ball ricocheted off Lucas Masoero’s chest and hit Cordoba, the Colombian skillfully shot past Nigmatullin right into the goal.

It is difficult to remember that later in the game there were scoring chances. The match went fairly smoothly. But the guests managed to score a prestige goal. Sergei Volkov at speed flew into Nikita Kakkoev at the border of the goalkeeper’s area. The main referee of the match Sergei Cheban appointed a penalty. Timur Suleymanov volunteered to beat him, who hit the bottom with a running start a little to the left of the center, Matvey Safonov collapsed in the other direction – 3: 1.

Guests could have scored one more goal. In extra time, Kirill Gotsuk rolled the ball into Safonov’s goal, but the referee noted that before that there was an offside position.

The victory over the Paris Nizhny Novgorod club was the third in a row for Krasnodar. After 22 rounds, the Citizens are in seventh place with 35 points in the standings. Vladimir Ivic’s team has eight matches ahead. Of these, five games will be held with teams that are above the “citizens” in the standings of the Russian Premier League.

Enough for 106 days

As part of the 22nd round of the Russian Championship, Barca hosted Wings of the Soviets at home. The teams played the first half of the meeting on an equal footing. Samarans often hit on goal, but the “resorts” hit the target – the guests could not boast of this. Already in the 12th minute of the match, Kirill Zaika from the flank filed into the penalty area, where Vladislav Sarveli jumped out and struck with his head. If not for the jump of the goalkeeper of the “Wings of the Soviets” Ivan Lomaev, Sochi residents would have celebrated the goal. Three minutes later, Zaika himself tried to punch the goalkeeper from a long distance. The goalkeeper was alert. The guests in the first half had only one dangerous moment. Oleksandr Kovalenko shot for execution – the ball flew over the crossbar.

Immediately after the break, the game changed. In the first five minutes of the second half, Krylya Sovetov hit the target twice. Denis Adamov coped with the first blow of Fernando Costanza. But the shot of Ilya Gaponov did not reflect. In the turmoil near the gates of Sochi, the defender of Samara outplayed Kirill Kravtsov and shot sharply on goal. Sergey Terekhov tried to save the situation, but could not – 0: 1.

At the 64th minute of the match, Kurban Berdyev made four substitutions in a row. The coach removed Sarveli, Zaika, Kravtsov, Nikita Burmistrov from the field and released Artem Makarchuk, Luka Djordjevic, Ibragim Tsallagov and Joaozinho. Did not help. Christian Noboa, who celebrated his 38th birthday that day, managed to give a good pass to Joaoozinho once – the Brazilian missed. Then the Ecuadorian hit the post with the ball. But that was all the hosts were worthy of. The guests scored the second goal in the 73rd minute. First, Yuri Gorshkov spun the ball into the center of the penalty area, from where Constanta, running from the depths, sent a projectile into the left corner in a jump with his head. The defenders of Sochi at this moment looked completely helpless.

Barca didn’t give up. In the remaining time, they desperately tried to save the match. Noboa especially tried. In the 87th minute, the Ecuadorian received the ball from Djordjevic, who threw it head first into the center. Noboa effectively turned around, preventing Roman Evgeniev from eliminating the threat, and accurately shot from the bottom to the right of the center – 1: 2. This goal was the eleventh for the Ecuadorian of the season, but did not bring victory to his team.

Based on the results of 22 rounds, Sochi are ninth in the standings with 31 points. Two days after the defeat, the club’s press service announced that Berdyev had left the team. The contract, which was signed before June 2025, ended after 106 days. Since the beginning of spring, the team led by Berdyev has played five matches. Sochi beat CSKA and Dynamo, which are higher in the standings, but at the same time lost to the less weak Orenburg, Fakel and Wings of the Soviets. Berdyev was unable to change the position of the team in the standings. As she was in ninth place before his arrival, she remained there.

Acting as the main mentor until the end of the season will be his assistant – a former player of Dynamo and the Russian national team, a native of Krasnodar Dmitry Khokhlov. By the way, in the next round, the “leopards” will have a home meeting with the “bulls”.