Two goals in extra time and successful replacements from Musaev: how Krasnodar left the defeat in a derby with Rostov

The fight for second place and the absence of Norman

The 15th round of the RPL gave the fans two top matches at once. In the first of them, Zenit and CSKA split the world, and in the second, Krasnodar in the south derby was to receive Rostov. A lot was at stake in this meeting, because the winner got the opportunity to finish the circle in second place and reduce the gap from the leading Zenit. And in itself, success in the derby for the players of both teams is very important. In addition, Krasnodar was eager at the same time to take revenge on the opponent for relegation from the quarterfinals of the Russian Cup last season.

An additional problem for the guests was the absence of Matthias Norman, who missed the match due to illness. His place in the supporting zone was taken by young Daniil Glebov. At the same time, “Rostov” only on Thursday played with “Spartak” in the Cup of the country, but Valery Karpin then defeated most of the leaders, so there was no question of fatigue.

“Krasnodar” left this tournament even earlier, and therefore got the opportunity to calmly prepare for the derby. Plus, the red card of Marcus Berg, shown to him in the previous meeting of the championship with Orenburg, was canceled, and therefore Murad Musaev could count on his Swedish striker.

As a result, the coach released two attackers at once, Berg and Ari, and from the flanks they were assisted by Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov with Manuel Fernandes. Valery Karpin did without surprises and threw all his strongest players into battle.

Moments of Krasnodar and the double of Ionov

“Rostov” began the match more actively and already in the fifth minute could open an account. Alexei Ionov came face to face with Matvey Safonov after a gross mistake by Christopher Olsson in midfield, but did not hit the far corner. And a little later Roman Eremenko noted a long-range strike. Safonov did not easily cope with the Finn's shot.

However, Krasnodar gradually managed to pick up the ball and seize the initiative. Powerful Ari and Berg clung to the passes very well ahead, while Suleimanov and Fernandes weaved football laces at the entrance to someone else's penalty area. Moments began to arise already at the gates of Yegor Baburin. So, Suleymanov, after a good Berg discount from the outside of the penalty area, struck a little inaccurate.

But in the end, the guests unexpectedly managed to open an account. “Rostov” took advantage of the opponent’s enthusiasm for the attack and spent an excellent counterattack, and Ionov, after a magnificent discount from Eldor Shomurodov, struck from 20 meters right into the corner.

On this Alex did not stop and shortly before the break took a double. This time, Urosh Spaich and Alexander Martynovich very unsuccessfully fought for the ball in their own penalty area, and the shell bounced right on Ionov, who immediately sent him to the far corner. True, the VAR judges made the guests worried, taking a break to watch the replay, but in the end the ball still counted.

Bulk of Krasnodar and the incredible ending

In the second half, “Krasnodar” came out with one task - to score as soon as possible. At the same time, Musayev made a substitution during the break. Instead, Olsson went to center field Daniil Utkin. And I must say, the pupil of the club coped with his task and did everything so that the initiative passed to his team.

“Rostov” finally got on the defensive, which is quite consistent with the score. Eloquent statistics: for the second half of the game, the guests did not strike a single blow at someone else's goal. “Krasnodar” could have scored immediately after the break, but Suleimanov by some miracle did not hit the target already left Baburin gate.

In the future, the pressure of the owners only increased. Southerners' players from time to time carried the ball forward in the direction of Berg with Ari, and they performed discounts on partners. It’s another matter that the Rostov players generally coped with their duties and defended themselves quite clearly and disciplinedly, only the team’s counterplay didn’t go at all, and gradually the guests began to get tired.

Musaev, sensing this, closer to the ending threw into the battle not so textured, but quick and fresh Younes Namli and Ivan Ignatiev. And these replacements worked wonderfully. Rostov successfully defended its goal for 90 minutes in order to miss twice in the time added by the referee.

In this case, the yellow and blue have already retreated as a team, and Karpin threw into the battle an additional central defender Ragnar Sigurdsson. Perhaps this only added to the confusion in the defensive ranks of the guests, because at the 93rd minute the defenders of “Rostov” did not follow the fast Ignatiev. Ivan, taking advantage of Suleymanov’s timely transfer, ran away from the opponent and carefully sent the ball into the far corner.

So “Krasnodar” unexpectedly got a chance to escape and the whole team went ahead. And as a result, already in the 95th minute, the southerners fought back fantastically, and the central defender Spaich scored. After Namli's perfect delivery from the left flank, the Serb sent a shell to the target. At the same time, it is unclear how the almost two-meter Uros remained in the wrong penalty completely alone.

With the final whistle, the guests powerlessly hit the lawn. They were already preparing to celebrate another victory, which could raise the team to second place, but experienced the most severe disappointment. The hosts, on the contrary, were jubilant, as if they had won. But such a draw is sometimes more valuable than victory, because Krasnodar has shown an incredible character and has demonstrated that it is always ready to fight to the end.