Realized penalty, removal of Zobnin and Safonov saves: how Krasnodar beat Spartak in the RPL on the road

Losses of Krasnodar and Bakayev in a hat

On Monday, after the match in Rostov-on-Don, Russian fans were waiting for another bright confrontation. In Moscow, Spartak hosted Krasnodar. Red and white in the new year scored an excellent move and won two victories in the derby at once. First, in the RPL, they beat Dynamo, and then in the Russian Cup, the wards of Domenico Tedesco broke the resistance of CSKA in extra time. After that, the team intended to extend the successful series in the meeting with the Southerners and reduce the backlog from the first five, and at the same time take revenge for the defeat in the first round.

True, “Krasnodar”, unlike the opponent, did not have to hold an exhausting Russian Cup match this week.

But the hosts approached the game without personnel loss. Only the condition of Zelimkhan Bakaev, who received a concussion on Wednesday, raised questions, but in the end he entered the field from the first minutes. However, on the head of the tenth issue was a special red and white hat similar to the famous "tank helmet" of Peter Cech.

Tedesco made in the composition compared to the previous two matches, only a couple of substitutions. The place of Alexander Sobolev rented from Wings of the Soviets was taken by Jordan Larsson, who scored the winning goal against the army. And on the right flank of the defense Andrei Yeshchenko settled down.

But "Krasnodar" is faced with a real epidemic of injuries. Due to various injuries, the first game of the year with Ufa was missed by both the main central defenders of the team Alexander Martynovich and Uros Spaic and two key midfielders Tonni de Villena and Yuri Gazinsky. As a result, none of the four recovered to the match in Moscow.

Thus, in the center of defense the duo of Cayo - Yegor Sorokin again appeared. They had to spend together only the second game. It is interesting that the Brazilian took part in the first meeting with Spartak this season, and then received a red card shortly before the final whistle.

And in the reference zone, the company of Christopher Olsson was 19-year-old Alexander Chernikov, who made his debut in the RPL only a week ago.

But Murad Musaev managed to surprise the opponent by firing Markus Berg at the base, who scored the Ufa victory ball. Ahead, he joined the ex-Spartak Ari. From the flanks they were supposed to support Manuel Fernandes with Vanderson.

Double-edged game and a minimum of moments

It seemed that with such losses, the guests had practically no chance of winning. In fact, the southerners acted quite calmly and looked no worse than the opponent.

Quickly enough, Musayev’s wards seized the initiative and began to besiege Maksimenko’s possessions. The players of the Krasnodar attacking group weaved the usual combinations near the opponent’s penalty box with penetrating passes. It could not be said that the ball does not reach the attacking “bulls”. They met with him quite often.

The hosts responded mainly on counterattacks, but to disperse them that evening was not as successful as in the derby with CSKA. And the defenders of the opponent acted quite confidently, unlike the army team. Cayo coped with their duties with Sorokin, who practically made no mistakes. Young Chernikov did not drop out of the game either.

As for the number of dangerous moments, then on this indicator in the first half, approximate equality was established. Red and white marked a pair of shots from outside the penalty area. Several times Matvey Safonov had to enter the game.

Perhaps, the red-and-white ones missed the most obvious chance shortly before the break, when Safonov first parried back a hit by Bakaev, and then Roman Zobnin didn’t get into the far corner from the penalty box.

“Krasnodar” responded with a dangerous head-on strike performed by Ari, after which the shell flew close to the far post, and Fernandes shot in the opening of the meeting after the corner.

Fatigue of Spartak and Ari's goal to the former team

The second half, on the contrary, Spartak started more actively. In the first attack, the red and white earned a corner, after which they almost opened an account. Zobnin cut an excellent serve on Ponce, and the striker won the mounted combat against the defender and struck his head exactly under the crossbar. However, with his fingertips Safonov turned the shell to the side and again saved the Krasnodar.

However, the fuse of the hosts soon dried up - apparently, fatigue after a heavy derby with CSKA also affected. To refresh the game, Tedesco made an unexpected substitution at the end of the hour of the match. Instead of Eshchenko, Guus Til entered the field. At the same time, Zobnin descended on the right flank of the defense, and a footballer from the Netherlands took his position.

But a turning point in the game was already outlined, and the initiative again passed to Krasnodar, the more Musayev threw fresh Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov into battle. Almost the first touch, the midfielder almost sent the ball to the far nine from outside the penalty area. Then Berg hit the far corner for execution, but missed the target a bit. And with a powerful shot Ari in the near nine Maksimenko managed.

Red-white reacted to these calls without due attention, and 20 minutes before the final whistle they were punished for this. Berg after an excellent penetrating pass of the partner competently closed the ball with the hull and got the legs from Ilya Kutepov. Judge Sergey Lapochkin immediately pointed to the point. At the same time, the impression was made that the Swede played up his hand, but the referee did not bother.

And realized a penalty ex-Spartak Ari. Maksimenko guessed the direction of the ball’s flight, but failed to catch it.

There was nothing more to lose Spartak, and the team actively went ahead. In a return attack, Bakayev fell in the penalty box after a single combat with an opponent, but the referee did not give a whistle.

And the southerners managed to quickly regain the ball. Musaev’s team began to competently kill time. Of the truly dangerous moments at the gates of the guests, one can only recall the blow of Alexander Sobolev, who replaced, past the alignment from the goalkeeper’s corner after the standard was submitted.

In the end, Tedesco wards in addition remained in the minority. Zobnin committed a foul in midfield and received a second yellow card.

Thus, Krasnodar won the second consecutive victory in the RPL and to 11 meetings extended the unbeaten run in the national championship. Southerners continue to be in second place in the standings. At the Otkritie Arena, they held a very competent match, gaining three points even in the absence of a number of key performers.

“Spartak” is clearly not enough strength after a difficult fight with CSKA. In the final half hour, the team sharply slowed down and eventually suffered a defeat that cannot be called undeserved.