For the Russian youth team, the second match with the Polish team was rightly considered one of the most important in the qualifying tournament for Euro 2021.
If successful, the wards of Mikhail Galaktionov were seven points ahead of their main competitor and practically guaranteed themselves a ticket to the continental championship.
In the final rounds, domestic footballers will have to meet with the outsiders of the sextet - Estonians and Latvians, which practically guarantees them an additional six points.
Both teams approached the face-to-face meeting in an excellent mood.
Russian footballers quite easily dealt with the strong Bulgarians and managed to hack their defense twice.
And at the same time, they missed only once in the previous five matches.
The Poles, on the other hand, “warmed up” on the Estonians, sending six unanswered goals into their goal.
Especially zealous was the central midfielder of the English “Leeds” Mateusz Bogusz, who broke out with the first double for the “youth” in his career.
The mood of Galaktionov's team was spoiled only by the loss of Igor Diveev.
A minute before the end of normal time of the match with Bulgaria, the main defender and also the top scorer of the national team received a muscle injury to his right thigh.
And according to the results of the survey, it became clear that he would not be able to enter the Vidzev Arena field.
As a result, Pavel Maslov took his place in the starting lineup.
It is noteworthy that for the footballer of "Spartak" this meeting was the debut in the "youth".
In general, Galaktionov refrained from experiments and practically did not make any changes in the composition.
Matvey Safonov took the place in the goal again, and the trio in the midfield were Ivan Oblyakov, Nail Umyarov and Konstantin Kuchaev.
The transformations affected only the attacking line.
Ivan Ignatiev and Maxim Glushenkov kept their registration at the start, and instead of Daniil Lesovoy, Alexander Lomovitsky appeared.
It is noteworthy that the coach had already made such a castling in the previous meeting, having removed the Arsenal midfielder from the field during the break.
Based on the position of the teams in the table, one could expect that the Poles would try to take the initiative into their own hands.
However, the first dangerous moment arose at the gate of the owners.
Glushenkov found himself on the left flank, effectively threw the ball between the legs of the defender, after which he executed a cross into the penalty area.
Ignatiev shifted to the left border of the goalkeeper and struck for strength, but the goalkeeper of Monaco Radoslaw Majecki rescued his partners.
Surely at that moment many fans thought that the second meeting of the national teams would turn out to be as effective as the first.
In October, opponents scored four goals for two, three of which came in the first 45 minutes.
Galaktionov's wards were twice inferior, but in the compensated game they snatched the most important draw.
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Publication from Russian Youth Team (@ teamrussia_u21) 8 Sep 2020 at 7:57 PDT
But as it turned out, the episode with Ignatiev's participation remained the brightest in the first half.
Until the break, the teams took turns taking control of the game, but could not create serious problems for each other.
As a result, ten shots on goal for two, of which only two were on target.
For the owners, the main danger came from Bogush and Tymoteush Pukhach, who several times tried to catch Safonov by surprise.
And among the guests, Glushenkov was more active than others, who repeatedly found himself at the forefront of the Russians' attacks.
It is all the more offensive that a few minutes before the break, Maxim was injured and was subsequently replaced by Magomed Shapi-Suleimanov.
At the end of the first 45-minute, the hosts thoroughly pressed the guests to their goal, and at the beginning of the second only continued to build up the pressure.
The Poles did not invent anything original and relied on attacks through the flanks, where Nikolai Rasskazov and Daniil Krugovoy acted not very confidently.
For the Russians, the interaction between the middle and attacking lines was disrupted, which Galaktionov immediately noticed.
The coach made a second substitution, releasing Daniil Utkin instead of the tired Kuchaev.
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However, this did not save the Russians from conceding a goal.
The Poles continued to push and in the 61st minute they earned a corner, which ended with an accurate header.
Bogush performed the canopy, and Patrick Dzichek was left without guardianship and took Safonov by surprise.
It is noteworthy that for the Krasnodar goalkeeper, this conceded goal was the first in the qualifying tournament for Euro 2021.
The previous two fell on Maksimenko.
Only after finding themselves in the role of catch-up, domestic footballers tried to raise the pace and turn the tide of the unsuccessfully developing match.
First, Ignatiev had a great chance to level the score.
Rubin's forward played on the interception and almost sent the ball into an empty net.
And a few minutes later Utkin could have distinguished himself.
The midfielder of Krasnodar jumped out from behind the defenders and shot from a deadly position, but missed.
At the same time, the chamber was performed by Daniil Glebov, who replaced Umyarov on the field.
Simultaneously with Glebov, Lesovoy appeared on the lawn of Vidzev Arena, but he was not remembered for anything remarkable.
The Arsenal midfielder was active on the edge and tried to create dangerous moments at the opponent's goal due to his individual skill, but he could not break through the massive defense of Poland.
Nevertheless, the Russian national team had a 100% chance to restore parity.
Already in stoppage time, Przemyslav Plakheta threw the ball not to his goalkeeper, but to Ignatiev, but he could not realize a one-on-one exit.
Majecki saved his team and brought the Eagles a major victory.
The Russian national team suffered the first defeat in the qualifications of the youth Euro 2021 and made it difficult for themselves to reach the final stage.
The gap from the Polish team was reduced to one point, and this despite the fact that the Poles had one game left.
True, the charges of Cheslav Mikhnevich face much more serious tests than competitors.
In addition to the confrontation with the Latvians, they will have to measure their strength with the Serbs and Bulgarians.