Kutepov's mistakes, Sobolev's debut and goal, Miranchuk's crossbar: how the Russian team lost to Sweden in a friendly match

Postponements of the match and losses of the Russian national team due to coronavirus

The test match with the Swedish national team was intended to help the Russian national team prepare for important games in the UEFA Nations League.

Ironically, several years ago, this tournament was conceived, among other things, to replace friendly matches.

For now, however, they remain on the international calendar.

Initially, Stanislav Cherchesov's wards were supposed to fight with Janne Andersson's team on March 28 on the opponent's field.

But due to the coronavirus pandemic, the match was postponed until autumn.

And already in September, the football unions of the two countries decided to play in Moscow instead of Stockholm due to the situation with COVID-19 in Sweden.

COVID-19 also interfered with the training plans of the owners.

Recently, Giorgi Jikia and Marinato Guilherme passed questionable tests and were isolated from the rest.

A little later, both left the location of the team.

The defender in the main squad was replaced by Spartak partner Ilya Kutepov, and Soslan Dzhanaev took the place in the goal.

The positions on the flanks of the midfield were taken by the youngest and oldest players of the current national team draft - Andrey Mostovoy and Yuri Zhirkov.

It's funny that the first was only seven years old when the second made his debut for the country's main team: this happened back in February 2005.

In turn, Andersson attracted five performers from the Russian Premier League (RPL) plus Sebastian Holmen, who recently played for Dynamo.

Krasnodar players Kristoffer Olsson, Victor Klasson and Markus Berg remained in reserve, but Karl Starfelt from Rubin and Spartak's Jordan Larsson got the places in the “start”.

At the pre-match press conference, the head coach of the Swedish national team especially singled out the striker, saying that he had improved a lot lately and played well in Spartak.

The Russians and the Swedes met for the ninth time, considering only the period after the collapse of the USSR.

The previous confrontation between the teams turned out to be quite painful for Cherchesov's team.

On November 20, 2018, Russia lost to Sweden on a visit (0: 2), having lost the chance to enter the elite division of the League of Nations.

Even earlier, rivals crossed paths in the final stage of the European Championship 2008, and in qualifying for Euro 2016.

Russian national team moments and an optional goal from the Swedes

The hosts started the game at the VEB Arena quite actively.

They immediately tried to pick up the ball and went forward with large forces.

The Russians could open an account in the very opening of the meeting, when Zhirkov struck a powerful low blow on the rebound after a corner.

However, Karl-Johan Junsson showed miracles of reaction and parried the ball with his foot.

And in the 17th minute, Anton Miranchuk broke through the center and shot powerfully from outside the penalty area.

The ball hit the crossbar and flew back into the field.

The stadium exploded with applause, and the Russian players tried to use some confusion in the opponent's ranks and print the goal. 

In a retaliatory attack, the Swedes forced Dzhanaev into the game for the first time.

Following the guests got the right to a free kick from the left flank and suddenly opened an account.

Sebastian Larsson made a pass, and then two players of the Russian team, whose participation in the match did not initially seem obvious, showed themselves not in the best way.

Dzhanaev arrogantly went to intercept and did not get to the ball, and Kutepov lost the riding duel to Alexander Isak.

So, having a playing advantage, the hosts allowed the Swedes to come out ahead.

The goal did not greatly affect the game's drawing.

Vyacheslav Karavaev was almost the most frequently among the Russians in the shock position.

In one of the episodes, after a whipping blow from the defender into the near corner, the ball was firmly taken by Junsson.

A little later, Karavaev twisted into the far corner, but missed.

Fatal ricochet and controversial fall of Sobolev in the penalty area

After the break, the guests threw into the battle Olsson from Krasnodar, and Cherchesov threw Roman Zobnin from Spartak and debutant Alexander Sobolev, who replaced Artyom Dziuba.

The captain's armband passed from him to Fyodor Kudryashov.

At the beginning of the second half, the defender entered a tough selection twice in a row, but escaped punishment from the referee Khalis Ozkahyi.

Moreover, the decision of the judge to fix the violation of the rules by the Russian in the first case caused Cherchesov's anger.

The specialist considered that Kudryashov acted cleanly.

Probably, the claims were also addressed to Mostovoy.

The experiments continued with the appearance on the field of Denis Cheryshev, who had not played in the national team for a long time, as well as Alexei Ionov instead of Mario Fernandez and Mostovoy.

After the substitutions, the Russians did not immediately establish team interaction.

The Swedes looked more active in this game segment, who, unlike the first half, established control over the ball. 

The Russians did not give up hope of restoring parity.

In one of the episodes, even Kutepov was in the shock position.

On contact with an opponent, he fell, but the judge did not assign a penalty.

The players in red jerseys never had any really dangerous moments.

Sobolev, on the other hand, was actually cut off from his partners, and even if he received transmissions, he was faced with tough confrontation from opponents.

At the 72nd minute, the position of the hosts became completely threatening.

Matthias Johansson easily walked away from Zhirkov and struck the bottom from outside the penalty area.

The ball touched Kudryashov's leg, changed direction and flew into the corner of the goal, inaccessible for Dzhanaev.

Almost immediately the Russian national team almost missed the third goal.

Kutepov made a gross mistake near the penalty area, but Kudryashov managed to correct the situation.

Cherchesov delegated Zelimkhan Bakaev to save the game, and Miranchuk went to rest.

In the end Sobolev made a "dive" at the goalkeeper Junsson. Ozkahya could have punished the striker for the simulation, but he did not. However, already in stoppage time, the Spartak player scored a goal of prestige, accurately breaking through with his head after filing a corner. However, the team had no time to save the draw. The Russian national team suffered their first defeat since November 16, 2019, when they lost to Belgium in St. Petersburg in the selection for Euro 2020.