Safonov's mistakes, Gazinsky's crossbar and two penalties: how Krasnodar lost 0-4 to Chelsea in the Champions League match

On October 28, 2020, Chelsea played for the first time an away match against a Russian team outside the Russian capital.

The London grand made all three previous visits to Moscow.

In the fall of 2004, the "pensioners" beat CSKA twice in the group stage of the Champions League, and six years later they did the same with Spartak.

More intense was the confrontation between Chelsea and Rubin in the 2012/13 Europa League quarterfinals.

After a home victory (3: 1) Londoners lost to Luzhniki (2: 3)

Ridiculous goal after Safonov's mistake

The starting whistle of Turkish judge Ali Palabyik in Krasnodar was preceded by a rally in support of the BLM movement.

All 11 players were on the knee for Chelsea, while Krasnodar had only a few.

The game itself began without reconnaissance.

Already in the third minute, Markus Berg made a selection, moved forward and shot, but could not hit the gate.

But immediately the owners carried out another successful interception.

Now Daniil Utkin is in the shock position.

It turned out quite dangerous: Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy had to enter the game.

On the 13th minute, Palabyyk gave the confident Krasnodar a “cold shower”.

After a foul by Caio on Timo Werner, the referee awarded a penalty.

But Krasnodar was lucky.

The ball hit the post after Jorginho hit.

The Bulls tried to catch the chance given to them by Jorginho.

After Tonny de Villena's lumbago, the ball changed its direction of flight due to a ricochet and almost slipped into the corner.

Mendy was disoriented and would not have helped the team if the ball had been on target.

Southerners struck from a variety of positions.

But most of the attempts were not fraught with threats to the Chelsea goal.

It seemed that the guests did not give their best and could add at any time.

Musaev, on the other hand, tried to use all the advantages of the available personnel.

For various reasons, he still cannot count on a number of key performers.

An unexpected decision was the regular connections to the attacks of the left-back Evgeny Chernov.

Traditionally active in attack, Igor Smolnikov, on the contrary, went forward on his right flank much less often than usual.

In the second half of the first half, the struggle became especially stubborn.

Krasnodar tried not to yield to the eminent opponent in any way.

Its players willingly entered into numerous duels in the center of the field.

As they say in such cases, the goal did not follow from the logic of the game.

Shortly before the break, Callum Hudson-Odoi delivered a completely unremarkable blow, of which there are a dozen per match.

Usually extremely reliable goalkeeper Matvey Safonov suddenly missed the ball under his arms.

End defeat

After the rest, the hosts entered the field with a strong desire to level the score.

A brilliant opportunity presented itself to them ten minutes later, when Yuri Gazinsky shot into the crossbar from within the penalty area.

Then, several players came together in single combat, including goalkeeper Mendy.

There was a long pause: the medics were helping the injured Kurt Zuma.

To the disappointment of the stadium, the Londoners managed to defend their goal in this episode.

In the middle of the second half, Krasnodar was very close to a goal.

From a promising standard, two meters from the penalty line, Daniil Utkin shot a little inaccurately.

The next attack on Mendy's domain was crowned with a strike by Marcus Berg from an acute angle.

In a word, the bulls have created enough chances to score.

But they were desperately unlucky, and in the end they began to run out of strength.

There were no equivalent replacements in the reserve.

At the 75th minute, Palabyyk once again pointed to the "point" in the Krasnodar penalty area after the ball hit Alexander Martynovich's hand.

Unlike Jorginho, Werner hit his strength almost in the center.

Safonov pulled the ball out of the net for the second time in the game.

And five minutes later he did it in the third, when the same Werner and Hakim Ziyech mockingly easily opened the hosts' tired defense.

The final score was set in the 90th minute by Christian Pulisic, who left the bench.

And again the missed ball turned out to be extremely unpleasant for Safonov: the projectile slipped into the net between the goalkeeper's legs.

As for the game, Krasnodar did not deserve a defeat.

But the Chelsea players were extremely careful about their moments, and at the same time ensured themselves a comfortable goal difference.