Two penalties for Maslov's fouls and Zakharyan's miss: how Russia lost to France at the Youth Euro

A big name contender

The group stage of the 2021 European Youth Championship in Hungary started in the best possible way for the Russian national team.

The wards of Mikhail Galaktionov left no chances for Iceland - 4: 1.

In the second round, they had to face a much more venerable rival, one of the main favorites of the tournament - France.

In turn, the tricolors started with an unexpected defeat with a minimum score from Denmark, and therefore they simply had to score three points in the game with the domestic team, so as not to make their chances of reaching the playoffs completely illusory.

At the same time, the Danes on Sunday turned out to be stronger than the Icelanders (2: 0) and practically secured a ticket to the semifinals.

Russia approached the key confrontation with the optimal composition.

In the previous match, right-back Pavel Maslov left the field ahead of schedule due to a slight injury, but in a couple of days he managed to recover and retained his place in the starting lineup.

On the whole, Galaktionov, as expected, left the winning base unchanged and did not change the formation to suit the formidable opponent, again betting on the corporate formation 4-2-3-1.

His counterpart Sylvain Ripoll also threw all the strongest into the battle.

Domestic footballers had to contain the pressure of the rising stars of world football: Jules Kunde, Boubakari Sumare, Nanitamo Ikone, Amin Guiri and Odsonn Eduard.

At the same time, Rennes' 18-year-old midfielder Eduardo Kamavinga, whom Transfermarkt already estimates at € 60 million, and the team captain Matteo Guenduzi remained in reserve.

Two fateful mistakes

The teams began the match with accurate game intelligence, but in the very opening of the meeting, the Russian team created a dangerous moment.

Denis Makarov moved from the right flank a little to the center and found Arsen Zakharyan with an excellent pass in someone else's penalty area.

The 17-year-old midfielder had a great opportunity to open the scoring, but shot straight into goalkeeper Alban Lafon.

Do not miss this chance, Galaktionov's charges, and everything could have turned out differently.

In reality, the domestic team soon created problems for itself.

The tricolors had a slight advantage and tried to stretch the defense of the Russians, but it could not be said that they looked a lot stronger.

Unfortunately, one unfortunate episode decided everything.

Christian Truffer joined the attack on the left flank, easily walked away from Makarov and happily stumbled upon Maslov's outstretched leg in the penalty area.

Judge Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez without hesitation pointed to the "point", and the victim himself confidently converted the penalty.

Having conceded an absolutely illogical ball, Galaktionov's team got nervous and began to make mistakes.

One of them ended with the appointment of another penalty kick.

Roman Evgeniev joined the attack, leaving a free zone, but instead of a pass in his direction, there was a "bleed".

The French organized a sharp counterattack.

Ivan Oblyakov tried to save the situation, taking a position in the center of defense, but he was easily won back.

Maslov again acted in the role of the main antihero.

The Spartak defender tried to block Amin Ghiri's shot, but the ball got into his hand.

This time, the penalty was converted by Nanitamo Ikone, who mockingly outplayed Alexander Maksimenko with a blow from a panenka.

The Russian national team found itself in an almost hopeless situation.

She had no options but to go forward.

However, Galaktionov's wards were noticeably losing to opponents in athleticism in all parts of the field.

The relatively short Fyodor Chalov was unable to resist Kunda and Ibraim Konata.

And Oblyakov and Daniil Glebov in the support zone could not cope with Boubakari Sumare and Aurelien Chuaemi.

The French deliberately relied on power and even gave the ball to the opponent.

But the moments at the gate of Lafon arose exclusively due to the individual actions of individual players.

So, in the 36th minute Makarov shot dangerously from outside the penalty area, but the opponent's goalkeeper took the ball aside.

Chalov, as already mentioned, tried to cling to the casts, but it was not easy for him.

Young Zakharyan, surrounded by much more powerful and adult partners, was lost.

Unsuccessful attack attempts

During the break, Galaktionov made a double castling.

The not too noticeable Daniil Lesovoy was replaced by Alexander Lomovitsky, and Vyacheslav Grulev took the place of Zakharyan.

The release of the powerful Dynamo striker helped the Russian national team to establish control over the ball.

Ahead of the team, finally, a man appeared who was able to fight on equal terms with powerful defenders of the opponent.

However, the French still did not insist on acting as the first number and calmly defended themselves without spending extra energy.

As a result, the domestic team seemed to be in control of the ball and weaving combinations in the opponent’s half, but practically didn’t get to someone else’s penalty area.

There was not a single really dangerous moment at the gate of Lafon - except perhaps half a moment.

Every time there was not enough of every little thing and a couple of centimeters.

It is difficult even to recall specific episodes.

So, after Lomovitsky's excellent pass from the left flank, Chalov lost the fight shoulder to shoulder to his opponent and failed to strike.

A couple of times Lafon acted in a timely manner at the exit.

Galaktionov, to his credit, tried to change the course of counter-stonium by substitutions to the last.

After an hour of the game, he unexpectedly removed the captain Oblyakov and released instead of him Nail Umyarov, more focused on the attack.

And in the end, the coach went all-in and threw the third striker, 18-year-old Konstantin Tyukavin and Daniil Kulikov, into the battle.

Unfortunately, these castling did not help the Russian national team to score at least a goal.

Even in the first half, the French caught the domestic team on two mistakes, and then calmly brought the matter to victory.

Surprisingly, in the second half, the tricolors created only one chance.

After a corner kick, Eduard shot Maksimenko on goal from several meters, but Oleksandr coped with the threat.

And before the break there weren't many of them.

The defeat put Galaktionov's wards in an extremely difficult situation.

Perhaps, in the end everything will be decided by the difference between goals scored and conceded in the matches between Denmark, Russia and France.

Russia will most likely need to earn three points.

At the same time, a victory with a difference of two goals is guaranteed to lead Galaktionov's team to the quarterfinals.