Team goalkeeper, tough destroyer, talent from Ossetia: 11 pupils of Krasnodar who made Galitsky's dream come true

In the match of the 29th round of the RPL against CSKA, for the first time in history, 11 pupils of the club academy were on the field as part of Krasnodar. Already from the start, the defensive line was fully formed from them, and Matvey Safonov, who received the captain's armband, took his place at the last line. In the support zone, the positions of Alexander Chernikov again turned out to be unshakable, and in the attack - Irakli Manelov. Four more players came on as a substitute during the meeting. Who helped realize the dream of Sergei Galitsky - in the material RT.

Matvey Safonov, 23 years old

27 matches in the current RPL season, 27 goals conceded, 1 yellow card

Goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, after the forced rejuvenation of the Krasnodar squad and the departure of foreigners, turned into the team leader.

This is evidenced by the captain's armband, which he was entrusted with at the end of last year.

The 1999 year of birth at the club's academy was considered the most talented, however, of the players of this age, only Matvey plays a significant role in it, while Magomed-Shapi Suleimanov, Ivan Ignatiev and Daniil Utkin play for other teams.

The goalkeeper, on the other hand, did not play in only one meeting in the spring segment - due to the coronavirus.

However, it was not without gross scoring errors.

Perhaps the most unfortunate was the match with Wings of the Soviets (0:2), in which he made a number of blots.

However, in the last three games, the goalkeeper missed only once, in a match with Arsenal, and in other meetings, the southerners turned out to be stronger than Lokomotiv and CSKA.

In the confrontation with the army team, Safonov made nine saves and it was largely thanks to him that the team won.

It is not surprising that he is one of the most expensive assets in the current Krasnodar.

But the player is not going anywhere yet.

The other day, he stressed that he knows nothing about the interest in him from Zenit.

Sergey Borodin, 23 years old

4 matches in the current RPL season, 1 yellow card

Central defender Sergei Borodin was also part of the team born in 1999 that won the country's youth championship in 2018 and fought on equal terms in the UEFA Youth League playoffs with Real Madrid.

However, unlike his peers, he did not get chances in the main team and was content with playing for the farm club in the FNL.

In 2020, he went on loan to Ufa, where he played only one game in the RPL.

In the spring of this year, Sergei also did not become a main player, since Alexander Storozhuk, as expected, made a bet in the center of defense on the duet of Alexander Martynovich and Yegor Sorokin.

But, at least in case of certain problems with teammates, he gets practice.

At the same time, with Borodin on the field, the southerners conceded only three goals.

Krasnodar defender Sergei Borodin
RIA News
© Vitaliy Timkiv

Vitaly Stezhko, 25 years old

1 match in the current RPL season

A pair of Borodin in the center of defense in the match with CSKA was unexpectedly made by Vitaly Stezhko.

Surprisingly, for the 25-year-old native of the village of Buzinovskaya, this meeting was the debut in the first team of Krasnodar.

Like many other students, he waited a long time for this opportunity and was forced to play for Krasnodar-2, where he eventually received the captain's armband and climbed to second place in the number of matches (111).

The defender, following the example of a number of teammates, even went on loan abroad and spent a year in the Armenian Pyunik.

And in 2021, he suffered a severe injury - a knee ligament rupture and missed more than eight months.

It seemed that after this one could give up, but Vitaly did not give up and still fulfilled his dream, having played all 90 minutes in a duel with the army team.

Oleg Isaenko, 22 years old

7 matches in the current RPL season, 1 assist

The owner of Krasnodar, Sergei Galitsky, must have taken special pleasure in the fact that in the confrontation with CSKA, the entire defense line consisted of his own pupils.

So, Oleg Isaenko is located on the right flank.

A talented footballer, although he was born in Kaliningrad and started his career there, at the age of 16 he moved to the academy of the southerners, where he made a name for himself.

Oleg is one of those young performers who managed to take 100% of their chance at Krasnodar after the resumption of the season.

He made his debut in the RPL in a match with Rubin and since then has not missed a single game minute.

The athlete benefits from his versatility, because he is able to play on both sides of the defense.

And in a meeting with Lokomotiv, Isaenko completed an assist for Alexander Chernikov.

Krasnodar defender Oleg Isaenko
RIA News
© Vitaliy Timkiv

Dmitry Pivovarov, 22 years old

2 matches in the current RPL season, 1 yellow card

On the left side of the defense, Storozhuk in the last two matches made a bet on another defender, born in 2000, Dmitry Pivovarov.

For almost the entire season, he did not even get into the application, but at the end of the championship he unexpectedly won the competition from the much more experienced Evgeny Chernov and confidently closed his position, acting inconspicuously, but reliably.

According to the average number of selections (2.0), a native of Krasnodar takes first place in the team, if we do not take into account the players who left him.

With a margin, he is also in the lead in the average number of fouls per game (4.0).

Alexander Chernikov, 22 years old

22 matches in the current RPL season, 2 goals, 17 yellow cards (3 of them turned red)

Midfielder Alexander Chernikov began to regularly receive game practice even before the mass departure of legionnaires.

Viktor Goncharenko, unlike Murad Musaev, trusted the young defensive midfielder.

In the face of a native of the village of Vyselka, the team received an incredibly efficient, uncompromising destroyer, who insured partners from the attack group.

And after the forced rejuvenation of the composition, he turned into one of the leaders of the team.

The only minus of Alexander is excessive rigidity and carelessness in martial arts.

In the current RPL season, he leads in the number of both yellow cards and red cards.

Moreover, he earned two removals in the spring, in matches with Rubin and Lokomotiv.

In the game with the railway workers, he first managed to score the winning goal, and then in a few minutes in stoppage time he managed to foul twice on the yellow card.

Judge Artyom Chistyakov removes Alexander Chernikov in the postponed match of the 19th round of the RPL with Lokomotiv
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© Vitaliy Timkiv

Alex Matsukatov, 23 years old

6 matches in the current RPL season, 1 yellow card

Midfielder Alex Matsukatov was also part of the Krasnodar team, born in 1999, but, unlike his partners, has not yet managed to prove himself at the base.

At the same time, a native of North Ossetia was considered no less talented than Suleimanov and Ignatiev.

A few years ago, there were rumors about interest in him from Udinese and Borussia Dortmund.

But Alex remained at the farm club and only occasionally got time in the first team.

In the spring it became much more.

The midfielder rarely gets into the starting lineup (only twice), but regularly comes off the bench.

And in the match with Arsenal, for example, he successfully closed the position of the disqualified Chernikov in the support zone.

Vyacheslav Yakimov, 24 years old

10 matches in the current RPL season, 2 yellow cards

Midfielder Vyacheslav Yakimov, like Stezhko, has been waiting for his chance at Krasnodar for a long time and made his debut in the RPL only in December last year, shortly before his 24th birthday.

Prior to that, he had not held a single meeting for the first team, but remained faithful to the club and did not even go on loan.

But now Storozhuk regularly provides practice to the midfielder.

Often he replaces Chernikov in the position of the only defensive midfielder if he falls out of action for one reason or another.

Irakly Manelov, 19 years old

12 matches in the current RPL season, 1 goal + 2 assists, 1 yellow card

Irakly Manelov, like Chernikov, is a native of Vyselok.

In the same village, Storozhuk was born.

But the 19-year-old winger made it to the base of Krasnodar, obviously not for being a mentor's fellow countryman.

He clearly showed himself in this FNL draw, and his goal against Torpedo was recognized as the best ball among the club's academy students in 2021.

The departure of Wanderson and Remy Cabell paved the way for the skilled and fast winger to the first team.

In the spring, the football player closes the right curb so well that the coaching staff had to send Alexei Ionov to the opposite flank.

And in matches with Lokomotiv and CSKA, Manelov was at the forefront of the attack.

The debut goal was not long in coming, which the pupil of the southerners scored against Zenit, barely coming on as a substitute.

At the same time, he does not abuse individual actions and is always ready to assist partners, as evidenced by two assists.

Krasnodar forward Irakly Manelov
RIA News

Vladislav Samko, 20 years old

5 matches in the current RPL season

In addition to Manelov, in the spring, another pupil of the club academy born in 2002, Vladislav Samko, who appeared on the field five times, but in total spent only 53 minutes in the RPL, also got into the Krasnodar cage.

He successfully combines playing for the first team with playing for the farm club in the FNL.

Even if Vladislav has not yet taken the lead roles, in the near future he is quite capable of doing this thanks to his versatility and diligence, because in the attack line he is ready to play in any position.

Nikita Sergeev, 22 years old

1 match in the current RPL season

Nikita Sergeev is another representative of the "golden" graduation of the academy born in 1999.

A native of Mordovia, in his youth, he moved to Krasnodar and, together with Suleimanov, closed the edges of the attack.

But unlike a partner, a powerful technical winger did not enjoy confidence, and the competition was too great.

Numerous injuries prevented him from expressing himself.

So Nikita missed most of the spring due to yet another injury.

The appearance on the field at the end of the match with CSKA turned out to be the first of the season, but it helped set a historic achievement.