FC Zenit Saint Petersburg 1-2 (1-1) FC Krasnodar
Goals: Shatov, 22 (0-1), Yerokhin, 33 (Driussi, 1-1), Claesson, 88 (Smolov, 1-2).
Zenit Saint Petersburg: Lunyov, Smolnikov, Ivanović, Mevlja, Zhirkov, Ozdoyev (Kuzyayev, 72), Paredes, Yerokhin, Rigoni (Poloz, 82), Driussi, Zabolotny (Panyukov, 57).
FC Krasnodar: Sinitsyn, Petrov, Granqvist, Martynovich, Ramírez, Gazinsky, Shatov (Shishkin, 79), Pereyra (Wanderson, 71), Mamayev (Joãozinho, 86), Claesson, Smolov.
Yellow cards: Paredes, 63 (foul play), Mevlja, 85 (foul play) – Mamayev, 82 (unsporting behaviour), Smolov, 90+2 (attack breakdown).
Referees: Galimov (Ulan-Ude), Cheltsov, Safyan (both Moscow).
7 April 2018. Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg Stadium. Clear. 6 degrees. 47306 spectators.
Murad Musayev was facing a tough challenge in his debut match as a caretaker manager of the black-greens. FC Zenit has historically been a very uncomfortable opponent for the Bulls. To make things worse, it was the first time for the Krasnodar players to play at the new Saint Petersburg Stadium, where the local team would be passionately supported by at least twice as many fans as the good ol’ Petrovskiy ground could possibly accommodate with its maximal attendance of twenty thousand people.
The new FC Krasnodar boss did not make any global amendments to the starting lineup, hence only two rearrangements were observed if compared to the game against FC Anzhi a week ago. Ramírez replaced Kalinin as a left-back, while Pereyra returned to the midfield after serving his suspension and Kaboré was put in reserve.
Both teams began playing actively from the very kick-off, and by the end of the 7th minute they had already traded two aimed shots on target. Goalkeepers Lunyov and Sinitsyn coped with attempts made by Smolov and Driussi, accordingly. But then the visitors began making one unforgivable mistake in defence after another, literally out of nothing. The first turnover in the centre of the pitch barely missed resulting in a one-on-one situation of Zabolotny with the keeper. Shatov was able to catch up with the Zenit striker in the very last moment and won the ball back in a well-done, if risky, sliding tackle. Then it was Sinitsyn who miscalculated while leaving his goal area and allowed Zabolotny to win an aerial duel. Fortunately for the Bulls the ball hit the crossbar, bounced back to the field of play and avoided all of the incoming Zenit players willing to finish it. A bit later another turnover in the midfield on behalf of the visitors resulted in a dangerous counterattack of the home team. It ended with a mighty shot by Yerokhin that was not accurate enough.
It seemed that a goal was coming, and one was indeed scored mid through the first half. Strangely enough, it was scored against FC Zenit. Even though the Krasnodar players did not perform well in defense, their attacks were persistent enough, so on the 22nd minute they made a good use of their chance. Pereyra served the ball into the opposite box, where an aerial duel took place between Claesson and Ivanović that made it bounce to Oleg Shatov. The latter proceeded with a smacking shot into the second corner of a goal belonging to his current contract-holder. He then rushed to the pitchside to celebrate with the new boss of the team.
Alas, this scored goal did not make the Bulls perform any better in defense, so eleven minutes later the Lions made the score equal again. Aleksandr Yerokhin received a pass from Driussi, tricked Ramírez with a feint in the penalty area and took a low shot from under the Krasnodar full-back. The ball hit Granqvist on the way, and the ricochet made it unreachable for Sinitsyn as it went directly into the net next to the second pole. Almost immediately after that the home team made a stupid mistake next to the own box, but Pereyra missed the top corner of Lunyov’s domain with a shot from eighteen meters. It was the last scoring chance of the first half that ended with a 1-1 tie.
FC Krasnodar looked more impressive after the half-time interval as they made fewer mistakes passing the ball and defended in a more confident way. The game became more or less equal as a result. FC Zenit Argentinean player Driussi was very close to success on the 54th minute, but his arc-shaped shot on the run went a few inches away from Sinitsyn’s goal. Ten minutes later Smolov shot a salvo from a decent position after a classy pass by Petrov, but his aim was too high for scoring.
The corner kick served by the Bulls on the 70th minute proved very dangerous, but Claesson lacked just a tiny bit to meet the ball at the second pole. Nine minutes later it was a corner kick of The Blue-White-Sky Blues that nearly resulted in a scored goal. Sinitsyn saved his team as he miraculously managed to react to a point-black shot by Ivanović.
Regrettably, Shatov was not able to last until the end of the game. His legs had sustained a regular beating on behalf of his Zenit teammates, so he finally began limping seriously and had to cede his position on pitch to Shishkin. The stands accompanied this substitution with cheering, since Shatov is quite popular among the
The debut of FC Krasnodar at the Saint Petersburg Stadium resulted in a triumph of the Bulls. Oleg Shatov scored his first goal with the black-greens and Murad Musayev started his career in the Krasnodar first team with an impressive win.