FC Krasnodar 3-0 (2-0) FC Dynamo Moscow
Goals: Ari, 19 (Ramírez, 1-0), Claesson, 45+1 (Ari, 2-0), Claesson, 55 (Wanderson, 3-0).
FC Krasnodar: Kritsyuk, Petrov, Spajić, Martynovich, Ramírez, Kaboré, Gazinsky, Mamayev (Pereyra, 70), Wanderson (Stotsky, 67), Claesson (Cueva, 73), Ari.
FC Dynamo Moscow: Shunin, Rausch, Šunjić, Rykov, Holmén, Kozlov, Sow (Sosnin, 69), Tetteh, Joãozinho, Cardoso, Lutsenko (Markov, 59, Terekhov, 75).
Yellow cards: Holmén, 24 (attack breakdown), Šunjić, 35 (attack breakdown), Rykov, 43 (foul play), Rausch, 69 (unsporting behaviour).
Referees: Galimov (Ulan-Ude), Minevich (Smolensk), Khatuev (Grozny).
30 September 2018. Krasnodar. FC Krasnodar Stadium. Cloudy. 22 degrees. 30 124 spectators.
The Krasnodar squad is currently engaged in three different competitions, and their performance on three fronts has been rather successful so far. It was time now for their fifth game in the last fifteen days. The squad rotation that FC Krasnodar boss Murad Musayev had done in the previous Russian Cup game in Kursk allowed him to bring many players of the first eleven (Kritsyuk, Petrov, Spajić, Gazinsky, Wanderson and Ari) to the clash with FC Dynamo in good shape. The head coach of the White-blues, Dmitri Khokhlov, did not use all of his key players in the midweek Cup game either. As a result, for the most part players close to their optimal physical conditions were fielded at the Krasnodar stadium pitch with the Dynamo team.
The stands greeted cordially one of the FC Dynamo leaders this season, Joãozinho. The Brazilian player had borne true faith and allegiance to FC Krasnodar for seven and a half years, and now he made an early appearance with the Moscow team that included five defenders. It was obvious this formation implied mostly defensive type of football, and so it turned out. Immediately after the kick-off the Bulls encountered two solid lines of the away defense that met them as soon as they crossed the halfway line. Dinamiki would also eagerly launch counterattacks on any occasion with Joãozinho acting as their principal driving force. He was the one who had the first scoring chance of the match on the 11th minute, even though the shot he took was not accurate enough. One minute later Martynovich was interrupting a most dangerous low cross by Cardoso when he unintentionally cut the ball towards his own goal-line. It was the super-human reflexes of the Krasnodar keeper Kritsyuk that saved the home team from an own goal.
FC Krasnodar spent first eighteen minutes systematically looking for the gaps in the Dynamo defensive ranks. On the 19th minute they finally found one. Mamayev made Ramírez join the attack and the latter crossed the ball from the left flank. Ari won an aerial duel in the corner of the goal area beating a taller opponent, and with the ball never hitting the ground he fired it into the net of the Shunin’s domain making it bounce from the crossbar in the process.
An opener was scored that forced the Dynamo team to play less defensively and go forward in larger numbers than with nil-nil on the scoreboard. Some mayhem occurred in the home penalty area after a set piece on the 32nd minute. Lutsenko made good use of it and attempted a bicycle shot. Fortunately for the Bulls the ball hit the crossbar. Eight minutes later the ball hit the woodwork of the Moscow team when Gazinskiy finished the serve from the corner of a pitch with a shot. Galimov the referee added one minute of the injury time to the first half, and these sixty seconds proved successful for the Bulls. It should be said two players took part in the second scoring attack of the three that had produced an opener. Mamayev served a long ball to Ari far ahead, the striker then took a small break in the opposite box and rolled the ball perfectly for Viktor Claesson to shoot. The Swede proceeded with a shot on the run that was both spectacular for the fans and unsavable for the goalie.
The open type of football went on after the half-time. The home team was more experienced and proficient at playing attack-wise, hence they naturally had an upper hand on a field of play. Third goal was scored against the Moscow team ten minutes after the interval. Wanderson served as an assistant beating Šunjić a few times next to the right corner flag and then taking an aimed serve to the centre of the penalty area. Viktor Claesson arrived running leaving Rykov behind and shooting a header that sent the ball accurately past the keeper.
The fate of the game had been decided once and for all, but the spectators in the stands (they were filled to the 90 per cent capacity) never stopped watching a comprehensive attacking performance on behalf of the dominant Krasnodar team until the very full-time. Five minutes to the end Ari, one of the best players today, began limping and had to leave the pitch. The black-green coaching staff had already used all of their substitutions, but the team led by Murad Musayev looked better than their opponents even at numerical disadvantage. The Bulls thus brought the match to another win, a big one. FC Krasnodar kept its second position in the standings and shortened the distance to the leading FC Zenit Saint Petersburg that had lost to FC Anzhi Makhachkala. It is a three-point gap now, and the Bulls will meet FC Zenit in person next week.