The Bulls extended their league lead.

The question of Krasnodar’s championship ambitions has become more and more acute since the “bulls” got involved in the leadership race and when it became clear that Zenit this season is not so invincible and infallible. The match of the eleventh round of the Russian championship between Krasnodar and Rostov made people talk about the championship potential of Vladimir Ivich’s team no longer incidentally funny, but rather seriously. “The Bulls,” as they call it, showed true championship character. True, at the same time they also gave reasons to doubt their power.

The worst half

In the first ten rounds RPL Krasnodar conceded only three goals and was the best in the championship in this indicator. Indeed, the key to the success of Ivic’s team was a reliable and stable defense, as the results in attack did not seem exceptional. Krylya Sovetov himself scored 25 goals in ten rounds, while Krasnodar scored 16. Even less than Dynamo and CSKAcompleting the top eight.

But Rostov, who this season is criticized not only by the laziest and most devoted fans of Valery Karpin’s talent and charisma, questioned the confidence in Krasnodar’s defense in the first half. Before halftime, the Bulls conceded two unanswered goals. And they may have even lost more.

Furthermore, the first goal came after an error by the one who should inspire the most confidence: the goalkeeper. Safonov made an unsuccessful pass on the wing, which was intercepted by Ionov, then Alexei skillfully threw the ball to Glebov and did not disappoint. Soon after Safonov had other nervous episodes, which almost brought new trouble.

And before the break, the specter of Krasnodar’s first defeat in the championship became very tangible. Rostov played a high-quality combination, and Mokhebi turned Golenkov’s discount into a goal. Furthermore, this guest advantage did not arise from specific errors or individual incidents. It was a completely natural dominance that ended in goals.

“Krasnodar” offered vague tactics, for some reason they refused to press from the first minutes, as if luring the opponent, but this presupposes sharp and quick attacks. But the “bulls” did not execute them. It turns out we simply returned the ball and stood by and watched Rostov take advantage. It is significant that during the first half Krasnodar took only three shots compared to Rostov’s six. Furthermore, in the 43rd minute the hosts only had one shot.

Krasnodar played perhaps the worst half of the current Russian championship season. And at that moment certainly no one thought to remember the conversations about the championship ambitions of Ivic’s team. Neither the coach nor the players clearly reflected this attitude, neither in their tactical approach nor in their individual preparation.

Turning points

It should be noted that a triumphal return may not have occurred. After the break, Krasnodar did not immediately emerge transformed. Moreover, Rostov had a chance to finish off the enemy with a third goal. First, Golenkov failed to realize a one-on-one opportunity, and then Ionov failed to finish the ball from an advantageous position. And here fate seemed to understand that the inhabitants of Rostov were too ungrateful towards his gifts. Everything upside down.

Immediately after these episodes, Krasnodar began its return. Furthermore, the first goal did not seem like a masterpiece from a rallying point of view. The “Bulls” simply increased the pressure and stopped moving their legs during the fight. They argued over a ball thrown from outside the opponent’s penalty area, Volkov went straight, played on Kadi, with a bounce the ball came to Spertsyan, who had already turned on his performance skills and rolled the ball right into the bottom corner.

A goal at the start of the second half is the best thing you can think of to start the comeback. This immediately restructures teams psychologically, encouraging the winning side and demoralizing the defensive advantage. Rostov took this goal too seriously. Apparently, the not very positive results at the beginning of the season have accustomed the team to a rapid loss of confidence. Moreover, in the previous two matches, Rostovites also led with a score of 2:0, but did not maintain victory even once. Disturbing memories must have come back. But the mood in Krasnodar was off the charts. This also resulted in three consecutive yellow cards, one of which went to Ivic.

The degree of pressure from the “bulls” is evidenced by the fact that in the second half Rostov had only one shot on goal, while Krasnodar had seven. And he no longer flirted with the pressure of the hosts. At the same time, it cannot be said that the “bulls” exert unimaginable pressure. “Rostov” was intimidated and made mistakes. The coaching changes were also extremely unsuccessful. As soon as Komlichenko entered the pitch, he immediately received a yellow card and then contributed to Krasnodar’s return to the game. It’s more of an accident though.

After Spertsyan’s delivery to the near post from a corner, Alonso corrected the ball, which put Komlichenko in a disadvantageous position, and the ball bounced into the goal from him. It turned out to be an own goal in addition to the yellow card and impotence in attack. But then an interesting situation arose, the interpretation of which depends on your attitude towards Krasnodar.

Doubts about the leader

It cannot be said that with the score 2:2 the “bulls” tried to race for victory and apply pressure. To a greater extent, it seemed that they were extremely happy that they managed to escape defeat and were ready to defend this draw. Then they would say, depending on the desire for the beauty of this or that theory, what is better: such a defense of every point or an unconditional desire for victory. With a demoralized Rostov, Krasnodar had to be bolder and more persistent. It was as if he was afraid of his own agility.

This is if we talk about the type of football shown by the home team in the last minutes. And if you rely on the score, then, of course, a beautiful story will appear about how heroically the leaders RPL fought for maximum points. In essence they did what they had to do: they moved the game away from the goal, making the most of the ball as possible. The boldest initiative of Volkov, who went into the penalty area, as well as the technique of Cordoba, who effectively shot from a turn, as well as the incomprehensible movement of Melekhin, who gave John this opportunity, transformed the Krasnodar’s mediocre and restrained ending into a heroic one. Of course, the winners are not judged, but in addition to the story of the leader’s beautiful comeback, one must also see in this match Krasnodar’s doubts as to whether they are really capable of more than disturbing the situation in the championship and in the match at some point. point.