Krasnodar came to visit CSKA amid its record-breaking streak. In the championship matches, Vladimir Ivich’s team did not lose for 18 meetings, which has never happened in the entire history of the club. In addition, Krasnodar remained the only MIR RPL team that has never lost a game this season.

The visit to the VEB Arena promised to be a difficult test for the southerners, because their two previous meetings at this stadium last season ended in defeat (1:4 and 0:3). Krasnodar also owed a debt to the army team for the lost Russian Cup final.

CSKA has its own much less pleasant statistical trend: the army team ended in a draw in 9 of the last 10 meetings in the championship and the National Cup. During this period, they managed to win in regulation time only once. Last season’s silver medalist clearly did not approach the home game with the RPL leader as a favorite.

Football chess

Vladimir Fedotov’s task before the Sunday meeting was complicated by further personnel problems. Defensive leader Willian Rocha missed the game due to too many yellow cards, and Maxim Mukhin was out for at least six months after suffering a torn cruciate ligament. The defensive line in the most important game appeared in an experimental form: of the main three, only Moises remained, accompanied by Agapov and the nominal defensive midfielder Zdelar.

Krasnodar had no problems with the lineup, but at the same time, the main midfielder Nikita Krivtsov remained on the bench for tactical reasons, but Olusegun appeared in the start. Ivic could only be concerned about the abundance of goals conceded in the last two meetings and the team’s performance in the first halves. The most reliable defense in the league in the games against Rostov (3:2) and Baltika (2:2) allowed the opponents too much before the break.

Apparently, given the negative experience in the last rounds, Krasnodar tried to act as disciplined as possible in the game with CSKA. The guests preferred to play the ball in their own half for a long time, excluding even minimal risk. At the same time, at the beginning of the game, the southerners themselves watched for a mistake by the army defender. Moises hesitated at his own goal, which led to a dangerous free kick. After Spertsyan’s kick, the ball flew straight to the target, but Cordoba’s head inappropriately got in its way.

Soon Krasnodar created another great chance after a set piece. Tormen finished off a cross from the corner, but CSKA was saved from an inevitable goal by Gayich, who cleared the ball out of the empty goal.

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The hosts found their first real chance only in the middle of the half, when Chalov was able to beat the same Tormen in the air. Here Safonov had to be a hero, making an excellent save.

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In general, in terms of entertainment, the game in the first half clearly did not meet high expectations. Both coaches decided to play football chess, paying more attention to tactical tricks. In such a game, the brightest characters in the compositions of both teams were lost – Faizullaev and Spertsyan, to whom the ball practically did not reach.

The factor of Faizullaev and Akinfeev

At such a soothing pace, the teams played until the 41st minute, when Abbosbek Faizullaev’s factor finally took its toll. The Uzbek midfielder cut through the Krasnodar defense like a laser, delivering a perfect pass to Chalov. The striker had no right to screw up such a pass.

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The break was not enough for Krasnodar to recover. The guests left the locker room somewhat frozen: at the beginning of the second half they were half asleep, for which they almost paid. The southerners were saved from the second goal by CSKA only by the reaction of Safonov, who parried a point-blank shot from Agapov.

In this match, CSKA acted according to the best examples of Krasnodar this season: it left a minimum of free zones in its own half of the field, and at the first opportunity it tried to run into counterattacks. In such a situation, non-standard actions were required from the leaders of the “bulls”, but Spertsyan and Cordoba got lost under close supervision. The maximum that the visitors were able to create in the second half until the 77th minute was half-chances and non-threatening shots on goal.

But in the end, Krasnodar missed a number of real chances to level the score. After Agapov’s mistake, substitute Krivtsov shot from an excellent position into the far corner, but Akinfeev was ready for this. Later, Krivtsov made a promising cross to Cordoba, but the star forward suddenly lost his scoring instincts. The best chance was missed shortly before the final whistle by Lucas Olasa, who shot without interference from someone else’s penalty area, but hit the post.

“Krasnodar” became more active only in the end, but throughout most of the match it looked little like itself and ultimately suffered a well-deserved defeat, which was Ivic’s first in the RPL since April.

While his team maintains the lead in the table, the gap over Zenit has decreased from seven to two points over the last two rounds. In two weeks, the “bulls” will play with their main pursuers on his field.

WORLD RPL. 13th round

CSKA (Moscow) – Krasnodar (Krasnodar) – 1:0 (1:0)

Goal: Chalov, 41 (VIDEO).