After Zenit’s victory over Sochi on Saturday, the St. Petersburg team topped the standings, but the leadership of the blue-white-blues before the Krasnodar game in Yekaterinburg was temporary. In case of an away victory, the “bulls” would regain first place.

As a result, the favorite at the end of 90 minutes was left not only without points, but also without two key players – goalkeeper Matvey Safonov and central defender Vitor Tormena.

Fatal collision

At first, nothing foreshadowed trouble for Krasnodar. The guests opened the scoring quite casually: after Olusegun’s cross, the top scorer of the Cordoba southerners scored his next goal. Probably, this start lulled the Krasnodar team. As a result, relaxation cost the guests dearly.

The problems started in the first half, and it wasn’t just Emerson’s return goal from a corner kick. Shortly before the break, Safonov made an interception outside the penalty area, his partner Tormena also rushed towards the ball. As a result, the goalkeeper and defender violently collided with their heads; both could not get up from the lawn for a long time.

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The Brazilian had to be changed immediately, and Safonov managed to finish the game before the break, but in the locker room it became clear that he would not be able to continue the game either. The injured couple were replaced by Harutyunyan and Agkatsev, which certainly did not benefit the Krasnodar defense.

However, the favorite showed absolutely nothing ahead in the second half. The guests looked weak both in terms of movement and in terms of their mood for the game. But Ural was in complete order with this, which was reflected on the scoreboard pretty soon. Timur Ayupov completed the second assist of the match, putting Egorychev one on one with the goalkeeper. Safonov’s replacement was easily beaten.

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In general, Agkatsev not only failed to help Krasnodar out in this game, but almost scored an own goal himself. Luckily for him, the owners did not use the gift. And yet, closer to the end, the “bulls” conceded the third goal: the central defense zone failed again, through which Kashtanov burst in and calmly dealt with the goalkeeper abandoned by the defenders.

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For Ural, this victory was the first since the beginning of August, when the Ekaterinburg team beat Spartak in the fourth round. Since then, Viktor Gancharenko’s team has suffered seven defeats and drawn four times in 11 matches.

Instead of “+7” from “Zenith” it is now “-2”

Krasnodar took the lead in the RPL from the first round. At first it had to be shared with Spartak, but the Muscovites very quickly came unstuck: starting with the victory over Orenburg on August 12 in the fourth round, Ivich’s team single-handedly led the championship table.

Vladimir Ivich / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

The leader’s main pursuers changed from tour to tour, but for obvious reasons, Zenit was considered the main competitor. The reigning champion gave the Bulls a good head start at the beginning of the season. The maximum advantage of Krasnodar reached seven points: that is how much the blue-white-blues were behind at the end of the 10th and 11th rounds.

Problems beset the southerners after the October break for national team games. After it, Krasnodar managed to win only once in five rounds. It is worth noting that the loss of points took place outside the home walls.

Krasnodar in the last five rounds:

• “Baltika” (g) – 2:2
• CSKA (g) – 0:1
• “Wings of the Soviets” (h) – 2:1
• “Zenit” (g) – 1:1
• “Ural” (g) – 1:3

During the same period, Zenit managed to gain a powerful momentum and not only made up the impressive gap, but eventually overtook its main competitor by two points.

Zenit in the last five rounds:

• “Wings of the Soviets” (h) – 3:1
• “Akhmat” (h) – 2:1
• “Baltika” (g) – 2:0
• “Krasnodar” (h) – 1:1
• Sochi (h) – 3:0

For the two main contenders for the championship, it will be very important to take a winter break as a leader. In the entire history of the RPL, after the transition to the “autumn-spring” system, only once did the “winter champion” fail to take gold at the end of the season.

The calendar for the next two rounds looks a little easier for Krasnodar, which will play both matches at home against Orenburg and CSKA. The outcome of these meetings will also depend on how soon the injured Safonov and Tormena return to action.

“Zenith” will have to travel to Moscow to “Lokomotiv”, to whom they owe a debt after the autumn defeat at the Gazprom Arena. And Semak’s team will close the year with a home game against Paris NN on December 9.