The starting protocols for the game flew like hot cakes - everyone was wondering in what composition Sochi would enter the field, whether Noboa would find a place in it, whether Casserra would be in the application and whether Sarveli would be entrusted with a place in the start? The coaching staff outsmarted everyone. Cassierra, which is generally logical, was not even in the application for the game, Noboa conducted an individual training session in front of almost his native audience. It was necessary to see how the local fans followed the Ecuadorian. Plus, three players came out at the start at once, information about which was nowhere before the reporting game. Amir Batyrev, Daniil Martov and Kirill Ushatov, who are only 61 years old for three. I must say that with these three changes, the average age of Sochi residents immediately dropped significantly (to 24.9 years, although it was 28.1 in the game of the 30th round of the RPL with Dynamo). The captain of this squad was Sergey Terekhov.
The arrangement resembled the classic 4-2-3-1. For the first time in a long time, Sochi players took to the field with two central defenders. Taking into account the hot weather and the friendly nature of the tournament, the game looked cheerful, but there were not so many moments. Zenit did not force much and limited itself to one shot on goal by Denis Adamov. Sochi residents responded in kind. The only accurate and dangerous blow during the half was struck by Burmistrov, and after Ushatov's pass in the 33rd minute and his powerful strike from the corner of the penalty area, the cross saved the Petersburgers. The first substitution occurred closer to the end of the half: Melkadze appeared instead of the March one. Batyrev and Ushatov were entrusted with more playing time by the new coaching staff and they did not disappoint. The first was marked by a large volume of movements with and without the ball, and the second was the only truly scoring moment of the half.
As is typical of all preseason matches, both coaches made a large number of substitutions during the break. Two more young football players appeared in the Sochi squad - Timofey Shipunov and Egor Prutsev, who was later replaced. The Sochi team played the second half according to a different, more familiar scheme - with three central defenders. During the half, the entire squad changed, and the goalkeeper was replaced twice. However, there was no reverse substitution here: Zabolotny, who spent the entire second half on the field, was replaced by Soslan Janaev before the impending penalty shootout.
The penultimate ten minutes turned out to be the richest in events. In the 73rd minute, the score in the match was opened by a newcomer from St. Petersburg, Zelimkhan Bakayev, who opened the Sochi gate with a blow to the far bottom corner. Two minutes later, his former teammate, Georgy Melkadze, scored. In this episode, Shipunov made the selection of the ball, after which he rolled on Joaozinho, and the Russian Brazilian had already found the striker's head in the penalty area. The goal scored came out to glory. After the exchange of goals, Sochi managed to take possession of the ball for a while and create sharpness at the opponent's goal. After replacing the goalkeeper in our team, the teams exchanged one hundred percent scoring chances: the ball somehow miraculously hit the post at our goal, and Alip blocked Shipunov's shot at the opponent's goal. As a result, it came to a penalty. For the second time in the tournament.
In the penalty shootout, luck finally turned away from Sochi. Miladinovich's third shot missed the goal, and Margasov's tracks failed to beat Mikhail Kerzhakov. Finally
these two episodes predetermined the outcome of the meeting: Zenit gains two more points in its piggy bank, Sochi gets one point. Nevertheless, the main struggle is still ahead.
Sochi will hold their next match on Friday, July 1. In Moscow, at the VEB Arena, our team will have a game with Paris NN, which we cannot beat for 4 games. It's time to break an unpleasant tradition.