League

Arena Victory
Spectators: 9285 (Terracing: 6966, Seating: 2135, VIP seats: 184) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Feoktist Golov kicked off to start the match. After 5 minutes of play, Novokuznetsk's Andrey Borzenkov made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Andrey Izotov was left in no man's land by his defense there! Dmitriy Lodygin fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 9th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Antonis Anastasiadis having to interfere. In the 11th minute the ball was on its way in behind Novokuznetsk's goalkeeper Antonis Anastasiadis, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Felice Gianfrancesco recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 14th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Andrey Izotov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Grigoriy Stepanenko in the 16th minute of the match. When Novokuznetsk's Grigoriy Stepanenko in the 19th minute got a chance for a shot 19th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye ROTOR's goalie prevented a goal. Andrey Izotov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Grigoriy Stepanenko in the 20th minute of play. The supporters of Novokuznetsk booed when ROTOR was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 21 match minutes in a wonderful position. Laur Vabadus didn't get a good kick on the ball. ROTOR's Andrey Izotov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Grigoriy Stepanenko in the 23rd minute of play. After some careless play in the ROTOR defense, Grigoriy Stepanenko kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Andrey Izotov. The ROTOR fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Andrey Izotov should have stopped the shot. In the 31st minute, Domenico Cavanna hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Eremey Pastuhov hit a great freekick 35 minutes into the match. In the 39th minute of the match ROTOR got a corner. Novokuznetsk's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Vyacheslav Velikanov ran over to the corner to take the kick. When Feoktist Golov came up free with the goalie in the 41st minute, the Novokuznetsk fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Feoktist Golov couldn't finish the play. In the 46th minute, Grigoriy Stepanenko made a precise shot to the right of Andrey Izotov. ROTOR's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-3.

Novokuznetsk made a substitution. Silantiy Astankov replaced Grigoriy Stepanenko. The wind increased when Juninho Pernambucano made the kick off in the second half. 53 minutes into the match, Novokuznetsk's goal looked a bit too open when Juninho Pernambucano came free, but Antonis Anastasiadis reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Silantiy Astankov in the 56th minute of play forced ROTOR's goalkeeper Andrey Izotov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Andrey Izotov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Feoktist Golov in the 57th minute of play. Andrey Izotov made an important save on a dangerous shot by Silantiy Astankov in the 59th minute. Felice Gianfrancesco might have been able to make a better finish in the 62nd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Antonis Anastasiadis. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Felice Gianfrancesco ran back to his position shaking his head. Antonis Anastasiadis took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Juninho Pernambucano, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 65th minute, Eremey Pastuhov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Novokuznetsk's Antonis Anastasiadis played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Vyacheslav Velikanov in the 66th minute of play. Antonis Anastasiadis took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Juninho Pernambucano, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After some careless play in the Novokuznetsk defense, Roman Larionov kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Antonis Anastasiadis. The Novokuznetsk fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Antonis Anastasiadis should have stopped the shot. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Juninho Pernambucano in the 76th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Antonis Anastasiadis saved Novokuznetsk from getting behind. In the 78th minute, Novokuznetsk's Silantiy Astankov ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Andrey Izotov. Andrey Izotov yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 1-4. In the 82nd minute, Emmanuil Getmanets hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 86 minutes into the match, ROTOR's goalkeeper Andrey Izotov had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Emmanuil Getmanets. In the 88th minute, Roman Larionov got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. 89 minutes into the match, Novokuznetsk's goal looked a bit too open when Juninho Pernambucano came free, but Antonis Anastasiadis reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. With a little luck, ROTOR's Andrey Izotov got control of the ball when Emmanuil Getmanets tried to sneak it across the goal line. Andrey Izotov was in the perfect position, and the defense had done a good job marking him, but Silantiy Astankov showcased his skills and made a perfect shot to score 2-5 in the 95 minute of play. The referee blew the final whistle, and the away crowd roared, having watched Novokuznetsk eke out a victory against a very well matched opponent.