League Play-Off

Kazan
Spectators: 36 (Terracing: 28, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Daniil Ivashkovskiy got the match started through his kick off. In the 2nd match minute, Kazan FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Irakliy Petrov to maneuver through the defense. Pavel Dovbnya kicked well hit freekick during the 5th minute of the match. 7 minutes into the game, Igor Shafarevich was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Kazan FC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Novotroitsk FC the free kick. If Valeriy Lihachev had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 9th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Artur Evsikov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 11th minute. Andrey Lazarev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Kazan FC's Andrey Lazarev played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Valeriy Lihachev in the 17th minute of play. Novotroitsk FC's Artur Evsikov got a good chance for a goal in the 18th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Valeriy Lihachev received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 20th minute. Andrey Lazarev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 22 minutes into the game, Artur Evsikov cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Andrey Lazarev was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 34th minute, Valeriy Lihachev made a precise shot to the right of Andrey Lazarev. Kazan FC's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-2. Leonid Bokonbaev received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 41st minute. Rudolf Malafeev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 46th minute, Roman Gabaev hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-2.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Artur Evsikov to make the kick off. Andrey Lazarev made an important save on a dangerous shot by Valeriy Lihachev in the 52nd minute. When Leonid Bokonbaev came up free with the goalie in the 54th minute, the Kazan FC 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 Leonid Bokonbaev couldn't finish the play. In the 59th minute Artur Evsikov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Andrey Lazarev saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After having played for 61 minutes, Artur Evsikov managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Novotroitsk FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Artur Evsikov was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Pavel Dovbnya's late challenge caught a Novotroitsk FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Pavel Dovbnya helped the player get up and apologised. Artur Evsikov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 70th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Andrey Lazarev having to interfere. Andrey Lazarev took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Artur Evsikov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Rudolf Malafeev showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Daniil Ivashkovskiy in the 74th minute of the match. Kazan FC's defense didn't have a chance, in the 76th minute, when Artur Evsikov scored to the left of an out of position Andrey Lazarev, making the score, 0-3. Leonid Bokonbaev sent away a hard shot on goal in the 80th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After a defensive mix-up in Novotroitsk FC's zone, Daniil Ivashkovskiy stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Rudolf Malafeev came out of the goal and Daniil Ivashkovskiy tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. 86 minutes into the match, Kazan FC's Daniil Ivashkovskiy sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Rudolf Malafeev narrowly saved just below the crossbar. In the 89th minute, Pavel Dovbnya hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After 93 played minutes Artur Evsikov rounded Kazan FC's defense and shot a beautiful shot into goal via left pole - 0-4. Novotroitsk FC played a much better game than Kazan FC and deserved their victory. The Kazan FC players were clearly disappointed as they left the ground.