League Play-Off

Stadion Saransk
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Fedor Mulyarchik started the match with the kick off. When Semen Labushkin fell near the penalty area in the 8th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Novosibirsk FC's protests and gave Semen Labushkin a yellow card for diving instead. Semen Labushkin hit a great freekick 8 minutes into the match. In the 10th minute, Nazar Shelepin 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. After a rather tough play, Saransk FC's Nazar Shelepin got a free kick in the 12th minute. Fedor Mulyarchik received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 15th minute. Artem Losev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 18 minutes into the game, Veniamin Shalevich was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Novosibirsk FC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Saransk FC the free kick. A collision led to Novosibirsk FC getting a freekick after 18 minutes play. Veniamin Shalevich hit a great ball. Valeriy Kapysh, 19 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. 21 minutes into the match, Nazar Shelepin had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Denis Podkopalov. Novosibirsk FC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Nazar Shelepin was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-0. The supporters of Novosibirsk FC booed when Saransk FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 26 match minutes in a wonderful position. Ernest Pobedin didn't get a good kick on the ball. After a defensive mix-up in Saransk FC's zone, Gennadiy Kandybin stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Artem Losev came out of the goal and Gennadiy Kandybin tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. In the 36th minute of the match Nikolay Ozerov sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Artem Losev skillfully saved the ball. In the 38th match minute, Saransk FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Igor Sitnikov to maneuver through the defense. After some fancy dribbling in the 40th minute, Gennadiy Kandybin managed to get in a good position for a shot. Novosibirsk FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Gennadiy Kandybin was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Artem Losev breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Artem Losev showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Fedor Mulyarchik in the 45th minute of the match. After a rather tough play, Saransk FC's Ernest Pobedin got a free kick in the 46th minute. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Kirill Golovachevskiy made a kick off. In the 54th match minute, Saransk FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Evgeniy Konoplya to maneuver through the defense. In the 58th minute the ball was on its way in behind Novosibirsk FC's goalkeeper Denis Podkopalov, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. When Gennadiy Kandybin came up free with the goalie in the 60th minute, the Novosibirsk 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 Gennadiy Kandybin couldn't finish the play. After 62 played minutes Saransk FC got a freekick which was hit by Ernest Pobedin. The supporters of Novosibirsk FC booed when Saransk FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 65 match minutes in a wonderful position. Kirill Golovachevskiy didn't get a good kick on the ball. Gennadiy Kandybin took the ball and in the 70 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Artem Losev. Artem Losev dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-1. An unexpectedly hard shot by Fedor Mulyarchik in the 74th minute of play forced Saransk FC's goalkeeper Artem Losev to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Artem Losev made a fantastic save in the 78th minute, when Gennadiy Kandybin sent off a good shot on target. A collision led to Saransk FC getting a freekick after 79 minutes play. Igor Sitnikov hit a great ball. The crowd rose to their feet as Gennadiy Kandybin kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Artem Losev. That made the score 1-2 in the 81 minute of play. Artem Losev took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Fedor Mulyarchik, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 92 minutes into the game, Gennadiy Kandybin was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Novosibirsk FC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Saransk FC the free kick. After a rather tough play, Novosibirsk FC's Gennadiy Kandybin got a free kick in the 92nd minute. The teams fought very hard right up to the final whistle. Both sets of players were happy to go away with a draw.