League Play-Off

Stadion Noginsk
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) David Zhigalin made the kick off and thus started the match. In the 8th match minute, Grozny FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Vyacheslav Zarubin to maneuver through the defense. In the 9th minute, David Zhigalin 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. Mikhail Popkov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from David Zhigalin in the 10th minute of play. In the 22nd minute, David Zhigalin 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 25 minutes of play, Grozny FC's Danila Shestakov made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Lev Bulatovich was left in no man's land by his defense there! In the 31st minute David Zhigalin shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mikhail Popkov saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Noginsk FC's Valentin Chugainov got a good chance for a goal in the 32nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Mikhail Popkov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from David Zhigalin in the 34th minute of the match. In the 34th minute, Vyacheslav Zarubin hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 40th minute, David Zhigalin 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. Grozny FC's Mikhail Popkov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by David Zhigalin in the 44th minute of play. When Noginsk FC's David Zhigalin in 48 game minutes managed to cut through with the ball in front of the goal, only having to shoot. Mikhail Popkov guarding the goal like a pit bull was extremely focused and managed to reach the ball just by the crossbar before it went in. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-1.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Vyacheslav Zarubin stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. An unexpectedly hard shot by David Zhigalin in the 58th minute of play forced Grozny FC's goalkeeper Mikhail Popkov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. If David Zhigalin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 75th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Mikhail Popkov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from David Zhigalin in the 78th minute of play. In the 79th minute, Vladimir Baburov ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Mikhail Popkov was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-1. Valentin Chugainov might have been able to make a better finish in the 82nd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Mikhail Popkov. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Valentin Chugainov ran back to his position shaking his head. After 85 minutes, Vyacheslav Zarubin mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Grozny FC and the Noginsk FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. Mikhail Popkov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Vladimir Baburov in the 88th minute of play. In the 90th minute, David Zhigalin ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Mikhail Popkov was frozen by the shot and now it was 3-1. David Zhigalin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 97th minute. Mikhail Popkov tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Noginsk FC's supporters were delighted with their team's performance and swarmed onto the pitch at the end of the match to celebrate the victory with the players.