League Play-Off

Stadion Taganrog
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) An unexpectedly hard shot by Egor Blatun in the 5th minute of play forced Taganrog FC's goalkeeper Valeriy Shichanin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Aleksey Zabludovskiy's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Valeriy Shichanin read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 8th minute of play. After 8 played minutes Tula got a freekick which was hit by Pavel Artyuhin. After having played for 10 minutes, Aleksey Bauman managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Taganrog FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Aleksey Bauman was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Mikhail Striha succeeded in the game's 14th minute to shoot an unreachable shot under the crossbar and scored - 1-0. When Egor Blatun came up free with the goalie in the 21st minute, the Tula 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 Egor Blatun couldn't finish the play. If Egor Blatun had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 25th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. If Mikhail Striha had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 28th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The crowd rose to their feet as Taganrog FC's Aleksey Bauman slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Mikhail Mishin. That made the score 2-0 after 32 minutes of play. In the 36th match minute, Tula was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Anatoliy Akinfeev to maneuver through the defense. Egor Blatun received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 43rd minute. Valeriy Shichanin tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Valeriy Shichanin showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Egor Blatun in the 47th minute of the match.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Aleksey Bauman stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Mikhail Striha fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 64th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Mikhail Mishin having to interfere. In the 65th match minute, Tula was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Egor Blatun to maneuver through the defense. Gerasim Volpin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 69th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Tula's Mikhail Mishin played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Aleksey Bauman in the 71st minute of play. Aleksey Zabludovskiy fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 72nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Valeriy Shichanin having to interfere. Veniamin Drozdov charged in rather forcefully in the 75th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Veniamin Drozdov the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Veniamin Drozdov hit a great freekick 76 minutes into the match. Valeriy Shichanin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Egor Blatun, who was totally free with the ball in the 79th minute. After 79 minutes, Egor Kovalev mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Taganrog FC and the Tula players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 81stth minute of the game Egor Blatun who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Taganrog FC's Valeriy Shichanin was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Valeriy Shichanin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Egor Blatun, who was totally free with the ball in the 82nd minute. After having played for 88 minutes, Aleksey Zabludovskiy managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Tula's supporters crossed their fingers, but Aleksey Zabludovskiy was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Valeriy Shichanin made an important save on a dangerous shot by Aleksey Zabludovskiy in the 93rd minute. Taganrog FC were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of Tula for a fine match.