Sochi 2-0 Arsenal Tula 
Saturday 26 February, Fisht Central Stadium

Goals: Sochi - Angban 50’, Yusupov 77' (pen)

Man of the Match: Nikita Burmistrov (Sochi) 

A rare Victorian Angban goal set Sochi on the path to securing a valuable win over Arsenal, and secure third spot ahead of the Moscow Derby between nearest challengers CSKA and Spartak later.

Shortly after half time the Ivorian midfielder towered over Igor Smolnikov to nod a loose deflected ball into the net for his first ever Sochi goal. It was also only his third-ever goal in professional football, after 170 senior club appearances and 12 international caps for Cote d’Ivoire.

Arsenal should have equalised less than 10 minutes later though, when Zuriko Davitashvili cut inside Danila Prokhin and Kirill Zaika after a well-timed pass into the penalty area, but desperate defending blocked the danger.

Moments after Arsenal saw a penalty appeal waved away by VAR, Angban was tripped inside the box by Artem Sokol - this time no assistance was required for Vladislav Bezborodov to point to the spot. Arthur Yusupov stepped up to slam home his fifth goal of the season. 

Sochi stay third on 34 points, while Arsenal remain 13th on 19 points.

Next RPL fixtures: Sunday 6 March - Krylia Sovetov vs Arsenal; Monday 7 March - Rostov vs Sochi