FC Sochi 2-0 Ural Ekaterinburg

Sunday 8 March, Fisht Olympic Stadium

Goals: Mostovoy (35’), Zaika (62’)

Man of the Match: Andrey Mostovoy

Andrey Mostovoy lead the charge as FC Sochi breathed fresh life into their survival hopes with a resounding 2-0 win over Ural Ekaterinburg. His man-of-the-match display saw him become the club’s top goalscorer this season and was complemented by a sensational hit from Kirill Zaika.

After a relatively low-key opening, Cristian Noboa’s corner after 35 minutes found new signing Aleksandr Kokorin in the penalty area. His shot was initially blocked down low by Yaroslav Godzyur, but Mostovoy was on hand to lift it over the prostrate FC Ural keeper.

Five minutes later Andrey Egorychev beat the defensive line to latch onto Petrus Boumal’s vertical long ball. His first touch was good, but Dzhanaev was out quickly to smother the shot.

Just after the hour Mostovoy tore down the left flank and cut inside along the byline. His cutback picked out Anton Zabalotniy, who touched it back to Kirill Zaika to lash in an unstoppable first-time shot into the top corner.

As time began to run out Aleksandr Karapetyan turned back inside to loop in a cross towards Mostovoy. The goalscorer’s glanced header beat Godzyur only to hit the foot of the post and bounce out.

With five minutes to go FC Ural piled on the pressure in search of a late winner. From a corner the ball fell to Dmitriy Efremov outside the box from where the debutant unleashed a vicious swerving shot that was dipping under the crossbar until Soslan Dzhanaev pulled out a stunning one-handed save.

FC Sochi have an extra fixture on Wednesday 11 March when they play a rearranged match against FC Orenburg. Ural Ekaterinburg have their third consecutive away game when they travel to take on Zenit St. Petersburg on Saturday 14 March.

FC Sochi: Dzhanaev, Margasov, Miladinovic, Mevlja, Novoseltsev, Zaika (Nabiullin 90’+2), Tsallagov, Noboa, Mostovoy (Poloz 88’), Zabolotniy (Karapetyan 75’), Kokorin

Ural Ekaterinburg: Godzyur, Kulakov, Polyakov, Wilusz, Zolotov, Egorychev, Boumal (Augustinyak 75’), Kucharczyk (Efremov 54’), Bicfalvi, Dimitrov (El Kabir 78’), Pogrebnyak