Yusupov clinches win to send Sochi back into the top four

Ufa 1-2 Sochi
Sunday 10 April, BetBoom Arena

Goals: Ufa - Agalarov (pen) 81’; Sochi - Cassierra 12’, Yusupov 51’
Man of the Match: Artur Yusupov (Sochi)

Mateo Cassierra got Sochi off to the perfect start in Ufa in spectacular fashion. The Colombian striker collected an awkwardly bouncing ball in from Christian Noboa’s clever slalom run into the box with his back to goal, and with a slightly fortunate touch from Ruslan Fishchenko teeing him up, unleashed an overhead bicycle kick that Aleksandr Belenov could only palm into the side netting.

It took even less of the second half for the visitors to double their lead; once again, both Noboa and a deflection were involved. The Ecuadorian threaded a ball through that was deflected more centrally towards Nikita Burmistrov whose prodded effort was blocked by Belenov.

The rebound fell to Artur Yusupov, who skipped inside before smashing the ball into the net from a few yards out.

Ufa were handed a lifeline with 10 minutes to go when Gamid Agalarov stepped up to convert a penalty - his 16th goal of the season - after a VAR review. Despite the inevitable late pressure from the hosts, however, they weren’t able to find an equaliser.

Ufa remain 15th on 21 points, while Sochi go fourth on 42 points.

Next RPL fixtures: Saturday 16 April - Ufa vs CSKA; Sunday 17 April - Sochi vs Lokomotiv