Goal and assist from Kashtanov move Ural from relegation zone

RPL Matchday 12
Ural Ekaterinburg 2-1 FC Khimki
Friday 7 October, Ekaterinburg Arena

Goals: Ural – Kashtanov (4), Randjelovic (63); Khimki – Kukharchuk (90+2)
Man of the Match: Aleksey Kashtanov (Ural)

Last season Ural and Khimki were among contenders to be relegated from RPL, but both survived, as Ekaterinburg finished twelfth, while Khimki won two-leg battle against SKA Khabarovsk in the play-off. Before match at Ekaterinburg Arena one point separated the teams. Aleksey Kashtanov continued his rise, the forward, who debuted in RPL at 26 years old, broke the deadlock four minutes after the kick-off whistle, so his goaling streak reached three games in a row including two league matches and one Cup fixture.

Spartak Gogniev came back to Ekaterinburg, where he spent four years as player bringing the team to RPL, and his team tried to show coach’s curious tactics, like making merry-go-round before the corner kick, but it did not work out. Ural could extend the lead only in the second half, when Kashtanov found Lazar Randjelovic with pass, and the Serbian scored in the second straight match. Like a week ago, Khimki made their only goal in the final minutes, thanks to another former Ural Ilya Kukharchuk, but the winless streak since the departure of Sergey Yuran reached eight games in RPL.

Ural jump to twelfth with ten points, while Khimki go down to 15th on eight points.

Next RPL fixtures: Friday 14 October – Rostov vs Ural; Saturday 15 October – Khimki vs Fakel