Matvey Safonov and Daniil Khudyakov faced each other in a match between two future Champions League participants – PSG and Sturm. Until recently, no one would have thought that this was possible! This summer, the former goalkeeper of Krasnodar moved to the Parisian club, and the former goalkeeper of Lokomotiv became a newcomer to the team from Graz. In today’s match, Russian legionnaires entered the starting lineup. The French champion faced the Austrian champion in Klagenfurt.
It is clear that Safonov at this stage is the understudy of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is apparently still getting fit after spending his holidays after Euro 2024. But Khudyakov, contrary to some claims, was not considered the “number one” in “Sturm”. The Graz team has already played two matches of the championship and the Austrian Cup of the new season. Both were played by the 206 (!) cm tall Dutchman Scherpen, on loan from Brighton. Daniil remained on the bench.
From the first minutes of the match against PSG, it seemed that Khudyakov was too preoccupied. He almost scored a quick goal after a pass behind Beraldo’s back to Colo-Muani. Daniil made a mistake, rushing out of the box as a safety net: the striker managed to get to the ball first and hit the empty net – the Russian goalkeeper was protected by a defender.
The Russian goalkeeper has already played in the 1st League, but nobody knows him in our country.
Safonov is not the first Russian goalkeeper to play in France. There, a street was named after him!
Although Sturm should have been in better form, PSG, even with their optimal lineup, did not play with an advantage and had more possession. The French scored a goal against Khudyakov in the 10th minute after a three-on-three counterattack. Asensio passed the ball down the left midfield to Mbaye, who sent the ball into the near corner. And Daniel began to hesitate and collapsed.
Two minutes later, Soler made it 2:0. Khudyakov had a hard time saving the team from a goal. This time PSG opened up the right flank thanks to a barrier to the third, and Kolo-Mouany cut diagonally towards the Spanish midfielder. Soler hit where Gazibegovic was, who was assisting the Russian goalkeeper, and the ball bounced off the Bosnian and into the net.
PSG formed a three-man defence during possession and brought Safonov into the play. In the 14th minute, Matvey had work to do: after a set piece, the Austrian headed the ball towards the Russian goal, but the impact was not strong, so Safonov, who had chosen a good position, calmly caught the ball. But Matvey also failed after a quarter of an hour of play! Beraldo, who lost the ball, made a terrible catch. Kamara broke away one-on-one and successfully hit Safonov between the legs.
But after half an hour, Matvey saved a difficult shot from Kiteishvili, a participant in Euro 2024 with the national team of Georgia. PSG began to allow Sturm more, so the Russian was no longer bored in the goal. And before the break, Kiteishvili still beat Safonov on the second attempt. The Georgian was allowed to take the ball, improve his position and shoot freely from 20 meters into the far bottom corner. Surely, regarding this episode, the PSG coaches will have doubts about the defense, and not about the goalkeeper.
In friendly matches, coaches usually allow different goalkeepers to play in each half, however, both Khudyakov and Safonov remained in goal after the break. But their workload decreased. The game has calmed down. Interestingly, PSG was actually noticeably inferior in terms of shooting statistics, with 70% possession. After an hour of the match – 4:12 (on target – 3:7). However, the Austrians did not set difficult tasks for Safonov. In addition, the weather worsened, which harmed the teams. It started to rain heavily, driving numerous spectators out of the stands, the wind increased and even hail fell.
PSG only got their first shot on target in the second half in the 86th minute. Before that, the Parisians had only forced Khudyakov to do so with a couple of set pieces. And at the end of the match, Daniil played very well. Asensio fired a low shot into the corner from outside the box, the flight of the ball seemed to make it even more difficult for the goalkeeper to rebound, but the Russian saved it. PSG only earned one corner. The club congratulated Khudyakov for his great actions in this episode.
In addition, in the last minute, PSG created another goal-scoring chance with Barcol’s participation. But the French national team winger was unable to beat Khudyakov. With a couple of saves in the last game, Daniil definitely made up for his shaky start. “Sturm” did not really test Safonov. In general, summing up the debut of the Russian goalkeepers, we can say that it turned out to be average. Not ideal, but not something to be ashamed of either.
