The end of the season in the First League is a cruel drama. “Leningradets” fell a little short!
Kirill Zakatchenko May 25, 2024, 15:32 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Chernomorets had Torpedo to thank and Khimki retained first place.
The season in the First League is everything. Yes, two teams in the tournament will still have to play in the play-offs to be able to play in the RPL, but all the other clubs are going on vacation.
The main intrigue before the final round is who will be relegated to the Second League after Kuban and Volgar? Chernomorets and Sokol’s chances of staying in the First League seemed preferable. Each of these clubs scored 35 points and Leninggradets had 34. Chernomorets visited Khimki, Sokol visited KAMAZ and Leninggradets received Torpedo at home. Of course, all the matches in the last round were played in one time slot.
The Novorossiysk club started the match strongly in the Moscow region. Artyom Voropaev surprised the Khimki goalkeeper with a shot into the near corner. It seemed that goalkeeper Igor Obukhov was waiting for a cross, but his opponent outwitted him. Khimki had already guaranteed themselves a place in the RPL and the only thing left to know was whether they could win the First League. Before the final shot, Andrei Talalaev’s team was two points ahead of Dynamo Makhachkala. But we’ll talk about this later.
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Halfway through the first half there was good news for Chernomorets and Sokol fans. His sponsor was Torpedo: Georgy Gongadze opened an account in the Leningrad region. In this situation, both Sokol and Chernomorets would retain their place in the First League even in case of defeat. Before the break, no one scored in three games, so Leningrad was in third place in the online table.
The start of the second half is a joy for Sokol fans. Mikhail Maltsev brought the Saratov team closer to maintaining its place in the First League. A victory for Sokol in Naberezhnye Chelny would guarantee participation in the “Best League in the World” in the new season. And then “Leningradets”, in fact, “buried”: the second goal of “Torpedo” missed. Rescue in such a situation would be a true feat.
Khimki’s goal (Alexander Rudenko converted the penalty) against Chernomorets was already perceived by Leningrad fans without any positivity. What does it matter how your competitors play if you yourself are on fire? On the other hand, perhaps this somehow encouraged the Leningrad players themselves, and Artyom Apekov played one goal back. Go back? Where there is? Four minutes later, Torpedo increased the lead to two goals again.
Khimki is the winner of the First League in the 2023/2024 season
Photo: FC Khimki
At the same time, Sokol took an important step towards salvation: for the second time he defeated KAMAZ. After this, it was possible to focus exclusively on the Chernomorets and Leninggradets cutoff. The Novorossiysk club missed the second goal in the Moscow region, and the team from the Leningrad region again reduced the difference on the scoreboard to a minimum in the match against Torpedo by 2:3.
And here the intrigue appeared. If the teams had scored the same number of points, Leninggradets would have surpassed his rival in additional indicators. In personal confrontations there was equality (1:0, 0:1), but the Club of the Leningrad Region won eight victories in the tournament, and Chernomorets – seven. A single goal against an unmotivated Torpedo would have saved Leningrad! But the miracle still did not happen: the hosts lost and fell into the Second League, and Chernomorets with great difficulty retained its place in the First League. Southerners have Torpedo to thank. “Falcon” won, although in the end he lost.
Thanks to the victory, Khimki retained first place. In addition, Dynamo Makhachkala lost twice at the end of the match against Alania and lost 0:2. Let’s fix everything again. “Khimki” and “Dynamo” – in the RPL, “Akron” and “Arsenal” (lost to “Shinnik”, but ahead of “Rodina” in personal meetings) – in the play-offs, “Kuban”, “Volgar ” and “Leningradets” – in the Second League.
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