#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In the two-legged confrontation of the fifth round, the Norilsk players stayed in Nizhny Novgorod, where they met with the league debutant, Torpedo. Despite the staffing problems that Norilsk Nickel faced before the reporting round, they managed to get important four points. In the first match, Evgeny Kuksevich’s charges won, in the second they played a combat draw.
The only goal in the starting meeting was scored by the Brazilian Norilsk Nickel legionary Darlan. At the 35th minute, due to individual skill, he left no lot for the Volga defenders and skillfully hit the target.
More teams in this game could not score, although dangerous moments arose from both sides. In many respects, the minimum score on the scoreboard was preserved thanks to the confident actions of the goalkeepers: the guests’ one Nikolay Balashov, the hosts’ one David Savlokhov.
The second fight turned out to be much more effective. At the fourth minute, Norilsk Nickel went ahead, taking advantage of the opponent’s mistake: Maxim Konovalov scored. Torpedo won back by the 18th minute, when Dmitry Zaitsev finished the counterattack of his team with an accurate shot on goal. Three minutes later, Ruslan Kudziev reminded of his bombing abilities, leaving no chance for the goalkeeper. However, not even a minute had passed when the score on the scoreboard was equalized again: after the play-out, Maxim Serebryakov scored for the Torpedo team.
After the break, the teams did not plan to slow down the pace of the game. In the 28th minute, Kudziev scored a double. Nizhny Novgorod responded with pressure and five minutes later, thanks to Sergey Denisov, who was assisted by Denis Ashirov, brought the score to 3:3. But this was not enough for the rivals – and just before the curtain of the meeting fell Darlan scored, giving the northerners hope for a second victory in the round, and then Ashirov entered his name into the protocol. Fighting draw – 4:4.
As a result of the round, Norilsk Nickel, with 12 points scored, took the third place in the standings. In the next round, which is scheduled for November 7-8, the northerners will play against the New Generation team from Syktyvkar. Following the championship calendar, the matches should be held in Norilsk, but due to the difficult epidemic situation, they will most likely be postponed to the Moscow region.
Text: Mikhail Tuaev, Photo: press office of Torpedo FC
