Cherepovets edge Sochi 3:1 in KHL
Cherepovets took three points from Sochi with a 3:1 win on Saturday evening. The match ended in the KHL on the twenty-sixth of September. And here's the thing, it wasn't exactly a tight contest.
Sochi had not won a game in eight attempts before this one. They sat in eleventh place with a single victory and seven defeats. Cherepovets, meanwhile, had lost five of their nine outings. The visitors refused to go away, but the hosts held their nerve. The difference in momentum was clear.
We had looked at the form lines before kick-off. The home side was expected to get over the line, and we backed them at 69 per cent. To be fair, the data supported that view.
The result leaves Cherepovets seventh in the table. Sochi remains in eleventh place after eight games. Both sides started with zero points, but the gap is starting to show. By then, the home side had already secured their position above the visitors.
Cherepovets came into this fixture off a pair of high-scoring wins. They had beaten Ekaterinburg 5:2 and followed up with a 4:1 victory over Khabarovsk. Sochi's run had been far less generous.
The three-goal margin tells the story of the evening. Cherepovets moved clear of the lower ranks with this performance. Sochi must now turn their attention to finding consistency. The hosts have nothing to lose now, but they kept their focus.
