Rotor Volgograd beat Chelyabinsk 4-1 in the first league's regular season round five on Saturday. The hosts took the lead early and added a penalty before half-time, then extended their advantage after the break. The result leaves Rotor on 11 points in 11th place, while Chelyabinsk remain 15th with seven points after nine matches.
A. Troshechkin opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, and M. Urvantsev doubled the advantage a minute later. S. Aliev converted a penalty in the 41st, putting Rotor three ahead before the interval. A. Bem came off at 46 minutes, the first of several changes as the match settled into its rhythm.
And here's the thing — the second half was where Rotor made their mark. A. Eldarushev added a fourth in the 60th minute, and the visitors never really threatened to claw back. By then the game was already decided, though there were still plenty of stops and starts.
Substitutions followed in quick succession: A. Simonyan and M. Urvantsev were withdrawn together at 76 minutes, S. Aliev came off at 56, A. Eldarushev at 79, and I. Safronov at 82. The yellow cards came thick and fast too — N. Chagrov at 23, an unnamed player at 61, V. Lystsov at 77, A. Troshechkin at 84, and A. Khubulov at 86.
To be fair, the statistics tell a mixed story. Chelyabinsk held 55 per cent possession and won five corners to three, but Rotor had four shots on target against three. The visitors managed five corners and 17 free kicks, yet could only find the back of the net once. It's the sort of match where the numbers don't always reflect what happened on the pitch.
The result means Rotor have now played 11 games with three wins, two draws and five losses. Chelyabinsk's record stands at two victories, one draw and six defeats from nine outings. Rotor won their last outing 2-0 away at Kamaz, while Chelyabinsk also claimed a 2-0 victory over Volga Ulyanovsk on their most recent trip.