Spartak Kostroma and Yenisey shared the points in a 2:2 draw at the start of the Fourth Round of the First League on Saturday. The hosts took an early lead through A. Kalmykov, but Yenisey responded before half-time and levelled again after the break. The result leaves Kostroma sixth with nine points from their opening games, while Yenisey remain twelfth.
Kalmykov opened the scoring in the twelfth minute, capitalising on space in the box. Yenisey answered through A. Maslovskiy in the thirty-second, catching Kostroma off guard after a period of sustained pressure. Kostroma regained the advantage early in the second half when Kalmykov struck again in the fifty-eighth minute, finding the net from a tight angle.
Yenisey refused to concede and levelled through M. Tlekhugov in the eighty-first minute, catching the home side off their guard. The match saw several changes around the hour mark: D. Ghurtskaia came on for Kostroma in the forty-sixth, while M. Oparin and A. Okladnikov replaced two Yenisey players in the sixty-first and seventieth minutes respectively. Y. Tses and A. Kanaplin picked up yellow cards in the seventy-fourth and ninety-second minute.
Yenisey dominated possession at 60 per cent and won nine corners to Kostroma's one, but the hosts were more clinical. Kostroma registered three shots on target compared to two for the visitors, while Yenisey had three attempts off target. The statistics suggest Yenisey pinned them back but Kostroma made the difference when it mattered.
The draw keeps Kostroma in the upper half of the table with five wins and three draws from nine games. Yenisey's record of two wins and four draws leaves them eight points behind the hosts and still searching for consistency. Both sides have one defeat each from their opening campaign.