February 18, 2021 - Dinamo Zagreb tops Krasnodar in the first match of the Europa League round of 32.
Dinamo and Krasnodar met for game one of the Europa League round of 32 in the Russian city of Krasnodar on Thursday evening.
The Croatian champion arrived in a snowy Russia on Wednesday, where temperatures were around -10 degrees Celsius. The temperature during the match was expected to drop to -11 and even -13, though commentators said it was -6 in the first five minutes of the match.
Recall, Krasnodar finished third in the Champions League group behind Chelsea and Sevilla and ahead of Rennes. Dinamo, on the other hand, was undefeated in their Europa League group and finished on top ahead of Wolfsberg, Feyenoord, and CSKA Moscow.
Dinamo entered this match without any surprises in the starting 11, while Krasnodar's starting lineup was without Wanderson, their best player.
Lineups
Krasnodar: Gorodov, Smolnikov, Kaio, Martinovič, Černov, Olsson, Cabella, Vilhena, Sulejmanov, Berg, Claesson
Dinamo: Livaković, Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Lauritsen, Gvardiol, Majer, Jakić, Ademi, Ivanušec, Oršić, Petković
Krasnodar v Dinamo Recap
Dinamo was fierce at the start of the match, forcing plays up the wings for an early and dangerous corner kick. Without letting Krasnador taste too much of their half, both teams maintained much of the match in the middle of the pitch.
It didn't take long for Dinamo to find the back of the net. In the 15th minute, Mislav Orsic's cross eventually found the head of Bruno Petkovic for 0:1.
Dinamo couldn't hold onto their lead for too long, and just under 15 minutes later, Krasnador's Berg equalized for 1:1, which was the halftime result.
Krasnodar welcomed Wanderson to the starting lineup of the second half, though that didn't help their chances much. Eight minutes into the second half, Orsic nailed a corner to Petkovic, who scored his second goal of the match for the Dinamo lead (1:2).
Krasnodar dominated in the minutes that followed and threatened Dinamo's goal more than a few times. They even scored from offside.
But Krasnodar's moment finally came in the 69th minute when Claesson equalized for 2:2.
Dinamo led for the third time of the match in the 74th minute thanks to the fancy footwork of Ivanusec and brilliant goal by Atiemwen (2:3).
Four minutes were added by the ref at the end of the match, though neither team was able to score.
Dinamo and Krasnodar will meet in Zagreb next week.
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