FC Krasnodar fell 2-1 to Moscow’s Dynamo in the away match of the 29th round of the Russian Premier League (RPL), allowing Zenit St. Petersburg to take the league lead.
Dynamo’s goals came from Konstantin Tyukavin (48th minute) and Ivan Sergeev (90+3), while Krasnodar’s Diego Costa opened the scoring in the 32nd minute.
Krasnodar captain Eduard Spertsyan tied the RPL record for assists in a single season (16), equaling the marks set by Dmitry Loskov (2003), Hulk (2015/16), and Maxim Glushenkov (2023/24).
This goal was Dynamo’s first against Krasnodar in official matches since September 2023, breaking a long dry spell.
The two teams met for the second time in less than a week — on May 7, Krasnodar had defeated Dynamo on penalties to reach the Russian Cup Superfinal.
With 63 points after the round, Krasnodar slipped to second place in the RPL standings, trailing Zenit St. Petersburg (65), who defeated Sochi 2-1 on Sunday. Dynamo sits eighth with 42 points.
In the final round on May 17, Krasnodar will host Orenburg, Dynamo will travel to face Kaliningrad’s Baltika, and Zenit will visit Rostov.
Dynamo’s victory was sealed by a late header from Sergeev after a corner, demonstrating their resilience despite being behind at halftime. For Krasnodar, the loss means they must now rely on Zenit dropping points in the final match to have any chance of reclaiming the title.
Krasnodar’s goal came from a well-worked move involving Spertsyan and Costa, but they failed to hold the lead as Dynamo pushed forward in the second half. Tyukavin’s equalizer was a clinical finish from close range, while Sergeev’s winner came in stoppage time to cap a dramatic comeback.