The defeat against Zenit mathematically sealed Sochi’s fate, confirming their relegation from the Mir Russian Premier League. The only glimmer of hope for the southern club came from Dynamo Makhachkala, but they could only manage a draw in Grozny.
It’s almost a miracle that Sochi’s return to the Pari First League was delayed until now. That miracle stems from four wins in their last six matches. The team finally woke up in mid-April, but it was too late: before this late surge, they were rightly compared to the worst teams in Premier League history.
A Desperate Surge Amid Hopelessness
In medicine, there’s a term “paradoxical undressing”: when someone suffering severe hypothermia suddenly feels intense heat, becomes alert, and tears off their clothes. This signals one thing – the end is near. Sochi experienced something similar.
In the first 23 rounds of the RPL, Sochi collected just nine points. Not quite Tyumen’s eight points in the entire 1998 season, but close to the anti-records of the 21st century Russian championship: Khimki in 2009 (10 points) and Shinnik in 2006 (11 points). Or SKA-Khabarovsk in 2017/18 and Tambov in 2020/21 and Torpedo in 2022/23 (13 points each), if using the autumn-spring system.
Then came the “paradoxical undressing.” In round 24, Sochi felt a spark and narrowly beat CSKA in Moscow: they earned a penalty early and held on thanks largely to eight saves from Alexander Degtev. In round 25, they traveled to Rostov-on-Don and won by the same scoreline, with their goalkeeper again the standout performer. At the very end, Kirill Zaika ran onto a cross from Ruslan Magal and tapped in.
CSKA Lost to the Worst Team in the RPL – How?!
In round 26, Sochi got a late goal again – extremely late. In the 90+9th minute, a nine-man Krylya Sovetov couldn’t hold Marcelo Alves. In round 27, they were finally slowed down, losing 0-2 to Dynamo in Moscow. But in round 28, they defeated Orenburg 3-1.
Kirill Kravtsov hadn’t played from October to March. According to Ivan Karpov, this was due to a conflict with Igor Osin’kin. He hadn’t scored in two years. Then suddenly, he exploded with a hat-trick.
Orenburg’s coach Ildar Akhmetzyanov told Match TV: “Did Sochi surprise me today? One player surprised us – he buried us. It happens. We need to ask for his recipe: what he did today, what he ate. We’ll use those tricks too.”
Kravtsov’s Brilliant Hat-Trick! Sochi Clings to Survival
If Sochi hadn’t faced Zenit at the end of the season, they might even have clawed their way to safety and become a story of great revival. But it was already too late – past mistakes undid everything. In St. Petersburg, Sochi even took the lead before conceding a late equalizer.
Sochi and Moreno Held On to Each Other Until the End
The club was already sinking two years ago. And they produced a similar late-season flurry under Robert Moreno. What was a former Spain and Monaco coach, as well as Luis Enrique’s assistant at Barcelona and Roma, doing at the worst club in the Russian league? It was hard to understand. He did breathe life into Sochi: they beat Spartak 1-0, thrashed Pari NN 6-1, scored twice against Lokomotiv (2-2), CSKA (2-2), Dynamo (2-3), and Krasnodar (2-3).
Moreno switched from a defensive 3-4-3 to an attacking 4-3-3. In winter, under his famous name, several strong players arrived, including solid defensive midfielder Ignacio Saavedra and Saul Guarirapa. People later laughed at the forward’s modest scoring at CSKA, but in spring 2024, he scored nine goals in 11 matches.
In that period, Sochi became the fifth most prolific team. Yet the stormy football shouldn’t have caused euphoria: in the last 12 rounds, Sochi collected 13 points. Less than… (the article cuts off, but the point is clear).
