Fyodor Smolov netted in a late goal at Geolog Stadium in Tyumen to give FC Ural their first win against Dynamo Moscow since 1993, and three more points in their race for survival in the Russian Premier League. “Fyodor is in good psychological and physical shape, and he has craftsmanship,” noted Ural manager Alexander Tarkhanov. Smolov, on loan from Dynamo, has been playing the best season of his professional career. The forward created plenty of reason for unrest in the final third throughout the game and assisted captain Gerson Acevedo’s equalizer going into halftime, all before scoring a game-winning sideways volley from a Vladimir Khozin header on the 86th minute.
This season’s race to escape relegation is closer than ever – a one point gap separates each team from the other. As it stands, all of the teams in the bottom four can escape the route to the FNL. Each team has three games remaining, a possible nine points and the chance to either leave the relegation zone or get a second shot at the Premier League via the relegation play-offs.
