National cup

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Parfen Karakich started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. Rostislav Yakovenko took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Eirik Kaadtmann, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, U21 Norway's Jo Johnsrud got a free kick in the 7th minute. Parfen Karakich's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Jonathan Lundal read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 8th minute of play. Jonathan Lundal didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Parfen Karakich went, in the 16th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-1 was the resulting score. Rostislav Yakovenko showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Runar Bergan in the 27th minute of the match. After 33 minutes of play, U21 Norway's Cent Norheim made it 1-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Rostislav Yakovenko was left in no man's land by his defense there! 37 minutes into the match, Denis Davydov had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Jonathan Lundal. U21 Norway's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Denis Davydov was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-2. Rostislav Yakovenko stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Runar Bergan's shot from short distance in the 41st minute. 44 minutes into the game, Artur Shumeiko was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. U21 Russia's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave U21 Norway the free kick. Rostislav Yakovenko showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Runar Bergan, who was totally free with the ball in the 47th minute. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 1-2.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Runar Bergan to strike the kick off in the second half. Cent Norheim took the ball and in the 51 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Rostislav Yakovenko. Rostislav Yakovenko dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 2-2. An unexpectedly hard shot by Cent Norheim in the 55th minute of play forced U21 Russia's goalkeeper Rostislav Yakovenko to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The audience was convinced that Cent Norheim's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Rostislav Yakovenko was relentless in the 57th minute of the game. Rostislav Yakovenko made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Runar Bergan in the 58th minute of play. In the 61st minute, Valeriy Bryusov left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The U21 Russia fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-3. U21 Norway's Luka Modrić was substituted for Eirik Kaadtmann. U21 Norway's Ludvik Skulstad was substituted for Henrik Hovind. Jonathan Lundal took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Denis Davydov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. An unexpectedly hard shot by Runar Bergan in the 68th minute of play forced U21 Russia's goalkeeper Rostislav Yakovenko to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Valeriy Bryusov in the 74th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Jonathan Lundal prevented the ball from getting in the gole. U21 Russia made a substitution. Nil Hazbulatov replaced Viktor Tsarev. 77 minutes had been played when some careless play by U21 Norway's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Emmanuil Lyulevich was slow to take the kick. During this time U21 Russia's players had a chance to rest. Emmanuil Lyulevich made a great header on U21 Russia's corner, it was just that U21 Norway's Jonathan Lundal managed to reach the ball for a save. After 83 minutes, Maksim Fedaev mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the U21 Russia and the U21 Norway players grew even worse after the yellow card. The supporters of U21 Norway booed when U21 Russia was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 83 match minutes in a wonderful position. Maksim Fedaev didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 85th minute Runar Bergan shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Rostislav Yakovenko saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Cent Norheim hit a great freekick 89 minutes into the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 93rd minute, Denis Davydov managed to get in a good position for a shot. U21 Russia's supporters rose to their feet, but Denis Davydov was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Jonathan Lundal breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The away crowd were delighted with the way their team had played and cheered loudly when the final whistle sounded. U21 Russia walked away with the win, even though the match was close until the end.