Baikal Continues Unbeaten Season, Tops Chita on Road 4-2

SibVO Stadium, CHITA, Russia -- Baikal-Energia Irkutsk stayed atop the tables in the East Division of the Russian Bandy League with a 4-2 win on the road over SKA-Zabaikalyets Chita.

The win improved Irkutsk's record to 5-0 this season.

Sergei Rogulev opened the scoring just five minutes in with a breakaway goal to put Baikal up 1-0. The first half featured a lot of back and forth play, and Baikal had several good chances, but they could not increase their lead until the 38th minute, when captain Nikolai Kadakin scored off a signature corner from Vasily Nikitin.

But Zabaikalyets would get on the board in the closing seconds of the half. Former Irkutsk player Viktor Zakharov started the play with a great move toward the net that resulted in a corner for Chita. Zakharov would then link up with another ex-Baikal-Energia player, Andrei Makunenkov, to cut the lead to 2-1.

The second half was characterized by sloppy play on both sides. In the 75th minute, Konstantin Savchenko made a costly mistake in front of his own goal, and Chita's Yevgeny Yakovlev was able to capitalize to knot the score at 2-2.

But with four minutes remaining, Sergei Yusupov put Baikal up for good with a beautiful, long shot. Just three minutes later, Nikitin picked up his second assist of the game when Alexander Nasonov scored to cap off the match for Irkutsk 4-2.

Chita was coming off impressive wins over perennial powerhouse SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk and Sibselmash Novosibirsk. Baikal-Energia head coach Alexander Shishkin seemed more impressed with the opponent's play than his own team's.

"We did not capitalize on our chances very well in this game," Shishkin said at the post-game press conference. "Our midfielders did not play well, even though a big part of our game plan is dependent upon them. And of course, Chita played very well, and this was a tough game for us."

In other league action:

Friday, December 1

Yenisei Krasnoyarsk 2, Sibselmash Novosibirsk 1
Kuzbass Kemerovo 10, Sayany Abakan 2
SKA-Sverdlovsk Yekaterinburg 4, Metallurg Bratsk 3

Saturday, December 2

SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk 16, Lesokhimik Ust-Ilimsk 4