Arsenal Tula vs Sokol Saratov

Arsenal Tula roared back from a goal down to beat Sokol Saratov 3-1 at the Arsenal Stadium in a dominant Round 26 display. A six-minute first-half blitz turned the game on its head after the visitors had taken a surprise early lead. Vladislav Shpitalniy opened the scoring on 10 minutes to silence the home crowd, but Arsenal hit back with ruthless efficiency. Igor Gorbunov equalised in the 14th minute before Ilya Azyavin fired the hosts ahead just two minutes later. Azyavin completed his brace four minutes into the second half to kill the contest. The remainder was a scrappy affair, with yellow cards for Sokol's Vladimir Kovachevich (58') and Amir Kahrimanovic (79') as frustrations boiled over. The win lifts Arsenal Tula to ninth on 35 points in a tightly packed mid-table. Sokol, rooted to the bottom of the FNL with just 16 points and only two wins all season, look increasingly destined for the drop.