Ural vs Yenisey

Ural made light work of Yenisey at home, turning a tight, goalless first half into a 3-0 rout after the break. The tie was even for 45 minutes with neither side threatening much, but Ural's changes at the interval flipped the game, and their dominance in the closing stages made the scoreline feel thoroughly deserved by the end. The floodgates opened just after halftime when Evgeny Kharin struck in the 48th minute off a Martin Sekulich assist. Nikita Morozov doubled the lead in the 77th minute, and Denis Bokov added a third in the 84th to complete the rout. The only blemish was a yellow card for Nikita Shershov in the 63rd minute for breaking up a promising Ural attack — otherwise there were no penalties or red cards, just Ural controlling possession and firing 10 shots on target to Yenisey's 4. For Ural, the second-half substitutions paid off handsomely, with several young players making an instant impact in what was a statement performance to open the campaign. Yenisey, by contrast, competed well for long stretches and arguably didn't deserve such a lopsided defeat, but wasteful finishing and a lack of composure after the break left them empty-handed.