FK Orenburg produced a dramatic late turnaround to defeat FK Nizhny Novgorod 2–1 on matchday 26 of the RFPL, with substitute Alexandre Jesus scoring twice in three second-half minutes.
Nizhny Novgorod struck first shortly before the break. In the 41st minute, Adrián Balboa converted from the penalty spot to give the visitors a 1–0 lead. Moments earlier, Orenburg goalkeeper Bogdan Ovsyannikov had been booked, adding to the tension in a tight first half.
Orenburg turned to their bench after the interval. Alexis Cantero replaced Emil Tsenov on 57 minutes, before a decisive double change on 67–68 minutes saw Alexandre Jesus come on for Maksim Savelyev and Renat Golybin replace Damian Puebla. Nizhny Novgorod responded with a triple switch around the 69th and 70th minutes, introducing Daniil Lesovoy, Juan Castillo and Nikita Ermakov for Matvey Urvantsev, Balboa and Andrey Ivlev.
The momentum swung firmly towards the hosts in the final quarter of an hour. In the 79th minute, Alexandre Jesus levelled the score at 1–1, finishing a move assisted by Jordhy Thompson. Just three minutes later, the same combination struck again: Thompson provided another assist and Jesus completed his brace in the 82nd minute to make it 2–1 to Orenburg.
There was a flurry of late yellow cards and substitutions as Nizhny Novgorod chased an equaliser. Balboa had already been booked in the 69th minute, followed by cautions for Cantero (84') and earlier for Ivlev (47') and Urvantsev (55'). Further changes included Vyacheslav Grulev replacing Juan Castillo on 85 minutes, while Orenburg introduced Ruslan Kul and Irakli Kvekveskiri in the 89th minute. Artem Sidorenko entered for Luka Tičić in stoppage time.
Despite Nizhny Novgorod's reshuffle, Orenburg held firm to secure the three points. Detailed statistics such as possession, shots and full line-ups were not available at the time of writing.
For more on the RFPL and this fixture, visit the full match page on Ballaxy and the RFPL competition hub.
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