Kristall still lead Russian league despite losing first match

The local St. Petersburg club suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday

The Russian Beach Soccer Championship returned for Matchdays six to ten from 2 – 6 June, this time in Saint Petersburg.

Defending champions Lokomotiv Moscow opened the stage with a tight win over Krylia Sovetov, who remain bottom of the league after failing to add to their single victory so far.

Kristall took two narrows wins against Lex and Lokomotiv, then a more convincing victory against Krylia Sovetov, but then came their first setback of the campaign when they lost 6-4 to Delta.

Despite this result, Kristall are way ahead in first position, currently on 24 points while Lokomotiv sit on 15 points in second position. The 2020 league champions will have to pull off an incredible turnaround to catch Schirinzi’s men, though they do have a game in hand.

Kristall finished in third place in the previous edition of the Russian league, but went on to win both the Euro Winners Cup and the Russian Cup later in the 2020 season.

Just behind Lokomotiv on 14 points are Delta, who climb the table after beating, Kristall, Krylia Sovetov and Lex in St. Petersburg. Spartak have ten points from eight matches and sit in fourth, while Lex are just behind them on nine.

CSKA, averaging a point per game, occupy sixth place, while Krylia Sovetov remain bottom on three points.

Lokomotiv Moscow’s Boris Nikonorov is still top of the scoring charts with 13 goals in eight games.

The next stage of the Russia Beach Soccer Championships will be played from 10 – 13 June.

RESULTS

02/06

Lokomotiv 2-1 Krylia Sovetov
CSKA 7-6 Spartak *AET
Lex 2-3 Kristall

03/06

Delta 2-6 Spartak
Lex 5(5)-(4)5 CSKA
Lokomotiv 3-4 Kristall

04/06

CSKA 2-10 Lokomotiv
Krylia Sovetov 2-8 Kristall
Lex 6-7 Delta *AET

05/06

CSKA 7-6 Krylia Sovetov
Lex 4-2 Spartak
Kristall 4-6 Delta