PFC Sochi hosted FK Rostov, who missed their entire first-team squad due health issues. The youngsters did make an impressive start, when Roman Romanov become the youngest player in Rostov history to score while being the third in overall Russian football league history. but were then well beaten.
The Russian league returned on Friday after the league was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sochi hosted Rostov at the Fisht Stadium, but there was a problem. Six Rostov players tested positive for COVID-19, but the Russian league did not accept the postponement as Sochi refused to play the match at a later date.
The whole of the Rostov squad had to go into quarantine and so they had to field their youth team. Roman Romanov put Rostov ahead in the first minute but then Sochi ran through them. Abramov scored an own goal in the seventh minute and then Kokorin got a hat-trick while Zabolotniy and Poloz get braces. Novoseltsev and Koldunov were the other scorers in a 10-1 win for Sochi. It was 4-1 at half-time and Sochi even missed a penalty.
Sochi are ninth on 27 points while Rostov remain fourth on 38 points, but the decision to play the game will be heavily criticised. Check out the highlights from the game above!