Emmanuel Frimpong lost his second match in three days as FC Ufa were defeated 1-0 by Arsenal Tula in the Russian Premier League.
On Friday evening the Citizens were defeated 2-0 by FK Rostov after goals from Sardar Azmoun and Aleksandr Bukharov. It was a result that left them in a perilous predicament near the foot of the Russian table; with only eight games to play, Frimpong’s side found themselves in 13th place and facing a relegation play-off.
In this context, they will have welcomed Arsenal Tula to the Start Stadium desperate to secure a home win and a valuable three points.
Only 1,768 turned out as Ufa’s ambitions were frustrated; not only did they fail to pick up the win, they also lost against Arsenal, one of their fellow strugglers at the bottom.
Frimpong and his teammates were handed a disastrous defeat as Tula right winger Vladimir Korytko scored the only goal of the game after excellent work from Vladislav Ryzhkov.
Korytko’s effort came just after the half-hour mark, but despite having the whole of the second half to turn things around, Ufa were unable to muster a response.
They enjoyed more possession than their rivals, and more corners, but Ufa will have been disappointed and their persistent inability to find the net.
The Bashkortostan-based outfit have now slipped to 14th in the table, while their vanquishers Arsenal have moved up to 12th.
As things stand, Ufa appear destined for a spot in the relegation playoffs, although they could fall into the automatic drop zone should Torpedo Moscow win their game in hand.
The fixture list offers little respite for Ufa—next weekend they are set to face domestic giants Spartak Moscow, and with only seven more games to play, they can ill afford more dropped points.
One-time Ghana international Frimpong learned his trade with Arsenal in the Premier League and featured for the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Barnsley, Charlton Athletic and Fulham before moving to Russia in 2014.
