Artem Dzyuba to help Zenit – Sport – Kommersant
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In the 18th round of the Russian Football Championship, matches were held with the participation of the top three. Spartak failed to beat Ural at home, achieving only a draw – 2:2. Zenit took advantage of the red-and-white misfire, defeating Paris Nizhny Novgorod in St. Petersburg – 3: 0. Now he is ahead of them already by eight points. And the gap between the Petersburgers and Rostov increased to ten points, which lost to Lokomotiv with a score of 1:3. Moreover, the hat-trick in this meeting was scored by the ex-striker of Zenit Artem Dzyuba.
The Saturday program of the 18th round was opened by Spartak, which, before the resumption of the Russian championship, was called the only possible rival of Zenit in the fight for the title. And the red-whites had to demonstrate their viability in a difficult confrontation with the Urals. It was at the beginning of the season that the Yekaterinburgers handed out points left and right, and with the arrival of Viktor Goncharenko as head coach, they turned into flint and gave out a 13-match unbeaten streak in all tournaments. In the same Cup of Russia, they reached the semi-finals of the upper part of the bracket, having recently defeated Rostov, and now they are waiting for two meetings there again with Spartak.
After all, Muscovites, too, have not been sitting idly by lately, showing consistently high results in the championship, and in the Cup, and even in the off-season. In addition, they lengthened and deepened the line-up, which Victor Moses should return to soon, and Quincy Promes, even having missed all the team training camps, stood up like a glove. Except that the central defender Georgiy Jikia was absent due to disqualification in the match with Ural, and he was replaced by newcomer Alexis Duarte. But attackers Shamar Nicholson and Alexander Sobolev became available, disqualified for cup games.
However, in the debut, Spartak was not like himself. It was not he who pressed the opponent, but he was crushed and covered right at the penalty area. Moreover, he limped and asked for a replacement, Nikita Chernov, so the center of defense of the red-whites took on a completely experimental look. And in the middle of the first half, Duarte broke the rules on Alexei Kashtanov, and the referee Vitaly Meshkov, with the help of VAR, appointed a penalty kick, which Rai Vlut converted. But gradually Spartak still ran up, increased pressure on the goal and equalized the score before the break after a shot by Ruslan Litvinov, who was still corrected by Ural defender Mingiyan Beveev.
The second half has already passed with a noticeable game advantage of the capital club, and scored for no apparent reason Yekaterinburg. The hosts kindly allowed Eric Bikfalvi to close Alexander Yushin’s cross. Nevertheless, they even retook the second goal, again thanks to Litvinov, who gracefully beat Promes, and then Christopher Martins, who provided a heel assist. It turned out dynamic and beautiful. Moreover, the red-whites took the lead when Sobolev punished goalkeeper Ilya Pomazun for an error on the way out, who collided with his own defender, but the referee for some reason annulled the goal. Apparently, it seemed to him that Martins, who was nearby, fouled on the goalkeeper. For some reason, I did not understand the situation and VAR. Probably because Meshkov whistled a moment before the ball flew into the net. As a result, the referee’s blunder cost Spartak two important points. True, in the very ending he almost missed even a draw – goalkeeper Alexander Selikhov rescued, repelling Yushin’s blow.
“Zenith” had a chance to immediately increase the gap from the main competitor from six to eight points and, at least for the near future, stop talking about the fact that intrigue is possible in the title race. Note that the leader of the Premier League presented a new central defender – 19-year-old Brazilian Robert Renan, who was traded from Corinthians for striker Yuri Alberto. He appeared in the starting lineup, despite the fact that he did not arrive at the team’s location until February 20, after winning the South American championship with the youth team. However, it was clear that Nizhny Novgorod was unlikely to cause much trouble for Zenit at the Gazprom Arena.
The Brazilian Malcolm, who had issued a Russian passport, already in the 12th minute perfectly shot from a free kick. Then the Petersburgers tinkered with the guests and earned a penalty, but Daler Kuzyaev charged above the crossbar, and Mateo Cassierra also hit the upper frame from the game earlier. On the other hand, Malcom did not miss in the 47th minute and sent the ball into the net with his head after Andrey Mostovoy’s cross. Thus, with 14 goals, he caught up with the top scorers of the current championship – Vladimir Pisarsky from Krylya Sovetov and Spartak Promes. Well, Alexander Erokhin brought the matter to a 3-0 defeat, who also scored in the Brazilian style – with a twisted kick with the outside of the foot. With 45 points, Zenit strengthened its still undisputed lead.
Rostov could only keep a gap of seven points behind the Petersburgers and one ahead of Spartak, but for this he had to defeat Lokomotiv. Yes, the railway workers failed the first part of the championship, and at the start of the 18th round, Khimki, occupying the penultimate 15th place, already caught up with them, but in the cup confrontation with Spartak, the red-greens made it clear that they were well prepared for the spring segment season. In addition, they actively worked on the transfer market, and as many as five newcomers entered the field in Rostov-on-Don from the first minutes, including Artem Dzyuba. On the other hand, due to disqualification, they lost Anton Miranchuk and Stanislav Magkeev.
The teams quickly exchanged dangerous moments. First, Dziuba hit the ball with his head near the bar, and then Ilya Lantratov parried with difficulty a low blow from Khoren Bayramyan from Rostov. However, after that there was a rather long pause, until Sergey Pinyaev, due to speed and dribble, ran one on one with Sergey Pesyakov. The goalkeeper won the duel, but soon Pinyaev made a pre-goal pass to Nair Tiknizyan, who was already assisting Dziuba. An experienced striker skillfully acted under the gate and seemed to just put his foot up. In response, the hosts sharply played a set piece when Egor Golenkov was very close to a goal, while Lokomotiv’s Maxim Glushenkov and Ivan Kuzmichev could still score before the break.
In the second half, the bar saved the guests when Bayramyan hit again. But Pesyakov again rescued Rostov when Pinyaev jumped out at him. And as a result, the same Dziuba scored, who waited for the opponent’s mistake, picked up the ball in the penalty area and calmly dealt with the goalkeeper. Moreover, the former Zenit striker did not calm down on this, scoring a hat-trick in the very first match after returning to the Russian championship. Dziuba was right there after the filing of Francois Camano and Glushenkov’s discount. Naturally, the outcome of this meeting was a foregone conclusion, and Nikolai Komlichenko only sweetened the bitterness of defeat. Having won 3:1, Lokomotiv moved up to 13th place with 16 points. Rostovites remained in 3rd position with 35 points.
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