Beauty did not save Spartak – Newspaper Kommersant No. 162 (7363) of 09/05/2022

In the main match of the eighth round, Spartak won at home after the first half against the winner of four previous Russian championships, Zenit, who was ahead of him by only a point, but still lost at home to the leader of the current championship – 1: 2, missing two goals in a row at the beginning of the second half.

This match at the Otkritie Bank Arena, of course, was a football anomaly. For those who saw him, pictures should have popped up in their minds not of Spartak’s fresh performances in the championship, which made them perceive him almost as an equal to Zenit, but of the meeting that opened the Russian season – the July Super Cup, in which Petersburgers smashed their opponents to smithereens – 4:0. Here again everything was clear. The “big” team – solid, confident, capable of everything – is playing against a team that is only clumsily trying to be like the “big”. He tries, sometimes shows some curious “chips”, but half a time sags under the pressure of the real giant deeper and deeper and persistently calls trouble on his head.

They could well have been provided to Spartak, for example, by Andrey Mostovoy. In the starting quarter of an hour with a little, he managed to break through on goal three times from absolutely lethal positions: the first time – after a gift from Spartak goalkeeper Alexander Maksimenko, then – after the Zenit attacks that cut into dust someone else’s defense. But Mostovoy fired in the wrong direction all the time.

And suddenly, in the middle of this champion class demonstration, a cunningly hidden mine exploded.

Spartak, already seemed ready for the worst, for an hour and a half to fight back, carried out a chic attack, one that will be reviewed years, or even decades later.

Everything was perfect in it – both the long-range pass of Mikhail Ignatov, and the handling of the pass from Alexander Sobolev, and Sobolev’s discount on Christopher Martins, and the latter’s dash to the front past Douglas Santos. And the ending of the combination was especially beautiful. Martins passed back to Sobolev, who turned Dejan Lovren with an exquisite “roulette” and, having completed the feint, sent the ball past goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov.

For the first time this season, Zenit tried on the skin of a team that was lagging behind in the score. But it cannot be said that this Spartak masterpiece somehow knocked him out of the rhythm. Nothing like this. He did not change his style, did not lose persuasiveness and constantly created threats. And the right flank of the Spartak defense, because of the angry Douglas Santos, was simply bursting at the seams. But the goal did not work out. The amazing passes of the Brazilian in turn screwed up Malcolm and Mateo Cassierra, and Mostovoy, again carving out a chance for himself, failed in the duel with Maksimenko.

The triumph of the rational over the irrational came after the rest. “Zenith” could not score after the “correct”, calculated up to a centimeter, up to a split second attacks, but scored a crazy goal.

After a corner, Lovren suddenly discovered that a ball that had bounced off to the side was right next to him, standing right next to the post, and shoved it into the corner. Maksimenko managed to close it, but it was still necessary to make sure that the legs were tightly closed, and the Zenit defender landed right between them.

And after that, another loser of the first half was rehabilitated. Mostovoy made his favorite maneuver, shifting from left to center, and hit from the penalty area, now – insanely accurate, in the very corner.

Meanwhile, the fire blazed with might and main. “Spartak”, of course, added, “Zenith”, of course, this circumstance was not too upset, seeing the prospects in counterattacks. Both coaches – Guillermo Abascal and Sergey Semak – increased the degree of cheerfulness of the game with substitutions. But the account refused to change. “Zenith” won and increased the lead over the pursuers. Moreover, Spartak, which is four points behind him after the defeat, is no longer the closest among them. Closer to the score are Krasnodar and CSKA, which defeated Wings of the Soviets on Sunday.

In the Samara match, the army team struck 18 shots at the opponents’ goal, the hosts – only four. And this is the case when the statistics are not too crafty and more or less accurately reflect the alignment of forces. Another thing is that closer to the end of the match it might seem that the stubborn and patient Krylia are able to reach a draw, using the amazing generosity of their opponents and the excellent tone of their goalkeeper Ivan Lomaev.

In the middle of the first half, CSKA played a set piece a little awkwardly, but in the end, Fedor Chalov, after rebounds, had a chance to shoot at the goal from the penalty area from a reversal. The forward hit the crossbar. Then there were several episodes in which the “Wings” hung in the balance, but each time they got out of the water dry thanks to the downed sight of opponents or their own defenders, who somehow had time at the last moment, including risky tackles, to avert trouble.

And after the break, Lomaev shone. Before him were Jorge Carrascal, and the same Chalov, and the goalkeeper guessed at what point to stand and when to rush forward, reducing the angle of fire so that the army team could not outplay him.

The Wings did not have long to endure, but still they could not resist.

Success for the army team was brought by a corner kick by Jesus Medina, meeting which Igor Diveev hung in the air, jumping two heads higher than any player who was nearby, so spectacularly, as if he had been playing basketball for half his life. And the hovering jump was crowned with a neat headbutt, which Lomaev could no longer take.

Another Moscow giant, Lokomotiv, which started the championship unsuccessfully, but seemed to come to its senses after defeating Khimki with Orenburg in previous rounds, again misfired. This time – terribly offensive, because in the midst of the first half of the home match with Akhmat, he received an extra player: Mohamed Konate, who opened the scoring, earned a second yellow card. Even before the break, thanks to Anton Miranchuk’s penalty, the railroad caught up with Grozny, and there was every reason to think that overtaking was not far off. But instead, there was a goal conceded by Lokomotiv from Lecha Sadulaev and a defeat, after which the capital team is much closer to the outsiders of the championship than its avant-garde.

Alexey Dospekhov