CSKA and Zenit tied at the Russian Championship

The seventh round of the championship of Russia was decorated with a fighting and dramatic meeting of the two best clubs of the last season. In it, the owner of the Cup of the country CSKA in his field quickly opened the scoring, taking advantage of the monstrous mistake of the defense of the national championship “Zenith”. Petersburgers, however, were able to bounce back in the end of the match, in which they had possession of the ball and territory, thanks to a corner. A draw – 1:1 – did not allow Zenit to come close to Krasnodar, the leader in the championship.

“Zenith” in defense at the start of this season is not quite a perfect team. But still, it was hard to imagine that he was capable of conceding such goals as he missed at the very beginning of the match with CSKA, in that segment of it, when the audience had not even fully studied who entered the field, not to mention the placement of those who left. It was a classic “import”, provoked in part, perhaps, by self-confidence, a sense of one’s own strength, one’s own flagship dignity.

Zenitites somehow remarkably calmly reacted to the army pressure that suddenly turned on right off the bat, as if it was being used against some provincial opponent, with whom it is not necessary to stand on ceremony. Instead of kicking the ball away from the penalty area, covered with CSKA players, they calmly rolled it. Meanwhile, Ivan Oblyakov eventually crushed Wilmar Barrios and forced him to pass back. And Nuraly Alip, who received it, seems to understand that he no longer has the right to take liberties, but at the same time not wanting to spoil the level set by his partners with a simple take-out, he passed the ball along the “ribbon” to Mikhail Kerzhakov.

And the goalkeeper, again ignoring the simplest and most clumsy decision – to instantly get rid of the gift in any way, tried to process the transfer.

In general, everything ended badly for him, because Anton Zabolotny was on duty nearby, and a tackle under the goalkeeper from an army forward brought the hosts ahead.

This terrible embarrassment “Zenith”, of course, did not break. Soon one could imagine what thoughts go through those who were worried about CSKA. Well, it’s great that we do. It’s great that everyone is working hard. But the three-fold superiority of Zenit in possession of the ball – isn’t it too much? Isn’t it a clear sign of trouble? After all, you can’t be so timid with him – someday all these well-lined flank attacks will lead not only to the next standard, but also to something much more unpleasant.

Trouble really walked all the time somewhere not far from the army gates. And they probably would have broken through if not for the person who protected them. Igor Akinfeev immediately showed that he was going to record this match in the list of the best ever held in a long and glorious career.

Two episodes, which grew out of the flank sheds that Zenit succeeded in, turned out to be especially impressive. In the first, Igor Akinfeev was opposed by an old friend with whom they had played for CSKA and the Russian national team for many years and who, having returned from Brazil in the summer, suddenly found himself in Zenit.

Mario Fernandez hit terribly uncomfortable for Akinfeev – from close range, in the opposite direction, sending the ball from top to bottom, as if hammering it into the lawn.

The goalkeeper was able to hook him with his foot.

The second episode was even more difficult for Akinfeev. Now head chamber corrected Mateo Cassierra. He corrected from the goalkeeper’s line, sending the ball away from the opponent, almost into the corner. Akinfeev pulled out this blow as well.

At first glance, the picture just screamed that sooner or later Zenit must recoup – someday, after all, a thin thread holding the army ahead will break. But the fact of the matter is that the break made some adjustments to the game. Hardly noticeable, but, undoubtedly, very important.

In the first half, the army team, of course, lacked density. In the second it became more. Zenit still controlled the ball much more, but this control no longer looked so scary. Moreover, CSKA sometimes snapped painfully, as, for example, after a signature pass from its own goal, fifty meters ahead from Igor Akinfeev, it reached Fedor Chalov. Forward shot to kill, but missed.

Then the CSKA players experienced several unpleasant seconds, seeing how Mario Fernandez was in their penalty area in front of Akinfeev, fell, and the referee Pavel Kukuyan, as if following reflexes, immediately pointed to the penalty mark. But Zenit did not succeed with a penalty: it turned out that Fernandez ran offside.

CSKA would have kept the victory if it were not for the tempo inflated by Zenit after a series of substitutions in the end. It was quite hard for the army team to fight back in the new rhythm. Zenit eventually rescued the corner and a good choice of position Douglas Santos. It was at the point where he settled down that the ball flew off Willian Roshi. And Douglas Santos, reacting to this rebound, was quick and agile, adapting amazingly well to the headbutt.

However, even after this goal, interesting events took place on the field. And mostly in the Zenit half, although it seemed that a draw here for happiness, first of all for CSKA. Why did the army team also want to arrange an assault, and once Milan Gayich, with his jet jerk, almost went to a duel with Mikhail Kerzhakov, who did not bode well for the goalkeeper, given the distance between the gates and the hosts’ footballer. However, “Zenith” was saved from a misfire by Strahinya Erakovich, who performed a risky tackle perfectly. As a result, a draw – 1:1.

The Petersburgers scored 14 points and are three points behind Krasnodar, the leader in the championship, which beat Spartak 2-0 the day before. On a par with Zenit are Dynamo, who defeated Rostov yesterday – 2: 1, and Krylya Sovetov, who defeated Fakel on Saturday – 3: 0. CSKA is stuck in the middle of the table with 11 points.

Alexey Dospekhov