Dziuba could not upset Zenit

The most anticipated match of the tour ended as it should, with the victory of the Semak team. Artyom Dziuba did not score against his former club this time, although he tried very hard.

Russian championship. 22nd round. Cherkizovo. Lokomotiv – Zenit 1:2 (1:1). Goals: Glushenkov, 26 – Wendel, 40, Pogostnov, 77 (own goal).

The match at Lokomotiv’s home stadium gathered a negligible (hello, Fan ID) audience, only about 10,000 fans. And the game was really successful: Loko used high and powerful pressure, which Galaktionov’s teams always succeeded in, and Zenit tried to get out of this pressure, and quite successfully. Both teams played on the attack, which could not but please the audience.

The same pressure helped the hosts to open an account. Galaktionov’s team covered Renan and Wendel in the penalty area of ​​Zenit, and Glushenkov perfectly fulfilled the “verdict” – Kerzhakov Sr. could not repel a tight shot from the bar. Dziuba ideally “clung” to the balls, handing out passes to his partners, but this did not lead to more goals scored.

But Zenit did not come to the capital to see Eifman’s ballet (the St. Petersburg Master brought his best performances to be shown at the State Kremlin Palace) to watch. The same Wendel, who screwed up near his goal, corrected himself in the 40th minute of the match. The Brazilians set up a carousel in Lantratov’s penalty area, and Wendel put the leather sphere into Lokomotiv’s net with a skillful blow.

The second half of the meeting was completely left to the St. Petersburg team. “Loko” periodically played the rebound, the ball rarely reached Dziuba, Pinyaev enchanted, but without a result. Zenit did not miss its chance. The Colombian Casierra, who came out instead of the inert Sergeev, set the final score in the match with a breathtaking blow through himself. And let the football projectile “found” Pogostnov on the way to the gates of the railroad workers – this in no way diminishes the merits of the St. Petersburg legionnaire.

Thus, this time Artyom Dzyuba was unable to say hello to coach Semak, as he did in Nizhny and Rostov, and Zenit strengthened its leadership and is rushing at full speed to its next championship.

And some statistics: as colleagues calculated, Dynamo’s attendance fell by more than 3 times compared to the first round (there was no Fan ID); for Spartak, this figure is almost the same; CSKA is missing half of its fans, and Lokomotiv – a quarter. It’s not worth talking about Torpedo vs Khimki. There numbers are even worse.

Once again, the same question arises: “How long?” How and how much more should attendance fall for the RFU to think about the legitimacy of the “Fan ID”?

Vladimir Sabadash.

Photo by Ekaterina Konkina