In the 13th round of the Russian Football Championship, Zenit defeated Akhmat – 2:1

In the 13th round of the Russian Football Championship, Zenit defeated Akhmat – 2:1, which allowed it to reduce the gap from the leading Krasnodar to two points. Krylya Sovetov drew 1:1 with Orenburg and retained 3rd place. Lokomotiv was defeated by Rostov – 0:1, and Spartak lost to Fakel – 0:2.

On Saturday, four matches of the 13th round took place – all with the participation of clubs included in the leading group. Ranked 4th “Spartacus” visited Voronezh. Initially, it was clear that a difficult departure awaited him, given that “Torch” took seven points out of a possible nine in the previous three meetings. In addition, weather conditions created additional difficulties for the red and white: as a result of heavy rains, the field became very heavy, and in some areas it completely turned into a swamp, which neutralized the superiority of the guests in class. Moreover, the team leader, Quincy Promes, was absent due to injury.

Spartak’s game was not going well, and Fakel, acting in a tough, forceful manner, had an advantage. The hosts could have opened the scoring after Muscovites’ central defender Alexis Duarte made a blunder, and Khyzyr Appaev brought out Evgeniy Markov for a shot. The guests were saved by the bar and the puddle, which clearly slowed down the movement of the ball and thereby slightly adjusted its trajectory. Periodically, danger arose in their penalty area and after crosses.

The Voronezh team was very motivated to fight and often won it, literally terrorizing Spartak with pressure. But in the first half they failed to push him through. And in the second, the initiative was seized by the red and white, who, apparently, gradually adapted to the lawn. However, he still prevented them from combining. The more straightforward attacks of “Fakel” sometimes looked much sharper, and the same Markov again almost scored from Appaev’s flank pass. The guests created a scoring chance only from a set piece, when goalkeeper Alexander Belenov parried a header from Duarte.

The decisive episode occurred in the 69th minute, when another Spartak central defender, Srdjan Babic, kicked Markov in the face in the penalty area, for which he was punished not only with a penalty, but also with a second yellow card.

Thus, Guillermo Abascal’s team remained in the minority and conceded from the 11-meter mark. Markov accurately shot from the spot, and then Maxim Maximov completely declassed the favorite, closing in Nikita Motpan’s cross. Fakel won 2:0, and Spartak suffered their fifth defeat in the championship.

Ranked in 5th place “Locomotive” I also made a difficult trip to Rostov-on-Don. And there, the hosts achieved success almost in the very first attack thanks to the efforts of Kirill Shchetinin, who took advantage of a successful rebound of the ball inside the penalty area and sent it into the net. “Rostov” and then he was much closer to a goal. Danil Glebov simply missed a killer chance when he seemed to be hitting the empty part of the goal and it was blocked by visiting defender Lucas Fason. And Shchetinin missed the shot in a very comfortable situation instead of calmly scoring a double. And for the railway workers, before the break, Artem Dzyuba could have painted a masterpiece, trying to score with his heel, but slightly missed.

It seemed that there would definitely be more goals in this match. Moreover, Lokomotiv started the second half quite actively. And yet he lacked any clear opportunities to score goals. In fact, only Anton Miranchuk could really do this, but the hosts were rescued by goalkeeper Sergei Pesyakov, and Glebov did not allow Nair Tiknizyan to finish off the ball. Fason also hit the post in the end, although it looks like he played along with his hand earlier.

The goal of the yellow-blue striker Mohammad Mokhebi was canceled due to offside by Egor Golenkov, who assisted him. Nevertheless, Rostov won 1:0.

Rounding out the top three “Wings of Soviets” accepted “Orenburg”. After the defeat of Spartak, the Samara team seemed to be in euphoria for some time and lost two matches in a row. True, both were away, but at home, and even with the 15th team in the championship, they again showed sharp attacking football, which is more familiar to them. And even the thick fog that fell on Samara was not a hindrance to them. Benjamin Garre and Glenn Bale very gracefully broke into the Orenburg defense, and the Argentine skillfully placed the ball into the top corner. We can also note that Krylia defender Roman Evgeniev hit the post.

But in the second half, the guests were able to change the course of the match, and Matias Perez headed in a cross from Arsen Adamov to equalize the score. And then Mikhail Sivakov openly forgave the Samara team, missing the shot from close range. The Orenburg team tried to earn a penalty, and referee Rafael Shafeev even bought into the fall of Vladimir Obukhov in a single combat with goalkeeper Bogdan Ovsyannikov. However, VAR corrected him and the referee overturned his own decision.

So a 1:1 draw was not the worst result for Krylya Sovetov, who were teetering on the brink of defeat.

And so, with 22 points, they will still be third and have even increased the gap between Spartak and Lokomotiv, which have 20 points each, by one point.

Closest pursuer to the Premier League leader “Zenith” in a home match with “Akhmatom” also encountered problems. The Grozny team tightly grabbed the club from St. Petersburg and caught it on a counterattack. The powerful Mohamed Konate, starting in his own half of the field, single-handedly beat Nuraly Alip, Rodrigao, goalkeeper Denis Adamov, who ran outside the penalty area for backup, and Strahinja Erakovic, after which he hit the empty goal. But the guests lost their advantage too easily and quickly. Ivan Sergeev’s goal was led to a curious collision between two central defenders of Akhmat – Yasmin Celikovich and Darko Todorovic. And soon another failure in the Grozny defense ended with Mateo Cassierra scoring his tenth goal in the championship from a pass from Gustavo Mantuan.

To the credit of Miroslav Romashchenko’s team, they did not fall apart and persistently looked for some chances in attack. Another thing is that the St. Petersburgers did not provide them – and won 2:1. At the same time, Cassierra hit the post at the end of the match. Now Zenit has 26 points, and Krasnodar, which has 28, is just around the corner. Yes, the Kuban team has not yet played their 13th round match, but they will have to meet CSKA in Moscow, and it is far from a fact that such a difficult trip will go well for them.

Alexander Ilyin