In the ninth round of the Russian Championship, champion Zenit lost to Lokomotiv

In the ninth round of the Russian Championship, Zenit was defeated, losing at home to Lokomotiv - 1:2. Krasnodar defeated Ural at home with a score of 2:0 and retained its lead in the championship with 21 points.

In the match with Lokomotiv, Zenit had the opportunity to at least temporarily return to its favorite first place, displacing Krasnodar, which played later. The leader of Russian football was a clear favorite in the confrontation with the railway workers, who at the starting stage of the championship did not justify the advances given to them and did not confirm their status as one of the tournament favorites. The St. Petersburg team gradually returned to their usual tournament trajectory and practically won back the handicap they had given to the same Krasnodar.

During the match with Lokomotiv, Zenit also gradually took back the initiative and began to stifle the Muscovites.

They seemed to be defending well until Vyacheslav Karavaev's flank pass into the penalty area landed right on Mateo Cassierra's head. The Premier League's top scorer soared up and fired into the bottom corner, but his guard Evgeniy Morozov missed the chance and completely lost the fight. So the Colombian easily and naturally scored his eighth goal in the current championship.

Lokomotiv also had a powerful pillar in front in the person of Artem Dzyuba, but they hardly loaded the ball onto him, and in general the guests attacked without any specifics. Zenit goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov felt absolutely calm. Only at the end of the first half did Anton Miranchuk force him to really come into the game when he tried to curl the ball into the goal from a set piece. And the 100% scoring chance was missed by Dmitry Barinov, who even with two shots could not hit the target, first falling under the block of Nuraly Alip, and then Strakhini Erakovic.

It is curious that Zenit did not notice Wilson Isidore, who had recently transferred from Lokomotiv. It is not surprising that he was replaced by Ivan Sergeev. But in the second half, Dzyuba reminded his former club of himself, especially Kerzhakov, who suffered a bit in close combat with the forward. But the inclusion of Maxim Glushenkov in the game turned out to be much more dangerous, who scored a goal just four minutes after coming off the bench. The railway striker played with Nair Tiknizyan and fired the ball into the net from outside the penalty area.

The St. Petersburgers didn’t like this and went on the attack, but for a long time they couldn’t boast of anything other than Mario Fernandez’s hit on goalkeeper Ilya Lantratov. Then Cassierra pushed Morozov again and drove towards the empty goal for Sergeeva, but he made a slight mistake in the pass and his partner did not have time to close it. And yet, overall, Zenit did not put enough pressure on the opponent’s defense. In the end, Sergeev tried to decide the fate of the match, but sent the ball over the bar.

But in the end everything was decided by Glushenkov and Tiknizyan.

In injury time, Lokomotiv put pressure on the hosts when they threw out a throw-in not far from their goal. Glushenkov immediately rushed to the goal and made such a pass to Tiknizyan that it was simply impossible not to score.

True, the goal scorer tore off his T-shirt in celebration, for which he received a yellow card, and soon received a second one for his participation in the skirmish. But this did not help Zenit avoid defeat - 1:2. The St. Petersburg team remained with 17 points, dropping to third position, while Mikhail Galaktionov’s team scored 15, catching up with Dynamo, which closed the top five.

The result of the meeting in St. Petersburg should have further inspired Krasnodar.

Although the Kuban team, who hosted Ural, did not even offer him a starting onslaught and started the match too passively. Undoubtedly, it was played with their advantage, but it rather looked formal and did not translate into scoring chances. During the entire first half, the hosts did not create anything memorable at the opponents' goal, while cementing everything at their own.

A draw also brought Vladimir Ivich’s team to first place, which, thanks to the victory over Sochi, was formally taken by Krylya Sovetov, but at home, of course, it had to take three points. And after the break, Kadi Borges finally opened up the Yekaterinburg defense. The Brazilian broke into the penalty area from the right at an acute angle and wanted to shoot, but it turned out that the ball ricocheted off the Ural defender Yegor Filipenko onto the crossbar and into the net. Well, Kevin Lenini's header finally sealed the success of Krasnodar, which won 2:0 and continued to lead the standings with 21 points, now even a little more confidently than before the round.

The game was much more fun in Rostov-on-Don, where the hosts were already leading 2:0 by the 12th minute.

Alexey Mironov caught CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev by surprise with a long-range shot, and Egor Golenkov punished Fedor Chalov for a loss in his own penalty area. And it was Khoren Bayramyan who managed not to hit the empty goal after he had already dribbled past Akinfeev. But the red-blue defender Kelven volleyed home Milan Gaich's serve and reduced the difference. In the second half, Golenkov scored a double, but the army team, through the efforts of Chalov and Abbosbek Faizullaev, restored equality. The match ended in a draw - 3:3. CSKA is in ninth place with 13 points, and Rostov is in 11th with nine points.

Alexander Ilyin