Match – tough guy – Kommersant

The Moscow derby, which crowned the 28th round of the Russian Championship, aggravated the intrigue in the fight for silver to the limit. Spartak defeated CSKA 2:1 at home in a match that will be remembered for difficult refereeing decisions, an amazingly obscene gesture from Spartak Alexander Sobolev and a double from Quincy Promes, who turned him into the top scorer of red and white in the Russian championships. The victory came close, at a distance of one point, brought the red-whites closer to the army team, who occupy the second place in the table after Zenit, which has already secured gold.

The main Russian derby for about half the half advertised, first of all, the careful work of both of its participants in studying the opponent: not a single serious mistake, not a single convulsive movement that could help create sharpness. Emotions in those moments gushed like a fountain except from the Spartak and army coaches – Guillermo Abascal and Vladimir Fedotov. But the players kept their heads cool.

However, once the same degree had to still jump up. In such situations, a small spark is sometimes enough to explode. The spark, it seems, was a luxurious attack in terms of rhythm. Mikhail Ignatov sent the ball into the net, not yet seeing that the side referee raised the flag up. Offside was actually barely noticeable, ephemeral, but what’s the difference if the goal was canceled anyway.

But after this Spartak bite, CSKA started up. Ivan Oblyakov, who actually never had a reputation as a master of riding wrestling, ahead of Tomasz Tavares, almost hit the far corner with his head. Jesus Medina, after a soft pass from Fedor Chalov, fired into the net, but from the outside. The ball beaten off by Spartak goalkeeper Alexander Selikhov was finished off by Anton Zabolotny, but then a microscopic offside spoiled the army holiday.

True, it soon took place. It was, in fact, a typical CSKA attack, a trick that he pulled repeatedly during the season. Everything seems to be calm. The ball is in the army half, at the feet of Igor Akinfeev. But he does not just take it forward at random, but makes an accented pass to the penalty area, where Chalov is always ready to fight. This time, having outweighed Nikita Chernov, he threw the ball to Medina, and before that there was, in fact, an empty corner, into which, of course, Selikhov did not have time to fly and fly.

Spartak bounced back quickly. Anton Zinkovsky’s cross from the right into a goal transformed Quincy Promes, who soared into the sky like a hawk. And it was the Dutchman’s special ball. He became his 87th in the national championships. And now it is Promes, who has bypassed Yegor Titov, who is Spartak’s top scorer in the Russian championships.

And in the second half there was a special episode of a completely different kind. Rarely does the Moscow derby do without something scandalous. The current one was not included in the short list of exceptions. On the contrary, the state of emergency came out too noticeable.

Near the front line, Spartak forward Alexander Sobolev and army defender Willian Rocha were cut. Sobolev, grabbing his opponent by the T-shirt, knocked him to the lawn. Rosha was lying on his back, and the Spartacist, standing in front of him in a triumphant pose, showed such a frank gesture, such an understandable movement of his hands below the waist, which, if he had dared to attack him in the company of stern men somewhere in the quiet Golyanov yard, would surely have sent him away for a long time to a hospital bed. Now Sobolev got off with a red card from judge Sergei Karasev. At the same time, oddly enough, Willian Rocha also earned the removal, although in his actions something equal to the actions of Alexander Sobolev in terms of dirt and obscenity was difficult to discern. Well, except that he tried to repeat Sobolev’s gesture, explaining to the referee what happened.

But this turned out to be not the only verdict of Karasev, which, apparently, is doomed to serve as a subject of heated discussions. First, in the army penalty area, Igor Diveev, having completely cleared the ball from Roman Zobnin, severely stepped on the foot of the Spartak midfielder. Zobnin writhed in pain, and Karasev was called to watch VAR. For those who were worried about Spartak, it probably seemed that a penalty was inevitable – Diveev almost tore off his opponent’s leg. Karasev, however, spared CSKA.

A few minutes later VAR turned on again. Now – after another Spartak Victor Moses, finding himself – also in someone else’s penalty area – between two army defenders, tumbled as if a mine had exploded under him. And for those who were worried about CSKA, it certainly seemed that there was nothing terrible for the guests, that the fantastic artistry of Moses was not a reason for severe punishment of the Arameans. But Karasev saw, presumably, that the attacker, albeit lightly, was hit on the leg, and pointed to the penalty mark, and the VAR team agreed with his decision.

Penalty hit, of course, Quincy Promes. And Igor Akinfeev found himself inches away from becoming the undisputed hero of the match, guessing where Promes would aim and getting the ball in the corner. But it was his opponent who became the hero. Promes, like a hungry predator, rushed to the beaten ball and in the fall, ahead of Baktiyor Zainutdinov, nevertheless drove him into the goal.

This result rather aggravated the fight for medals in the Russian championship. Or would it be more correct to say that he definitely aggravated the fight for silver, if we take into account the result of another important match of the 28th round. In it, Rostov, which was recently the closest pursuer of Zenit, continued a strange series of spring failures. Following Fakel and Sochi, Krasnodar beat him at home – 3:0.

“Spartak” approached the second in the championship CSKA at a distance of one point. But Rostov is separated from Spartak by three points. Spartak’s good chances in the race for silver are ensured both by the head-to-head advantage over the army team and by the finishing calendar. It is much easier for him than for both competitors – meetings with Pari Nizhny Novgorod and Wings of the Soviets located in the bottom half of the table. CSKA and Rostov, on the other hand, will have to play each other, perhaps in a decisive match in terms of fighting for prizes. It will take place in the final round in Moscow. In the round preceding it, the army team will go to visit Krasnodar, and the Rostovites will receive Akhmat, about which you need to know that he, too, has not yet lost his medal prospects.

Alexey Dospekhov