“Spartak” did not have enough segments – Kommersant

The fifth round of the Russian Football Championship crowned an exciting match between two Russian giants. “Spartak” gave out several cool segments in it, but still lost in its field – 1:3 – to “Zenith”, which, while experiencing these segments, nevertheless gained championship persuasiveness.

The degree of the factory in this match was, of course, turned up to the limit values, and Spartak’s coach Guillermo Abascal, rushing around the technical area, running forward along it, to the St. either players or stands. For a while, he apparently had to like what was happening on the field. “Spartak” really moved well – it seems to be even better than “Zenith”. And Mikhail Ignatov, firing into the near corner, forced the goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov to turn on in full. This activity completely disguised the mines laid down in the Spartak squad itself – too clearly attack-oriented, with a minimum of specialists in defensive actions – mines. He simply did not let Zenit feel weaknesses – the Petersburgers had no time for them, they had to take care of their own rear first of all.

The picture changed gradually. Closer to the middle of the first half, those who were worried about Spartak must have thought with chagrin that the former arrogance in his game was gone, and Zenit, which had gradually adapted to the opponent, was already stuck in the opponent’s half for a long time. Moreover, he creates chances himself – as, for example, in a situation when Vyacheslav Karavaev, now a central defender, remembered that before the renewal of his team this summer he was an extreme defender, with much less limited powers, and, deftly shifting to the center, hit unpleasantly.

But Zenit also turned on the pressure, and much tougher than the one that Spartak used at first. And it quickly bore fruit. Douglas Santos took the ball from Jesús Medina on the left, and no one kept Ivan Sergeev on the penalty line at that moment. Sergeev managed the partner’s pass perfectly, immediately launching the ball on top of goalkeeper Ilya Svinov. Spartak was saved by the crossbar.

However, the trouble came almost immediately after this rescue, literally during the next Zenith assault, also largely involved in tenacity, rebounds. It was from the selection that he ventured to hit, who was a couple of tens of meters from the gate, Wendel. And he was right. The blow came out weak. In addition, it is possible that the ball generally flew a little away from the gate. But on his way, George Jikia’s leg turned up, and he was not able to calculate this rebound of the Svinov.

“Spartak”, even before the goal, survived the trouble in the form of an injury received out of the blue by Victor Moses, came to his senses with difficulty. But, at least, he flatly refused to crumble and found the strength in himself to try to put pressure before the break. And after the break, he found enough reserves in himself to add to his creativity – in many respects, it seems, thanks to the successful replacements of Abaskal: both Theo Bongonda and Nail Umyarov entered the game brilliantly.

It was an excellent segment in the performance of Spartak. For a quarter of an hour he combined smartness with intelligence, cunning, and even a certain sophistication, weaving complex webs of gears and almost always decorating them with a blow. Strikes, however, as a rule, lacked accuracy.

But the scenario of the first half was repeated. At some point, there was a feeling that Spartak, having shown off, threw out everything that he kept in the stash, that his anguish had quite clearly defined limits. And the settled “Zenith” drew himself up, regained his champion’s density and rationality. In the end, there was no trace left of the Spartak gloss and just too obvious superiority.

The second Zenit goal matured from the talent of two Brazilians. Claudinho gave out one of his trademark passes – soft, but cutting like a straight razor a piece of butter, all someone else’s defense, and Wendel processed this pass great and, without straining, dealt with Svinov.

The intrigue in the match was revived by VAR. Without her, of course, it would be impossible to understand that during an absolutely routine struggle in the penalty area of ​​Wilmar Barrios and Alexander Sobolev, the Zenit midfielder brushed, albeit, most likely by accident, the ball from the chest of the Spartak striker with his hand. Referee Sergey Karasev carefully considered the episode and came to the conclusion that one cannot do without a penalty. Sobolev did not screw up the penalty, and Spartak, being next to the runaway, was forward at such a distance that it was useless to catch up, Zenit, came to life again.

The ending was great. Spartak went on the assault without hesitation. “Zenith”, fighting back, pricked him, opened, in response. It got to the point that even Ilya Svinov tried on the role of a defensive midfielder – no one was superfluous for the decisive onslaught. However, the final word still remains with Zenit. Spartacists were finished off by Mateo Cassierra, to whom the partners, who miraculously retained icy composure in the hot stoppage time, provided the opportunity to shoot the gate from half a dozen meters.

After this victory, Zenit, which was two points behind Spartak before the tour, overtook him and caught up with Dynamo, who closed the top three. Three points separate the Petersburgers from the unexpected leaders Krasnodar and Ural.

Alexey Dospekhov