“Spartak” nailed Spartak – Newspaper Kommersant No. 197 (7398) of 10/24/2022

In the 14th round of the Russian Championship, Spartak scored a major victory over Khimki, scoring five unanswered goals for Spartak Gogniyev’s team. The second-placed red-and-whites scored 29 points and were three points ahead of the nearest pursuer CSKA, which, in turn, failed to defeat Orenburg – 2:2.

After CSKA and Spartak failed to identify the strongest in the derby, which ended in a draw – 2: 2, they continued to compete with each other in absentia format, and at the same time with Rostov, which, even having missed the victory over Fakel the day before, thanks to the score he got ahead of the red-white and red-blue in the standings. Moreover, if the Spartacists hosted Khimki, who forgot when they won the last time, then the army team visited the unpredictable Orenburg, which recently got 0:8 in a match with Zenit and at the same time gathered a pretty decent harvest in 13 rounds out of 18 points.

The team of the Czech specialist Marcel Lichka is courageous and playing, so he tries to impose his football on everyone, regardless of the status and regalia of the opponent. And in the home arena, she is even more focused on the attack.

So, in the meeting with CSKA, the Orenburgers did not change themselves, deciding from the first minutes to strangle one of the leaders of the Premier League.

True, they ran into the return line very quickly, and the best scorer of Muscovites, Fedor Chalov, in an aesthetic way, sent the ball into the net with his heel, scoring the tenth goal in the current championship.

But this did not bother the hosts at all, especially since they also have a full-time scorer – Vladimir Sychevoi, who closed Brian Mansiglia’s canopy with his head and also reached the mark of ten effective strikes. It’s another matter that Orenburg’s defender Renato Gojkovic immediately put himself under a cross from Jorge Carrascal and hit his own goal. And then the guests had three more moments. Chalov and Carrascal could practically guarantee victory for CSKA, but goalkeeper Alexei Kenyaikin left the Orenburgers in the game with the help of the bar.

Already in the second half, Gojkovic also rehabilitated, running to a corner in someone else’s penalty area and provoking a foul Sasha Zdelar. Referee Vladislav Bezborodov, after consulting with VAR, appointed a penalty kick, and Sychevoi converted it, catching up with Quincy Promes, the top scorer of the Spartak championship, with 11 goals. Moreover, soon the goalkeeper of the army team Igor Akinfeev eliminated Jimmy Marina one-on-one. For the entire second half, CSKA actually had one chance in attack, when Ivan Oblyakov hit Kenyaykin. So Orenburg, which once again showed cute, bold football, definitely deserved a draw. The army team, again playing 2:2, caught up with Rostov and Spartak with 26 points, while the red-whites had not yet made their move.

The match between Guillermo Abascal’s charges and Khimki started right after the end of the confrontation in Orenburg. The Spanish specialist himself was absent – he, like the head coach of CSKA Vladimir Fedotov, was serving a suspension imposed following the results of an over-emotional derby in the last round. Although, probably, the loss due to the yellow cards of the brightest performer of the team, Promes, looked much more tangible. In today’s Spartak, he simply has no price.

However, the Premier League outsider, whose unbeaten, and in fact, losing streak, taking into account the Cup of Russia, was 13 meetings, could be overcome without the Dutchman.

Literally the very first Spartak combination ended in a goal, when Mikhail Ignatov finished off the ball after a shot by Roman Zobnin, followed by a save by Khimki goalkeeper Vitaly Gudiev.

Less than half a time, and the hosts took the lead 2:0. In that episode, Shamar Nicholson took advantage of a luxurious gift from defender Alexei Nikitin, who, passing back to Gudiev, involuntarily assisted the Jamaican striker. He calmly circled the goalkeeper and scored into an empty net.

However, an easy success somewhat relaxed the red-whites, and they clearly lost their concentration, giving the Moscow Region club too much freedom. And already their goalkeeper Alexander Selikhov had to work hard, pulling the balls out of different angles and positions. Butta Magomedov and Denis Glushakov were especially dangerous. And after the break, Spartak could not bring the situation under control for a long time, allowing the guests to fire on Selikhov. If he didn’t help out after Alexander Rudenko’s strike, who knows where the game would have swung. And so the hosts still removed the extra tension in this match, building a third goal. Alexander Sobolev pushed through the guardian and threw the ball to Nicholson, who scored a double.

“Spartak” immediately shipped “Khimki” more, but Anton Zinkovsky was not lucky. His goal was annulled due to Nicholson’s offside.

But everything worked out for 18-year-old debutants Daniil Zorin and Pavel Meleshin, who opened his personal account in the Premier League with an excellent transfer from a partner. Well, defender Pavel Maslov, who also distinguished himself in the Russian championships for the first time, completed the rout. 5:0 – and the red-whites with 29 points strengthened in second place, and in terms of performance with 36 goals scored they even caught up with the leading Zenit, which will play against Sochi on October 24.

Alexander Ilyin