“Spartak” nowhere higher – Newspaper Kommersant No. 147 (7348) of 08/15/2022

“Spartak” after the fifth round became the sole leader of the championship of Russia. The place at the top of the table for the excellent start of the championship was brought by the Spartak team with a spectacular home victory over Sochi – 3:0.

The match that crowned the fifth round promised a storm, a storm. Spartak, which in the previous four rounds managed to hint that the appearance of the young Spaniard Guillermo Abascal as head coach turned into a generous injection of freshness for him, attacked Sochi passionately and bloodthirsty. Alexander Sobolev immediately fell in the penalty area, urging referee Vitaly Meshkov to see the violation by Victorien Angban with desperate gestures. Christopher Martins and Quincy Promes immediately showed that they were ready to look for their fierce center forward at any opportunity. The first one performed a very unpleasant head-butt for the defenders on Sobolev, the second aimed at him with a cunning “scoop”. Sochi fought back, not allowing Spartak to get to the ball.

And Spartak was also good at that element, which often allows teams trying to put pressure to sharply increase the degree of this pressure. He was terribly good on the rebound, and choked attacks all the time received continuation. In general, a glance at the field should have warmed the soul for ten minutes to those who were worried about Spartak. But then something changed.

Modest at first, “Sochi” slowly got used to it and made an imperceptible transformation. Here he lingered with the ball on the Spartak half. But there was one good attack, followed by another. They reminded that they were guests, not hosts, silver medalists of the last championship. Yes, they lost their mentor Vladimir Fedotov. Yes, parted ways with some important players. But at the same time, it seems that they have retained something from the medal season in their DNA – a taste for neat touch-ups, for example.

But Sochi also had moments that Spartak, despite its passion, could not even dream of. Vladislav Sarveli, after another thin counter-pass, found himself in the penalty area not far from the Spartak goalkeeper Alexander Selikhov, but did not beat, but threw the ball back at Georgy Melkadze. And this, apparently, was not the best decision – the Spartacists “read” the move. And after that, Melkadze still had a shot from the penalty area. The position was, in fact, an assist, but Georgiy Jikia found himself in the way of the ball.

And with Spartak, something strange continued to happen. It seems that from the point of view of activity, the speed is all right. But the sharpness ahead disappeared somewhere – “Sochi” devoured everyone who is responsible for its creation, with giblets. Even after Ibragim Tsallagov, who was plowing the right flank, left the field due to an injury. Against this background, even Martins’ blow from two and a half dozen meters, which spoiled the rebound from Promes, looked like happiness for the hosts. They couldn’t claim more.

The break, however, led to shifts that are simply tectonic. That is, everything after it caused associations with the start of the first half. Only now some new and insanely cute ingredients have been added to the Spartak onslaught. It was already a real bashing, experiencing which the Sochi residents “floated”. In the end, they left Mikhail Ignatov all alone on the right side of the penalty area. Spartak fell on Denis Adamov, but hit very badly – not hard and right at the goalkeeper.

And Sochi continued to shake in the middle of this whirlwind. And the ridiculous mistake of Sergei Terekhov was, of course, the result of shaking. Terekhov, a seasoned defender, lingered near the penalty line and gave the ball to Ignatov, from which he flew off to Quincy Promes. Promes shot the unfortunate Adamov.

And Spartak was not going to stop. And “Sochi”, which could not move away from the knockdown, falsified again. Now it was a fake in the middle of the field, from where a chic Spartak contract unfolded with the participation of five players who ran quickly and in synchrony and did not switch off from the lunge for a moment. It all ended with a cross from Alexander Sobolev to Anton Zinkovsky, who had just been lifted from the bench by Abaskal, who drove the ball into the net from the goalkeeper’s line.

Only after that “Sochi” came to his senses. And even hit the bar once. But it was already clear that Spartak would not miss a victory. In the end, he graced it with a goal by Quincy Promes, who demonstrated that dribbling is still his trump card.

This victory made Spartak the sole leader of the championship. He tops the table with 13 points. Two points behind the Spartacists are Zenit, who on Saturday coped – 2:1 – with CSKA, and Rostov, which on Sunday in a crazy intriguing match beat – 4:3 – Pari Nizhny Novgorod. The backlog of the army team is three points.

Alexey Dospekhov