“We could feel the readiness for winter football this time” – Kommersant FM
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The leader of the RPL championship has changed again. Zenit lost to Lokomotiv in Moscow (1:3) and dropped to second place in the standings. First place was again taken by Krasnodar, which beat Orenburg at home (2:1). Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov followed the developments in the matches of the 17th round.
The term “winter football” in our championship is not new. We had many matches in which teams played in snowfall and on snow-covered fields. After the 17th round of the RPL of the current season, there will be even more stories about winter football. The bright picture of CSKA and Rostov football players fighting in the snow at VEB Arena will definitely contribute to this. And footage of Chilean army player Victor Mendez jumping into a snowdrift after scoring a goal will be shown more than once on various TV channels.
CSKA takes the upper hand (2:0), although many believed that it was impossible to play football in such snowfall. But in the end, the referees decided to hold the match, which infuriated Rostov head coach Valery Karpin:
“I don’t know who made the decision, but you have to be a moron to play here. I said this before the game, not after. What are they doing? Is football being killed? He’s not really in Russia anyway, to put it mildly. Who did the people who decided to hold this match do well?”
The referees even thought about whether to play or not to play before the second Moscow match between Lokomotiv and Zenit. Although RZD Arena was better prepared for bad weather. The field in Cherkizovo was covered with a special film, and it was removed only before the start of the game, which of course helped. But the start of the meeting was delayed by half an hour.
In general, we felt ready for winter football this time. Moreover, there was something to compare with. A week ago in Kaliningrad, in the match “Baltika” – “Spartak” in the same snowfall, the teams did not even have red balls, and “Spartak” generally played in white uniforms, and the players were almost invisible on the television screen. But the most surprising thing is that for everything that happened a week ago, the head of the RPL, Alexander Alaev, apologized to the fans on the air of the federal sports TV channel:
“I would like to apologize to the fans, especially to the TV viewers who watched the Baltika-Spartak match. I won’t lie, this is a flaw in the League, this is our mistake.”
This time there were red balls, and the uniform was contrasting, except that the referee’s disappearing spray on the snow was still not noticeable. The weather also made its own adjustments to the game.
For example, Lokomotiv scored the first goal after a mistake by Zenit goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov, whose ball literally slipped out of his hands. Zenit equalized the score before the break. And then, finally, the snow stopped. The field was cleared, and Lokomotiv scored two goals, showing that talk about the championship race being over was premature. Although the head coach of the reigning champions, Sergei Semak, still focused on the weather and the field:
“An ordinary match in such conditions, where a lot depended on some kind of rebounds. Unfortunately, we were unable to overcome standard situations, and this led to two fairly simple goals.”
The defeat with a score of 1:3 again sent Zenit to second place in the standings, as Krasnodar beat Orenburg at home (2:1) and took first place.
In the southern regions of our country, fortunately, there were no snowfalls, although this did not help Spartak. The red-whites lost to Akhmat (1:2) in Grozny, and the head coach of the national team, Guillermo Abascal, received a red card. After the first goal conceded by Spartak, the Spaniard knocked down the author of the assist, Bernard Berisha, and threw a tantrum on the sideline. It was, one might say, a miracle that it didn’t come to a real fight. After this defeat, Spartak takes seventh place in the standings, where everything is still tight.
On December 4, Dynamo Moscow will be tested in winter football. In the final match of the 17th round, the blue and whites host Rubin Kazan. The meeting starts at 19:30. The live broadcast from VTB Arena will be carried out by the public television channel Match TV.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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