Zenit and CSKA kept the difference – Sport – Kommersant
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In the 12th round of the Russian Football Championship, the teams taking first and second places played their matches. Zenit in Voronezh failed to defeat Fakel – 1: 1, and CSKA finished the derby with Dynamo with the same score. Thus, the army team is still six points behind the Petersburgers.
The leader of the Premier League “Zenith” in the 12th round came to visit the “Fakel”, which not so long ago beat without any problems in the Cup of Russia. Even now, nothing foreshadowed that the Petersburgers would face any difficulties. Yes, in the same Cup, where a fairly free rotation of the squad is allowed, they have already suffered two defeats, but in the championship they don’t let anyone down. Two draws – that’s all that Zenit allowed its opponents, and then at the start of the championship, and after a misfire in Grozny with Akhmat, he scored seven victories in a row.
“Torch” nevertheless, he made life difficult for the favorite and even opened the scoring in the 12th minute, when Georgy Gongadze closed the cross from Roman Akbashev’s corner with his head. True, the Voronezh team did not lead for long, since the top scorer “Zenith” Malcolm scored the eighth goal in the current championship in the 28th minute. Moreover, Dejan Lovren threw him the ball into someone else’s penalty area from his own half of the field. The Brazilian could immediately put the guests ahead after the error of the Torch goalkeeper Ilya Svinov, but surprisingly he did not use the moment that was easy for such a master, hitting the sky, when almost only two field players were already at the gate.
The hosts kept a draw before the break, but they had a very hard time in the second half. Under the powerful pressure of the opponent, they went on the defensive, often acting on the rebound. The wards of Dmitry Pyatibratov fought back, you can’t say anything, selflessly, and fortune favored them for this, and the roughness of the Voronezh lawn somewhere leveled the technical superiority of the Petersburgers. At the end of the match, Zenit completely simplified the game, trying to load the ball into the penalty area as often as possible, but it was hard to beat Fakel in such football. As a result, the debutant of the Premier League scratched out an honorable draw – 1:1, slowing down the leader a bit. However, “Zenith” in its current position can afford episodic failures. His lead over CSKA grew to seven points, despite the fact that the army team still had to sort things out with Dynamo.
Despite the fact that the blue-and-whites lost nine points in the previous three rounds, dropping to eighth place, no one guaranteed the victory for the red-blues. Derbies are full of surprises. However, it is CSKA from the first minutes he seized the initiative and realized the starting advantage, when Willian Rocha drove the ball into the net from the second floor after a cross from Konstantin Kuchaev, who forced one of the team’s premiers Jesus Medina out of the main team. But Dynamoof course, did not accept such a development of events, and Fedor Smolov, in a counterattack, almost hit the target, throwing goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
The hosts of VEB Arena didn’t rest on their laurels either, and their striker Fedor Chalov missed several chances to increase the score. The guests threatened less often, and yet they were the ones who succeeded. Eli Daza on the right made a cross to the area of the goalkeeper’s area, where CSKA defender Kirill Nababkin, trying to kick the ball, unwittingly played along with Smolov, and he irresistibly struck from the toe. So outwardly more active in the first half, the army team could not benefit from this.
After the break, the Dynamo team offered more open football, risking running into Vladimir Fedotov’s team’s cavalry attacks. Playmaker and dribbler Jorge Carrascal felt especially comfortable in such an atmosphere. True, with the completion of the Colombian had difficulties. Although the champion in missed scoring opportunities was, of course, Chalov. Either Roberto Fernandez blocked him, then again Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin got in his way. But the most magnificent moment was ruined by CSKA right-back Milan Gaich, who missed the goalkeeper line almost on an empty net.
The red-blues literally grinded up the Dynamo defense, and suddenly the guests answered with a shot on the crossbar by Vyacheslav Grulev. And then Konstantin Tyukavin jumped out one on one with Akinfeev, and the most experienced goalkeeper, along with Willian, barely stopped his breakthrough. And in general, in the end, the blue and white, thanks to the replacements of their head coach Slavisa Jokanovic, added. The army team also tried to snatch the victory, but the winner in this very hot derby could not be determined – 1:1. So CSKA, having scored 24 points, did not reduce, but only restored the gap of six points from Zenit. Well, for Dynamo, which now has 17 points, a draw was not the best outcome.
Worthy of attention and match Sochi – Lokomotiv, although the railway workers, after winning the 12th round of Ural, fell to 14th line. Four defeats in a row in the championship put them in front of the need to win at all costs. On the other hand, the Chernomorians also wanted to rehabilitate themselves for the recent defeat in Orenburg – 1:4. At the same time, the hosts missed a number of leading players. But the main thing is that Christian Noboa was in his place, who scored a juicy shot in the 33rd minute, catching up with the leader of the scorer race Quincy Promes from Spartak with nine goals.
Lokomotiv miraculously did not score in the second half, when in one attack they tapped the post twice, and Pedro Gabriel managed to hit the frame, being opposite the half-empty goal. But Joaozinho from Sochi was accurate in the final stage of the combination, which began with a mistake by Muscovite goalkeeper Daniil Khudyakov. Then he also scored a double, and Vladislav Sarveli added another ball. Sochi won 4-0 and with 20 points approached the top five. Lokomotiv, on the other hand, is suffering a real disaster in this championship, which has led to personnel changes in leadership positions. After the match, the club announced the resignations of sporting director Thomas Zorn and head coach Josef Zinnbauer.
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