Zenit reduced the gap from Krasnodar to a minimum

Following the results of the eighth round of the Russian Championship, Zenit rose to second place and is now only one point behind the leading Krasnodar. The St. Petersburg team confidently beat Rubin in Kazan – 3:0. But Lokomotiv failed to get closer to the top three, losing at home to Orenburg – 0:2.

For Zenit in the eighth round everything turned out very well. Not only championship leader Krasnodar lost points, but also other nominal competitors – Dynamo, Krylya Sovetov, CSKA. The high-ranking Ural also played to zero against Fakel. And the St. Petersburgers took advantage of the current situation and reduced the gap from the first team of the Premier League to a minimum.

“Rubin”, located in an outsider niche, could hardly be called a serious obstacle to “Zenith”. So far, the Kazan team has surprised us only by the fact that they announced five players at once on the last day before the summer transfer window closed. As a result, according to Transfermarktthey spent almost €6.8 million on newcomers, getting into the top 5 of the RPL by this indicator and ahead, for example, of the same Krasnodar.

From the first minutes of Zenit, Wilson Isidore, who recently transferred from Lokomotiv, appeared on the field. The French striker formed a duet with the top scorer of the current championship, Mateo Cassierra, and very quickly marked his debut with an effective performance. Rubin’s defenders clearly missed Izidor’s dash down the left flank; he, on fresh legs, easily raced one-on-one with goalkeeper Yuri Dupin and sent the ball into the net. It is curious that he already scored against Kazan in the first round, when at the end of the match he equalized and saved Lokomotiv from defeat.

As often happens with Zenit, after the goal in the debut he calmed down and played in economy mode, waiting for the opponent to make a mistake again. But the owners of Ak Bars Arena did not give Izidor any more will, and Cassierra was not visible at all in the first half.

Even the usually hyperactive and constantly looking for the ball Claudinho disappeared into the crowd. In addition, Rubin added aggression in front – Joel Fameye was especially zealous, who delayed the Zenit defense, and once almost punished Douglas Santos for a risky pass back to goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov. And the big Kazan center forward Mirlind Daku had a moment in which he did not have enough technique to spin the ball into the far corner.

In the second half, visually nothing seemed to change. The guests did not force things, trying to simply control the game, but then there was an explosion, and in four minutes they scored two goals for Rashid Rakhimov’s team. Completely unnoticed before the break, Wendel suddenly turned up the gears and made the difference. First, Cassierra scored with his serve, consolidating the lead in the scorers race with seven goals, and then the Brazilian led a swift counterattack from his own penalty area and assisted compatriot Claudinho. Wendel also earned a yellow card for rudeness and after that he retired, as the visiting coaching staff decided to replace him, as did Claudinho and Isidore.

The outcome of the match was predetermined, and the St. Petersburg team could afford rotation.

Rubin tried to sweeten the bitterness of defeat, but it didn’t work: Zenit with 17 points rose to second place, coming close to Krasnodar, and it seems that everything is gradually returning to normal in the Premier League.

In the final match of the tour, Lokomotiv hosted Orenburg, which, under the leadership of new coach David Deogracia, drew with CSKA and won a major victory over Sochi. At the Russian Railways Arena, the Spanish specialist’s charges also did not shy away. In the first half, it was the visitors who were closer to scoring, in particular, when Arsen Adamov hit the crossbar with his head. They also tore the T-shirt of Artem Dzyuba, whom they took under very close guardianship, tying the forward hand and foot. The leader of Lokomotiv, out of dissatisfaction with such a tough confrontation, even demonstratively tore his jersey literally into shreds.

So Orenburg did not at all look like an outsider, having recently taken last place in the standings. In the second half, he put up no less stubborn and organized resistance, focusing rather on saving a draw. It seemed that the South Urals were no longer thinking about anything more, but at the end of the match, Ivan Bashich found a gap in front of the Muscovites’ penalty area and hit the goal so hard that goalkeeper Ilya Lantratov did not have time to react to this blow. And in stoppage time, Dmitry Vorobyov finally killed the hosts with his aesthetically executed and essentially knockout goal. Lokomotiv suffered an unexpected defeat and was left 12 points away from the leading group.

Alexander Ilyin