Zenit retained invincibility - Newspaper Kommersant No. 182 (7383) dated 10/03/2022

Zenit retained invincibility - Newspaper Kommersant No. 182 (7383) dated 10/03/2022



After the main match of the 11th round of the Russian championship, only one team remained in it, which did not suffer a single defeat in the tournament. This is the winner of the previous four championships "Zenith", who beat Rostov at home - 3: 1, which also did not allow misfires before the collision with the favorite.

The match in which Zenit took Rostov, which suddenly turned at the end of the starting third of the championship, into its closest pursuer, had to constantly confuse the one who was watching him. For some time, the picture was conducive to thoughts that, angry with the recent major defeat from Spartak in the Cup of the country, the Zenit team with the Rostovites, no matter how solid their track record and, in principle, the autumn form, looked, would be brutally dealt with. Ten minutes of this meeting were a loud hymn to the pressure of Zenit - dense and merciless.

Sometimes there were situations when it was not easy for the Rostovites to leave with the ball not only their own half, but their own penalty area.

In front of them, hungry hawks, ready at any moment to rush to gaping prey, Mateo Cassierra, Claudinho, Wendel loomed all the time.

But Rostov, which had endured a difficult period, looked like a team that is not alien to a certain impudence, which, as a rule, is characteristic of those who do not doubt their own capabilities. He already quite convincingly controlled the ball, and his eyes constantly snatched out an amazing picture: the guests pass in their own half, and goalkeeper Sergei Pesyakov, instead of standing at the goal, takes a position two dozen meters from them, where, in theory, he should be central defender. And now, at the Zenith gate, it smelled of fried food, when, throwing himself onto a diagonal canopy, Douglas Santos stumbled, and Kirill Shchetinin appeared with the ball right in front of the St. Petersburg goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov. The angle, however, was quite sharp, and the trouble of "Zenith" was over.

However, after another five minutes, it became clear that the reverse side of the Rostov impudence is still present. Zenit, having looked closely at the opponent, began to provoke losses, and Wendel almost shot Pesyakov. And after that, another Zenit interception took place, and Claudinho laid out the ball presented to him by Alexander Silyanov to Malcolm. He once again proved that even three opponents, if the speed is gained, is not an obstacle for him, and Zenit took the lead.

However, gaming metamorphoses continued.

Rostov hinted that a goal would not frighten him, that he was not going to close, even before the break, and immediately after it he drew a combination that was excellent in terms of geometry.

Its result was a cross from Silyanov and a lunge from Nikolai Komlichenko, who was ahead of Dejan Lovren. The balance was restored, and one might even think that it was quite on the case, given the energy of Rostov.

But everything turned upside down again. Zenit, having refreshed the line-up with substitutions, sharply added bloodthirstiness, and the eye already used to be cut by signs of real chaos in the defense of Rostov. They were almost taken by Rodrigao, who sent the ball to the rack, but Wendel took advantage, not missing after a neat "wall" with Ivan Sergeyev.

Zenit, which was pressing Rostovites, was good and, of course, waited for the third goal. Malcolm flashed again, now with a chic transfer to Daler Kuzyaev, who rushed between two central defenders. Kuzyaev, who, like Sergeev, was lifted off the bench by coach Sergei Semak, didn't screw up the one-on-one outing given to him by the Brazilian.

Zenit, having won, strengthened its position at the top of the standings.

After this round, the closest to him is not Rostov, who fell back to third place, but defeated CSKA Khimki the day before - 2: 1. Moreover, this proximity is relative. Zenit is six points ahead of the army team.

Spartak also won this evening, but in a slightly different style than Zenit. In the away match against Nizhny Novgorod, after the first half, the Spartak team, having failed to spoil the solo number of Mamadou Mayga, were inferior in the score. They were rescued by an explosion in the middle of the second half. Shamar Nicholson wisely disposed of a discount from Quincy Promes, and Promes himself converted a penalty kick awarded for Momo Yansane's handball. The win - 2:1 - allowed Spartak to overtake Rostov, although Krasnodar can bypass this bunch. His match with the "Wings of the Soviets" on Monday will end the tour.

And here is another metropolitan giant - Dynamo - stuck in the middle of the table, having suffered the third defeat in a row. Following Sochi and Zenit, Dynamo were dealt with by Akhmat, who defeated them 2-1 at home, despite the fact that after about half an hour of the game, due to the removal of Lecha Sadulaev, he was forced to play in the minority. Dynamo scored their only goal at the end of injury time, and there were no real chances to save themselves after it.

Alexey Dospekhov

Eleventh round

Orenburg-Sochi 4:1

Ayupov, 3; Florentin, 21; Sychevoi, 44 (pen.); Marin, 53 (pen.) - Shipunov, 69. Removal: Sissako (Sochi), 43.

Khimki-CSKA 1:2

Magomedov, 88 - Chalov, 13, 38.

Lokomotiv-Ural 2:4

Barinov, 90+3; Ignatiev, 90 + 4 - Kashtanov, 7; Yushin, 41; Randzhelovich, 62; Mishkic, 65. Removal: Nenakhov, 10 - Sungatulin, 88.

Fakel-Torpedo 2:2

Apaev, 41; Bozhin, 44 - Lebedenko, 28; Smolnikov, 64. Removal: Shapich (Torpedo), 83 (2 women).

Zenit-Rostov 3:1

Malcom, 14; Wendel, 65; Kuzyaev, 77 - Komlichenko, 47.

Akhmat-Dynamo 2:1

Shvets, 22; Sadulaev, 44 - Gladyshev, 90+4. Removal: Sadulaev, 62 (2 f. to.).

Pari Nizhny Novgorod - Spartak 1:2

Mayga, 38 — Nicholson, 66; Promes, 75 (pen.).

Leaderboard

I V N P M O

1. Zenit 11 9 2 0 32:4 29

2. CSKA 11 7 2 2 23:10 23

3. Rostov 11 6 4 1 20:15 22

4. Spartak 11 7 1 3 24:12 22

5. Krasnodar 10 6 2 2 21:14 20

6. Sochi 11 5 2 4 18:20 17

7. Akhmat 11 5 2 4 17:17 17

8. Dynamo 11 4 4 3 17:13 16

9. Orenburg 11 5 0 6 18:27 15

10. Nizhny Novgorod 11 3 3 5 17:20 12

11. Wings of the Soviets 10 2 4 4 10:14 10

12. Fakel 11 1 6 4 15:22 9

13. Lokomotiv 11 2 3 6 15:22 9

14. Khimki 11 2 2 7 12:21 8

15. Ural 11 2 1 8 9:21 7

16. Torpedo 11 1 2 8 7:23 5

The match "Wings of the Soviets" - "Krasnodar" will be held today.



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