“Zenith” became away from CSKA – Sport – Kommersant

In the 10th round of the Russian Football Championship, matches were held with the participation of the top three, and the confrontation between Zenit and Dynamo in Moscow was in the spotlight. The Petersburgers took the upper hand – 2:0, gaining 26 points already. Meanwhile, Rostov, having defeated Wings of the Soviets 2:1, rose to second place with 22 points, and CSKA, after a sensational defeat from Torpedo with a score of 0:1, dropped to third and lagged behind Zenit by six points .

Coincidentally, in the Saturday program of the 10th round, the clubs that were currently in the top three played one after the other. First, CSKA, who took second place, entered the field. At first glance, his match with the outsider Torpedo was only interesting because it took place at the Luzhniki Stadium, where competitions within the Russian Championship have not been held since 2013. Few doubted that the favorite would beat the last team in the Premier League and – at least temporarily – catch up with Zenit in points scored.

Apparently, the army team themselves did not doubt their superiority, which negatively affected their mood.

Meanwhile, Torpedo, who recently got a taste of victory in the cup match with Sochi, forced CSKA to recoup, opening the scoring with the efforts of the towering central defender Stefan Shapic, who closed the serve from the standard of Igor Smolnikov. Moreover, the Serbian newcomer of black and white, whose height is 203 cm, scored not from the second floor, but skillfully disposed of the ball below. After the break, CSKA still wound up and tightly settled on other people’s gates. However, the Torpedo team responded with daring counterattacks, and Igor Lebedenko screwed up a clean one-on-one exit with the goalkeeper, losing the duel to Igor Akinfeev. In defense, the hosts stood just to death. As a result, “Torpedo” for the first time did not miss and won the first victory in the championship – 1:0. True, this victory still did not allow him to leave 16th place. Having four points with Ural, which lost to Akhmat 1:2 at home, Muscovites are lower in additional indicators.

Well, CSKA unexpectedly remained with its 20 points and provided a good opportunity for Rostov to rise from third position to second. Valery Karpin’s team scored 19 points in nine rounds and did not suffer a single defeat, which only Zenit managed to achieve. At the same time, taking into account the Cup of Russia, only Rostovites did not lose at all this season.

They started the home match against Krylya Sovetov better than ever, in the very first minute punishing the guests for losing concentration. Khoren Bayramyan easily eluded the defenders after Alexei Mironov’s pass and shot accurately. However, already in the 12th minute, the Samarans struck back. 17-year-old Sergey Pinyaev surprised the head coach of the Russian national team, which is also Karpin, by spinning the ball into the “nine”. In the second half, the hosts earned a penalty for handballing Glenn Bale, and Dmitry Poloz put them ahead again. Soon, the “Wings” retaliated and the second goal, but the judges considered that Roman Evgeniev had violated the rules. The guests still had scoring chances, but Rostov, not without a share of luck, kept the winning result – 2:1. Thus, with 22 points, he came in second place.

The game day ended with the central match of the Dynamo-Zenit tour. Petersburgers opposed their main competitor in the title race last season. Now they already had a solid seven-point lead over the Muscovites, but Slavisa Jokanovic’s team posed a threat to the leader, especially at home. By the way, Zenit did not beat Dynamo away for two seasons in a row, when the blue-and-whites were coached by Kirill Novikov and then Sandro Schwartz.

This time, too, the hosts of the VTB Arena imposed a fight on their principal opponent, successfully destroying his combinational football and practically not allowing him to create sharpness in the attack. As a result, Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin rarely came into play, although his St. Petersburg colleague Mikhail Kerzhakov was frankly bored without work. Even the Zenit Brazilians Malcolm and Wendel, tearing apart the Premier League, were lost in the defensive formations of Jokanovic. But the Muscovites were let down by Matthias Normann, who made a gross mistake near his own penalty area in the 35th minute, coming under pressure, and brought a goal. Ivan Sergeev immediately delivered the ball under the goal of Andrey Mostovoy, who already sent it into the net.

The Dynamo team themselves did not succeed at all in the attack, and they did not wait for errors from Zenit.

During the break, Jokanovic replaced the offending Norman with Luka Gagnidze, and his wards tried to transfer the game to the guests’ half of the field. On the other hand, the same Malcom and Wendel have more space for counterattacks. The blue-and-whites finally disturbed Kerzhakov when Daniil Fomin fired at the crossbar from afar. However, very soon they put themselves in a virtual stalemate when center back Roberto Fernandez ran into a second yellow card. In the minority, Dynamo had little chance of saving the match with the Petersburgers. Unless Fedor Smolov had a moment to strike, but he hit the block. And in the end, Gustavo Mantuan also finished off the Muscovites. Zenit won 2:0 and with 26 points is quite comfortable in the lead in the championship.

Alexander Ilyin