Spartak have failed to beat their main rival in the RPL in the last 11 matches. A boring series for the rojiblancos has been going on since 2017, in which Spartak, under the guidance of Italian Massimo Carrera, took gold.
It seemed that there were all the prerequisites for the Muscovites to break the trend. “Zenith” started the season extremely unconvincing: the departure of the main Brazilian star Malcolm to Saudi Arabia and the uncertainty about the future of the other two Brazilian leaders of the club, Claudinho and Wendel, did not go unnoticed.
Spartak, by contrast, had a solid transfer campaign and started quite quickly in the championship. In defense, the “rojiblancos” traditionally looked unconvincing, but the attack line of the Moscow greats looked deadly.
Alas, for the “red-white”, even with such an introduction, “Zenith” “Spartacus” is still too difficult. However, in some respects, the Muscovites “helped” the opponent.
For example, the head coach of “Spartacus” Guillermo Abascal in such a responsible match for some reason embarked on experiments. In the central construction, he built a rhombus appearance of the players. To do this, several key players had to be placed in reserve. As expected, the scheme, unknown to the players, did not work. Abascal admitted his mistake and made a series of substitutions immediately after the break. But in words, the Spanish specialist said that the effectiveness of the “diamond” was influenced by the referee’s decisions.
“I think the scheme worked, we had good chances in the first 20 minutes. That scheme allowed us to have an advantage in midfield, but unfortunately the yellow card we received in the first half knocked us out.” It’s a very strange decision: show Ignatov a warning.”
It’s all about the foul of Mikhail Ignatov, who was the “tip” of the tactical diamond. The offense in question may not have been a “yellow card”, but Mikhail received a general warning: he already had several fouls and a verbal warning from referee Sergei Karasev.
In any case, making the result depend on a single yellow is a strange argument. It looks like a more adequate review of the game forward “Spartacus” Alexander Sobolev. Emotional but honest.
Maybe they didn’t believe in themselves. I don’t know what it’s connected to. The first half was just disgusting in every way. We played a little better in the second half, but we conceded two. We play at Spartak, so expectations must always be the highest. Spartak must always fight for the titles. When a team plays like this and loses at home against Zenit 3-1, lazy and without desire… You can’t play like that at home, especially against Zenit.
Let’s add that even after the substitutions, Spartak, although they caught their characteristic courage for a while, did not show systematic play. The one that was the same in the “Zenith”.
– In the course of the first half, we rebuilt, we did not expect that Spartak would play in such a structure. They have good players in attack, but we do not allow to create many chances in attack, – stated the helmsman of “Zenith” Sergey Semak.
Well, the leaders of the “blue-white-blue”, unlike Spartak, were on top. Paradox: Wendel actually sabotaged the entire “pre-season” of the club, since he came to St. Petersburg after the start of the championship. And still, it was the Brazilian who became the main hero of the Moscow match. The ‘rojiblancos’ did not find a comparable prankster.
Spartak’s mentor, Guillermo Abascal, after the game with Zenit, did not admit that he was wrong with his team’s new scheme
It is clear that the season is only gaining momentum. Spartak will still have a chance to redeem themselves in front of the fans and take revenge on Zenit. But the blow to self-esteem is tangible.
– Every season you talk about it, every year there is an opportunity. But we can’t understand it,” Spartak defensive midfielder Nail Umyarov pointed out, even with a bit of despair.
Well, Zenith is back. A couple of rounds ago, the “blue-white-blue” accumulation of “Spartacus” was five points. Now the Muscovites from St. Petersburg are ahead. The usual first line is also very close. Only three points.
