Zenit played their second match in the RPL Summer Cup. And this time the opponent was a foreign team. Argentinian Talleres came to St. Petersburg for the first time and the match against Zenit was their debut in the tournament. The main difference between Talleres and the others is that their national championship is in full swing. Now, of course, there is a break due to the Copa America matches, but in general the players are in good shape. Unlike our tournament rivals, who are just getting ready for the start of the season.
Another interesting fact is that Zenit’s match was the second of the day at the Gazprom Arena. At the beginning, the stadium hosted the match between Red Star and Sochi (2-0). And only then did I wait for the reigning champions.
Compared to the first match, Semak made several substitutions. In goal was Evgeniy Latyshonok, for whom it was his debut match with the new club. Douglas replaced Gorshkov on the left flank and Rodrigao in the centre. Glushenkov unexpectedly took the place of the centre forward up front. Cassierra watched the match from the stands, as did Isidore.
Just like in Sochi, Zenit started the match in an active manner. It is true that the Talleres players showed that they will not give as much free space in defence as in the previous match. The hosts created the first chance in the 10th minute: a quick ball game by the Brazilians led to Arthur almost one-on-one with the goalkeeper. But at the decisive moment, the midfielder seemed confused and did not know how best to shoot. As a result, he hit the goalkeeper exactly.
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The Argentines clearly had no intention of getting in their own goal. And from the first minutes they showed that they were ready to attack. Although carefully. In the 18th minute, this almost ended in a goal: Botta took advantage of Rodrigao’s mistake and brought Barticciotto into the attack. He almost certainly shot close, but the ball flew just wide of the target.
In general, the number of dangerous attacks and, as a result, chances, compared to the first match, were several times less. Although the composition of Zenit’s players has hardly changed. But the current opponent was considered to be in much better shape than the previous one. The team missed the most dangerous chance in the half already in the 45th minute: again a quick attack, and Glushenkov connected with Volkov. He positioned himself well and shot well, but the goalkeeper deflected the ball to the corner.
“Zenit” – “Workshops”
Photo by: RIA Novosti
During the break, Semak, following the tradition of this tournament, changed the entire line-up. Thus, Bakaev, Sergeev, Erokhin and Mantuan were now responsible for the attack. Alexander stood out more than the others: he actually moved up to the position of the second striker, so that at times the Zenit team formation looked like a 4-4-2.
The key moment of the match came in the 60th minute. Levnikov saw a not-so-obvious violation of the rules on Erokhin in the penalty area and awarded a penalty. Botta, one of the most active in the first half, immediately flew towards him and pushed the referee from behind. And immediately after that I saw a red card in front of me. Mantuan approached the ball and confidently shot into the corner.
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Botta was very indignant, apparently not knowing that according to the rules the coach can put another player on the field in place of the sent-off player. The coach did just that. In the end, the Argentines even created several chances, but the main event occurred in added time.
Erokhin was clearly in no hurry to return the ball – he was attacked by Talleres players, who did not want to lose even on a freight train. Alip ran to help his partner and left – jerking and throwing his arms up. The fight was quickly stopped, but it was hot for a few seconds. Alip did not calm down – he clearly asked his opponents to deal with him one on one.
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As a result, Alip received a red card and the referee blew his whistle. As there were no goals, the match was definitely memorable for the events at the end.
Zenit will play their last match of the tournament on Monday, against Red Star.
