Matches in arenas instead of games in the snow: great nostalgia! Do you remember the coolest ones?
Anatoly Romanov December 9, 2023, 09:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Due to the large number of teams, the capital cannot do without football in December. Is it time to “go back to the past”?
The topic of winter football in Russia is once again the subject of intense debate after the “snow matches” between CSKA and Rostov, as well as between Baltika and Spartak. There are proposals to move from the “autumn-spring” system to the “spring-autumn” system. But whatever the format, we cannot avoid these types of matches, both in November-December and in February-March. You can’t fool nature. And building indoor stadiums across the country is an expensive proposition.
It is possible to organize the schedule so that at the junction of the first and second parts of the season the southern teams and Zenit play at home in the closed Gazprom Arena. But in one case this will not work: with Moscow clubs. Four or five metropolitan teams regularly play in the RPL, which, including for security reasons, are organized so that in each round someone plays away and someone plays at home. And that is the problem.
Details of the scandalous match between CSKA and Rostov:
It seems that the time has come for something new: “the old and forgotten.” Why don’t Moscow clubs play in the stadium again in winter? Both fans feel comfortable and modern technologies make it possible to create normal conditions for the players themselves. It is not necessary to place a mat on concrete; It is dangerous, as it was 30-40 years ago, but on state-of-the-art artificial fields. Who should do this and how clubs can avoid losing money is another question. Obviously, a league initiative is needed.
Some matches in the arenas of the USSR championships are truly nostalgic! Let’s remember them. From before to after.
04/21/1990. “Spartak” – “Metalist” – 6:0
If you haven’t seen how Alexander Mostovoy played before he became tsar, watch the review of the USSR championship match of the 1990 season between Spartak and Metalist. Before the match of the seventh round at the Olimpiysky sports complex, the Muscovites were in fifth place, and the Kharkovites were in tenth. But on the field it was as if there were teams from different planets. Especially in the second half, when Metalist goalkeeper Valery Dudka took the ball out of his goal five times. Three Spartak players scored doubles at once: Mostovoy, forward Valery Shmarov and midfielder Igor Shalimov. Mostovoy’s final goal is a masterpiece of genius. The tsar faced four opponents with the “handkerchief” and put the ball into the net.
03/16/1990. “Spartak” – CSKA – 5:4
The derby between Spartak and CSKA, which took place a month earlier on the same Olimpiysky field, can probably be considered the most legendary match of Russian teams in the arena. The red-and-white and red-blue team staged a crazy penalty shootout in front of full stands and scored nine goals between them! The military team took the lead in the 11th minute, after a goal from Valery Broshin. Spartak responded in the next 15 minutes with three goals from Gennady Perepadenko, Shmarov and Sergei Rodionov. However, in the 74th minute, CSKA already led 4:3 thanks to Igor Korneev’s hat-trick. But in the end, an own goal from Sergei Fokin and a second goal from Rodionov, who scored a double, gave the red and whites an incredible victory.
You can read about the derby, which was also remembered for Valery Karpin’s blue underpants, here:
Video
“I thought Romantsev would kick me out of Spartak.” 30 years of the legendary derby with CSKA in the arena
11/10/1987. “Spartak” – “Guria” – 1:0
Red-and-white “golden” match in the 1987 season. Two rounds before the end, the championship leader, Spartak, was two points ahead of Dnepr (then the same amount was given for victory), and Guria was last and He was relegated from the major league. However, on the Olimpiysky field, with 35,000 spectators, the Georgian team unexpectedly gave battle to the team from the capital. The Spartak players could not give the final touch to Guria: the goalless draw lasted until the 83rd minute. And then Fedor Cherenkov scored an atypical goal. After a corner kick and a beautiful overhead pass, Cherenkov headed in with precision from outside the goalkeeper’s area.
11/25/1986. “Dinamo” M – “Dinamo” K – 1:1
A year earlier, Dynamo Moscow could have become champions at the Olimpiyskiy stadium. This would have happened if the blue and white team had defeated their kyiv teammates at home. The hosts took the lead in the fourth minute after a goal from Vasily Karataev, but Valery Lobanovsky’s team, which won the European Cup that year, turned on with all its power and avoided defeat: Vasily Rat scored the return goal. The tie left the kyiv team in the fight for gold. The fate of the title was finally decided in a match between the same opponents in kyiv. Lobanovsky’s team won the championship 2-1.
03/01/1986. Dinamo M – Zenit – 3:4
And that season began for Dynamo Moscow with a brilliant match against Zenit in another stadium: CSKA LFC. About 5,000 spectators filled all the seats in the stands and balconies. Eduard Malofeev’s team went on the attack with the support of their fans and took the lead after a goal from Alexander Borodyuk. However, Zenit responded with three goals scored in seven minutes even before the break! In the second half, Dynamo’s Sergei Stukashov scored a double and it all started again. And in the end, Zenit replaced 17-year-old Oleg Salenko. The future top scorer of the 1994 World Cup scored the goal that decided the outcome of the match.
Mikhail Biryukov, Sergey Dmitriev and Sergey Vedeneev
Photo: fc-zenit.ru
11/19/1982. “Spartak” – “Dinamo” MN – 3:4
Malofeev won the title with Dynamo at the Moscow Stadium four years earlier. But not as a local team, but as a guest, with the blue and white of Minsk. Before the last round, the Belarusian team was one point ahead of its kyiv teammates. Dinamo needed a victory in the capital over Spartak. The match took place in the CSKA gym, so the “golden” match for Minsk residents attracted only about 5,000 fans.
The red and whites took the lead at the end of the third of the first half thanks to a goal from Alexander Kalashnikov, but in the next 40 minutes only Dinamo scored. Igor Gurinovich scored a brace, and Pyotr Vasilevsky and Sergei Aleynikov scored a goal each for the collapsed Spartak. The intrigue arose again with Sergei Shavlo’s double: Spartak still had 15 minutes to save themselves. However, the Minsk team kept the score 4:3 and became champions for the first time in their history.
Cousin. Spartak’s first match in the Russian championship is also in the arena!
In the first Russian championships, matches were also held in arenas. Until our football management banned playing indoors. For example, Spartak played its first home match in the Russian championship at the LFC CSKA field. On March 29, 1992, Krylia Sovetov became the opponent of Oleg Romantsev’s team. The red and white team did not leave the Samara team any chance, winning 5-0. 17-year-old debutant forward Vladimir Beschastnykh scored a double, midfielder Igor Ledyakhov also scored two goals, and future Spartak coach Andrei Chernyshov scored another goal.
The rights to the video belong to the RFU.
