DUARTE DEBUT IN RPL
The teams approached the resumption of the championship in good spirits. The Spartak team won the Lokomotiv Cup twice, and the Urals beat strong Rostov. At the same time, taking into account the fall, the hosts had eight RPL games without losing, and Viktor Goncharenko’s charges had seven. It turns out that there was a hidden central game of the tour at the Otkritie Arena.
In the composition of the guests, taking into account the injury of Yuri Gazinsky, there were no surprises, and the presence of Eric Bikfalvi, Lazar Randzhelovich and Alexei Kashtanov guaranteed the red-and-white tension in the penalty area of Alexander Selikhov. Especially if one takes into account that a pairing of Nikita Chernov – Alexis Duarte made their debut against this attacking group in the center of the Muscovites’ defense, since Georgy Jikia was serving a suspension. And already in the 15th minute, Pavel Maslov replaced Chernov, who received an injury.
If the absence of the captain was inevitable (Roman Zobnin put on the armband), then Abaskal has many options in attack, and he chose a far from trivial combination: Quincy Promes – Shamar Nicholson – Mikhail Ignatov. At the same time, Alexander Sobolev, Keita Balde and Pavel Meleshin, who has recently proven himself, remained on the bench, as did Anton Zinkovsky and Christopher Martins Pereira. The Spartak clip is, of course, amazing, because Nail Umyarov and Victor Moses will also recover over time.
PANDEMIC? FAN ID!
This is the first match at the Otkritie Arena with the mandatory introduction of Fan ID, and this was noticeable both in the stands (the silence and screams of individual fans were clearly audible) and on the pitch. Both live and on TV. We all remember how boring even the Champions League looked during the pandemic, and now the sectors are empty not because of some external factors, but because of our own fault.
Everyone who came several times in 90 minutes noted that they had probably never seen such a terribly calm atmosphere at Spartak’s home game. And certainly never in the “Opener” for sure. After the game, we will get statistics on the audience, but the empty seats were opened with a vacuum, causing blood in the eyes. It’s time to admit that no matter how hard the initiators of this FAN ID put themselves into “clearing up” negligent fans, no one needs it.
And the worst thing is that this whole concept was formulated as an opportunity for families with children to return to the stadiums. Instead, there is only a cold March wind in the stands. Who is to blame for what is happening? And what responsibility will he have for depriving fans of his favorite game and clubs – revenue from the audience? Will clubs be compensated for lost profits? Where should they apply?
PRESSING “URAL”, BARRERA DUARTE
In an unusual setting, the Spartak players also looked unusually passive at first. “Ural” under Goncharenko added impressively, and here, visiting the favorite, he strangled him with surprisingly well-coordinated pressure. The Belarusian specialist achieved the main thing – to mentally prepare his players in such a way that they are not afraid to play the most difficult, risky and energy-consuming football on the field of one of the favorites for the championship. Isn’t that a feat of coaching?
It is also important that the guests were very effective. Before the goal was scored, they allowed almost nothing at their gates, as the Spartak team managed to come from midfield at speed on a couple of occasions. Basically, they stumbled on inaccurate passes. The marriage rate was huge.
At that moment, when it seemed that the locals were gradually adapting to the snowy weather, the bald spot on the pitch and the physical mobility of the rival, the Urals escaped on the counterattack, Duarte did not have time for Leo Goglihidze’s cross and put him barrier. Kashtanov by hand. Vitaly Meshkov, who worked for the 200th match in the RPL, missed the episode, but received a hint from VAR, went to the monitor and noted the “point”. Rai Vlut won the duel against Selikhov and opened the scoring in the match.
The rojiblancos are not used to being in a position to make up for themselves. In 2023, including friendlies, he opened the scoring six out of seven times. They were the first to score in the two games with Lokomotiv, so they are more used to acting on the score. However, they managed to accelerate, establish themselves in the opponent’s half, create several chances and level the score: Mintimer Beveev unsuccessfully exposed himself to a powerful shot from Ruslan Litvinov from outside the penalty area and sent the ball under the crossbar. from his own goal from him.
MINUTE OF GLORY YUSHIN
In the fall, Abascal proved to be a specialist who is excellent at making precise changes to the team’s game during the break. This time he did so with no personnel changes, though he personally expected Alexander Sobolev to replace Nicholson. The Russian missed both cup matches due to disqualification, but the Jamaican striker in the first half was remembered only for his diligence.
But not even the absence of substitutions prevented the Spartacists from locking up their rival in their third of the field. They began to feel pressure due to the fact that Roman Zobnin began to come to the aid of the defenders more often in the first phase of the draw, and due to the increase in the number of players, the hosts became more confident in holding the match. ball. True, they still had problems with his delivery to the penalty area, and at the end of the hour, Abascal put Sobolev and Tomas Tavares in battle.
But the substitutions did not work for him, but for Goncharenko. In response, he released Alexander Yushin, a Spartak alumnus, on Tavares’ flank. And a minute later he escaped from the Portuguese and shot to the center, where Bicfalvi sent the ball into the net in the fall. The anti-hero of the episode was Maslov himself, who was forced to go out: at first he got caught from behind, so Yushin avoided being offside, then he did not interrupt the cross and lost the Romanian midfielder behind his back. The fans could only sigh bitterly as they realized Jikia’s importance to the team.
AND AGAIN LITVINOV!
In the remaining time, the Spartacists desperately stormed the gates of Pomazun. The left flank was especially active, where Tavares supported each attack. She and Quincy were one of the more notable players late in the match. But a lot on the opposite side of Daniil Denisov – Ignatov was disappointing, but Abascal pulled on Zinkovsky’s shot until the 74th minute.
With his shot, the rojiblancos made an incredible carousel and tied the score in one minute. It was Litvinov who climbed up the middle with up to two walls in a row, with Promes and Christopher Martins, and, after receiving a backheel pass from the latter, past Pomazun. This is Spartak’s eleventh goal in the last 15 minutes, the most productive segment for the Muscovites this season.
DID SACKS TAKE A CLEAR GOAL FROM SOBOLEV?!
Well, in the end there was another judicial scandal. Meshkov was quick to whistle a violation of Pereira’s rules against Pomazun during a serve to the goalkeeper’s line, after which Sobolev sent the ball into an empty goal, but in reality the goalkeeper collided with his own defender.
It is not very clear that he has looked at VAR for so long, but he sided with the judge. Did you see a foul? Offside (definitely wasn’t)? Did you answer the whistle? In any case, Meshkov caused a monstrous scandal, and one of the most unpleasant weeks of his life awaits him.
As a result, although Spartak managed to escape defeat, you can forget about the race for Zenit. Don’t miss the second line. Ural, on the other hand, managed to extend the unbeaten streak to eight games in the RPL and at the same time snap the losing streak against Spartak at the five mark.
RPL. round 18
Spartak – Ural – 2:2 (1:1)
Goals: Vlut, 29 – from the penalty spot – 0:1. Litvinov, 45+3 – 1:1. Bicfalvi, 64 – 1:2. Litvinov, 75 – 2:2.
“Spartacus”: Selikhov, Denisov, N. Chernov (Maslov, 15), Duarte (Martins, 74), Khlusevich (Tavaresh, 60), Litvinov, Prutsev, Zobnin, Ignatov (Zinkovsky, 74), Promes, Nicholson (Sobolev, 59).
“Ural”: Pomazun, Goglihidze (Begich, 79), Emmerson, Filipenko, Beveev, Sungatullin (Mishkic, 63), Vlut, Bikfalvi (Tatarinov, 90+4), Randzhelovich (Yushin, 63), Egorychev, Kashtanov.
Warnings: Vlut, 19. Duarte, 28. Maslov, 57. Goglihidze, 68. Prutsev, 90+3.
Judge: Meshkov (Dmitrov).
