Rubin had a real test in the third round of the RPL. Spartak, together with Krasnodar, made a great start in the championship, achieving two victories. In addition, already before the match, it turned out that the club from the capital would have to play at the Kazan stadium at home in the Otkritie Arena, since the ratio of home fans and guests seemed 25 to 75 in favor of the Muscovites.
However, the game did not start entirely according to the favorite’s plan. Kazan began to crowd Alexander Maksimenko’s penalty area, sometimes making the rojiblanca defense very difficult. In one of the episodes, only George Jikia’s reaction helped Spartak to avoid big trouble. But in the middle of the first half, the guests restored the status quo on the field. Theo Bongonda, having received an incomparable pass from Alexander Sobolev’s pen, met Rubin’s goalkeeper Alexander Dupin, continued his unique series of effective actions in the RPL and the Russian Cup.
Photo source: FC Spartak
At the end of the first half, the game became calmer. The players began to walk more on foot on the field and would have finished the first half if the main referee of the match, Yevgeny Kukulyak, out of the blue, had not continued the series of unclear referee decisions that began almost from the first round. in the RPL. Ruslan Litvinov appeared to cleanly get the ball out from under the Kazan opponent’s feet, but it seemed to the referee that he was breaking the rules. As a result, an incomprehensible free kick (and it could have been a penalty) for Rubin, from which the hosts recovered. A series of rebounds and the ball ended up in the Spartak goal. The goal was recorded at the expense of the Armenian-African legionnaire from the Ugochukvu Iva field.
And in the second part, Spartak set up a true Brazilian carnival. Fifteen minutes into the second half, the long-awaited ex-soldier Jesús Medina appeared on the field as part of the Muscovites. After a few seconds, the Paraguayan opened the scoring for his goals for the guests. Canopy and clear header from Medina with a blow against Dupin. The most spectacular debut you can dream of! The Paraguayan rejoices, the red and white fans exhaled – kept playing. “Rubin” lost resoundingly, and the rojiblancos added a lot. And now another goal-scoring pass from the great master of this game, Alexander Sobolev, fresh Mikhail Ignatov, and the numbers of the Spartak that flew into space already shine on the scoreboard.
Five more passed and the beauty on the Kazan turf was continued by Christopher Martins and Quincy Promes. Martins demonstrated incredible dribbling and handed the disgraced representative of the Netherlands a piece of candy, Promes clicks such moments like nuts: the fourth ball, which signals defeat and the complete ouster of Rubin. 1:4! Besides, Kazan was already more concerned with making sure that the difference in the score didn’t turn catastrophic.
Photo source: FC Spartak
At the end of the match, Spartak clearly slowed down, the difference in the score made it possible to think about future games. Rubin tried to aggravate as much as he could, worked effectively with the ball, but the mood was already completely useless for scoring goals. Frankly speaking, the teams were just finishing the match. Everyone had enough football today. Spartak continues to assert itself as a title contender in the 2023-2024 season, and Rubin’s main task, despite the defeat, has not changed – to gain a foothold in the RPL and avoid a sharp drop to the bottom of the table. rankings
