ABASKAL CHANGES THE SCHEME
The rojiblancos had a mixed first month after the season resumed. At first it seemed that Lokomotiv was defeated twice in the case, and in the next four matches they won only once (they put pressure on Fakel at the end), and this despite the fact that they played away only once. So the pause came in handy for Guillermo Abascal. On the other hand, for teams with a large number of collections, these pauses rarely help.
So, the game with Akhmat was supposed to clarify whether the Spaniard managed to use this time to improve the game. First of all, in defense. Which, by the way, is not easy to do, because the leader of the defense, Giorgi Jikia, withdrew due to injury. In his absence, Abaskal dropped Ruslan Litvinov, who had so much experience, from the support zone. His position was occupied by Daniil Denisov, Daniil Khlusevich came out on the right in defense and Tomas Tavares on the left.
That is to say, almost the entire defensive structure has undergone changes and, nevertheless, Quincy Promes was not at the start. Do you think Anton Zinkovsky came out instead? Does not matter how. He was also in stock. This is Abaskal’s conscious response to what he saw. He released Alexander Sobolev and Shamar Nicholson from the opening minutes, and sent Mikhail Ignatov to the position below the attackers, meaning he switched to a 4-4-2 diamond, a scheme that at times worked perfectly for Domenico Tedesco.
Sergei Tashuev in this game could not count on Lechi Sadulaev, Vladislav Karapuzov and Artem Timofeev, who are serving suspensions. It is curious that the first two occupy the position of the far right, so the mentor needed to find a non-banal solution. And he sent the nominal center forward Vladimir Ilyin to this position. Well, the ex-Spartak Timofeev was replaced by Zaim Divanovich, whom Tashuev removed before the break.
NIKOLSON IS NOT A FRIEND OF SOBOLEV
The first part in the performance of both teams turned out to be unconvincing. The hosts had much more possession of the ball (about 65%), but they lost under pressure and made a lot of mistakes, as soon as the opponent was forced to act a little faster. The combined game did not continue, so Muscovites often used long passes, but the partners did not suit Alexander Sobolev well, and he himself was somehow too generous with them. However, the Russian created a chance for Nicholson, but he, falling off an angle towards the goal, let the ball go wide and crashed into Georgy Shelia, who went wide of the goal.
“Akhmat” was marked by the desire to cover the opponent in his penalty area. On the one hand, this pressing was not very intense and solid, periodically allowing the Spartak players, having pushed, to gain speed in the middle of the field. On the other hand, even this was periodically enough to put the lives of the Spartacists. True, the guests did not manage to make a full interception, from which it would be possible to start a counterattack, and the most memorable episode in Alexander Selikhov’s penalty area was the match between Andrei Semenov and Roman Zobnin. , which the VAR referees examined under a microscope.
DRY DOES NOT RISK OF PENALTY
In accordance with such a game (with saturation of the central axis of the field), the extreme defenders of Spartak Khlusevich and Tavares were given a special role. Even when the team was just beginning to play the ball from its own goal, it was already moving towards the center line. Khlusevich was marked by an attempt to close one of the tackles from the opposite edge, and the Portuguese generally spent almost most of the time near someone else’s penalty area and turned out to be the leader (!) By the number of touches per half. ( 67, the second Khlusevich – 53). He would still add the precision of the inputs.
Well, and where without another controversial judicial episode? Semenov, trying to block Nikita Chernov’s shot from the goalie line, jumped to his feet. Former referee Igor Fedotov quickly assessed this action on the penalty spot, but referee Alexei Sukhoi and his video assistants saw nothing penalty. Dry, by the way, has not judged in the RPL since October 2022. If the FTC RFU considers that he made a mistake, he may again be without matches.
WHAT IS SHELIA DOING?
During the break, Tashuev replaced Hamid Agalarov (remembered only for a fall in the penalty area) and Ilyin (missed the match) with Mohamed Konate and Alexander Troshechkin, but these adjustments are based on position. But Abascal, by replacing Nicholson with Promes, returned the team to 4-3-3, which led to the most brilliant moment: Khlusevich played a wall with Ignatov (he returned to the right), advanced through the penalty area, spun the ball in the top nine, allowing Shelia to make a stop on a crazy jump course. Everyone on the field clutched their heads.
Alas, Promes remained on the pitch for only five minutes, after which he sat on the grass, pulled a T-shirt over his head, and punched the grass with an annoyed fist. The Dutchman warmed up a lot during the break, but apparently he still has a muscle injury. He was unable to continue the game and gave way to Keita Balda, who only appeared twice in the current RPL draw. Six minutes later, the striker in a magnificent jump headed in the very same angle, but the incredible Shelia was back on top.
MOSES RETURNS BUT DOES NOT SAVE
Inspired by the episode, Abascal released Victor Moses, who was out for the first time since his injury in August, and Christopher Martins. The advantage of “Spartak” from the category of “big” went to the category of “colossal”. Grozny switched to a frank game on the rebound, and the chances at their gates rained down from all sides. Once Sobolev, from the center of the penalty area, directing the ball into an open corner, hit Semenov on the head. Abascal has an impressive bench! Even Zinkovsky comes to replace the latter.
Spartacus had many opportunities to open an account. Towards the end of the match, even the sky cried for his lousy execution, the 18-2 hit is clear evidence that they really deserved to win, but not even the final assault brought success. “Spartak” has not won three matches in a row and puts even the second place in doubt, and “Akhmat” fights to the blood (especially Semyonov, who cut himself, but was torn on the field) and slightly narrows the gap with the fifth Dynamo . The teams are separated by just a couple of points.
RPL. 21 round
Spartak – Akmat – 0:0 (0:0)
“Spartacus”: Selikhov, Khlusevich, Litvinov, N. Chernov, Tavaresh, Denisov (Martins, 72), Prutsev (Zinkovsky, 79), Zobnin, Ignatov (Mozes, 62), Sobolev, Nicholson (Promes, 46; Balde, 54).
“Akhmat”: Shelia, Utsiev, Semenov, Shatara, Kharin, Shvets, Divanovich (Kamilov, 34), Ilyin (Troshechkin, 46), Oleinikov (Nizhich, 83), Berisha (Todorovich, 76), Agalarov (Konate, 46).
Warnings: Nicholson, 25. Ilyin, 44. Bucket, 56. Khlusevich, 76. Shelia, 90+4.
Referee: Dry (Lyubertsy).
