One of the central matches of the tour was the confrontation between Spartak Moscow and Akhmat. The rojiblancos have been slipping lately and the motivation to break the losing streak was through the roof, but Grozny’s players are not as simple and common as it might seem.
The Chechen club scored only three points in the first four rounds and on August 15 fired coach Sergei Tashuev, after which the team was led by Stanislav Cherchesov’s former assistant Miroslav Romashchenko. After rearranging the helmsman, Akhmat seemed to take on a new life. In his debut game in the last round, the specialist led Grozny to a 4-0 win over Orenburg.
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Abascal, for his part, cannot boast of positive results lately. After a good start, there were defeats against the Urals (2: 3) and then a home defeat against Zenit 3: 1. After that match, even some rojiblancos players began to criticize each other for such a weak game. In particular, striker Alexander Sobolev went through everyone: from the players to the coaching staff.
After the match, former Spartak owner Leonid Fedun stated that “Abaskal’s constant creative search is not good for the team.” Thus, the Spanish coach and his team had more than enough motivation before a seemingly normal championship match.
In the first half, the teams decided to do a reconnaissance, which frankly dragged on. Spartak spent about 50 percent of the time in their half of the field, and Grozny – 40. In the remaining 10 there were several moments, but the language did not turn to call them dangerous. Berisha fired twice from distance, one of them hit Selikhov, and the other flew close to the crossbar.
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There were also attempts by Promes to shoot at the head of his teammates in the box, but first Sobolev struck over the target and then Martins. Apparently, the teams decided to postpone all the delight for the second half of the match. After the break, Spartak came out more charged. In the first attack, the rojiblancos managed to create the most dangerous moment of the entire game: Promes shot into the area, Sobolev picked up the ball and returned it a little, from where Bongonda shot directly at the goal. -blank range. But Shelia was reliable and stopped this blow.
The Muscovites had enough for a few more attacks, and then the game leveled off and began to turn into a fight in the truest sense of the word. One fight after another, fall after fall. The whistles in the stands in the direction of what is happening became a permanent phenomenon in the second half.
After the 70th minute, the Spartak players inexplicably began to roll the ball in their half of the field, not in a great hurry to go on the attack. This situation on the field lasted until the 83rd minute. Then Ignatov, who came on as a substitute, first scored a free kick, in which unfortunately no danger could be created. And then the same Mikhail dragged the ball to the corner of the box and shot, but the goalkeeper Shelia was the first to rebound.
As a result, rather boring zeros appear on the scoreboard. Of course, “Spartak” was much more active in attack, especially at the end of the match, but at times the team in a completely incomprehensible way tried to bring the end of the match closer faster. Perhaps they could save energy for the cup match against Dynamo, which will be played in three days, or perhaps at times it seemed to the players that it was not Akhmat who was in front of them, but Real Madrid itself. It’s hard to say, but one thing is for sure: Spartak’s hard times are far from over.
