WAITING FOR THE GOAL SPEECH
The trip to Orenburg was Spartak’s first in 2023. They played all previous matches in Moscow, either at home or in Cherkizovo. The rival of Guillermo Abascal’s team was interesting: light, fast, who went on the attack at any cost, played himself and let others play.
Marcel Lichka’s Orenburg is one of the most interesting phenomena in Russian football in recent years. In addition, the team plays very strong at home: in the last eight games, seven wins and one draw, with the only loss coming from the first round. In this match, the hosts did not have the suspended defender Renato Gojkovic. Instead, Mikhail Sivakov appeared in the center of the defense.
Judging by the Spartak starting eleven, Abascal decided to give the fight open. From the very first minutes, on the left flank of the defense, Tomasz Tavares appeared, who was great on the ball, and the killer trio of Quincy Promes – Alexander Sobolev – Anton Zinkovsky went on the attack. So the fans had the right to expect a spectacular shootout from this game. Despite the “modest” score, the game certainly lived up to the expectations of neutral viewers.
SIX MINUTES OF VOROBYOV
The atmosphere in Orenburg is very football-like. On the day of the match it was about 8-9 degrees, but a bright friendly sun was shining, and the artificial grass, although unusual for Muscovites, is very even and soft, conducive to combined football. And the atmosphere in the stands was nice. Unlike the large empty stadiums, these welcoming stadiums did not lose much visually due to the introduction of fan identification.
The players did not stop enjoying the atmosphere. Thus, the locals covered the rival several times and launched the attack with such great forces that the defenders were outnumbered, but for now the rojiblancos managed to come back. However, in the 17th minute, Anton Zinkovsky cut into his own half and sparked a counter-attack, and Dmitry Vorobyov, picking up the ball, rolled perfectly past Yuri Kovalev, who only had to finish off Alexander Selikhov.
Based on recent matches, it seems that the Spartak players have read enthusiastic articles and posts about themselves and have lost the rampant hunger that characterized them in the autumn part of the season. As if they believed in their class and began to enter the field with the confidence that victory would come by itself. So even a lost ball did not become a lesson for them. Six minutes later, Brian Mansilla was ahead of Daniil Denisov (the defender tried to play shoulder to shoulder, but the Argentine dodged, and Denisov landed on the grass) and shot with his sights at the goalkeeper’s line, from where Vorobyov himself with the heel (!) carried the fast flying ball into the net.
Muscovites acted so clumsily and lazily that they clearly needed replacements in the first half. It is unlikely that anyone would be surprised if Abaskal had not released Georgy Jikia and Zinkovsky for the second half. The first stopped twice, looking at the player with the ball, and did not control his opponent, the second not only brought a goal, but also slowed down the attacks with his endless switching of the ball from the left foot to the right foot and back. . Shortly before the final whistle, Jikia suffered a strained hamstring, and this will only add to the team’s problems on defense.
AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ABASKAL’S PARTY DID NOT HELP
The rojiblanco mentor made a double change at halftime, but different from what might be expected. Danil Prutsev and Daniil Denisov gave way to Christopher Martins and Daniil Khlusevich. Both replacements were clearly meant to strengthen the attack. Khlusevich is a known lover to connect, and the Luxembourger general near Abaskal came out several times on the flank of the attack.
As planned, these permutations were supposed to bring controlled chaos to the team’s game ahead. Zinvosky in a positional attack began to turn to Quincy Promes on the left, creating an overload here, and the opposite edge was filled with newcomers Khlusevich and Martins. The idea is not bad, but the players lacked ball speed, so the attacks were broken by the well-coordinated defense of the opponent. Moreover, Orenburg was much closer to the third goal than Spartak to the first. For example, in the episode where Selikhov kicked the ball from the goal line after hitting Mansilla with his head at point-blank range.
For a third of the half, Abascal saw how his new plan was not working and made two more substitutions, in place of Zinkovsky and Pavel Maslov, who botched the match (in general, he did everything out of character and miraculously prevented a goal). mistake), Shamar Nicholson and Alexis Duarte came out. Spartak switched to playing with a double attacking center, but if the team is unsuccessful, often no substitution can help. For “Spartak” it was the very day when everything falls out of hands and feet.
A chance to save himself could appear midway through the second half, when Khlusevich competently brought Nicholson into second pace, but didn’t really hit the ball and missed the chance. But forget about it, the finish would have been much more exciting and Sobolev’s post hit would have been much more dramatic. And so Orenburg, while not labor issues, defended to the final whistle against four attackers and recorded another home win, their eighth in 10 RPL games. Well, Spartak lost in the Premier League for the first time since September, when they scored 2:4 in Rostov-on-Don.
RPL. 20 rounds
Orenburg – Spartak – 2:0 (2:0)
goals: Kovalev, 17 – 1:0. Vorobiev, 23 – 2:0.
“Orenburg”: Sysuev, Ektov, Sivakov (Khotulev, 71), Pérez, Stamatov, Bashich (Oganesyan, 80), Kaplenko, Vera, Kovalev (Marin, 65), Mansilla (Obukhov, 90+2), Vorobyov (Poluyakhtov, 80).
“Spartacus”: Selikhov, Denisov (Khlusevich, 46), Maslov (Duarte, 59), Jikia (Balde, 76), Tavaresh, Litvinov, Prutsev (Martins, 46), Zobnin, Zinkovsky (Nicholson, 59), Promes, Sobolev.
Warnings: Vorobyov, 4. Zinkovsky, 37. Sivakov, 39. Sobolev, 45+4. Litvinov, 55. Sysuev, 90+4.
Judge: Kukuyan (Sochi).
