Translated material
Price Bystrov
Rubin defeated Spartak in Moscow
In the 20th round the question of leadership was decided. Spartak and Rubin met at Luzhniki. Defeat Spartak and it would take the lead. A draw maintained an approximate dual power, and a win for Rubin created a comfortable four-point lead for the Kazan team. But the main event happened two days earlier. After long negotiations and the exchange of conflicting information, Vladimir Bystrov left Spartak for Zenit. More precisely, he returned, because Vladimir came to the red and white ranks four years ago from St. Petersburg.This transition was perceived, to put it mildly, bleakly by fans of both teams. The Zenit team did not forget Bystrov's Moscow exploits, which often took place in matches with their team. The Spartak players were shocked that the leading player abandoned the team at such an inopportune moment and went for a long ruble. Spartak did not want to let Vladimir go, but suddenly it turned out that the midfielder had a clause in the contract that allowed the player to leave if an offer of at least 15 million euros was received. Zenit claimed that Bystrov’s return cost them 9 million. And the player’s salary in the new-old club should have been not 4 million, but three times less.
This is arithmetic. And on Sunday we saw Zenit with Bystrov and Spartak without their number 23. Booed and insulted by Zenit fans, Vladimir became the main hero of the meeting with Khimki. He scored himself, helped Tekke score, forced the visiting defender to make a mistake and score into his own goal, and also forced two players from the Moscow Region club to receive red cards. Even taking into account the obvious weakness of Khimki, this is a more than decent result. Of course, Zenit fans will not stop booing Bystrov immediately, but if things continue like this, then rehabilitation is inevitable.
And soon after the match in Khimki, Spartak and Rubin met at Luzhniki. And then we saw that the loss of Bystrov for the “red-whites” was more than serious. Spartak's speed immediately disappeared - minus one trump card. The opponents no longer needed two or three to guard the fleet-footed midfielder, this allowed them to take tight control of Alex and cover Welliton - the second trump card of the bat. And all together led to the fact that Spartak was forced to play without the ball, and for Karpin’s team this is like going onto the field in shoes two sizes too small. “Rubin” pressed the Spartak players to the goal from the first minutes, then let go a little. The Spartak players were so happy that they were allowed to fiddle with the ball that they did not notice how they had fallen into a trap. The counterattack involving Bukharov and Dominguez was seemingly stopped by Martin Iranek, who carried the ball out of the penalty area... right onto Semak's foot. A juicy strike from Sergei - and the ball is in the net. Five minutes later, Dedura knocked down Dominguez, and Alejandro put the ball in the corner - 0:2.
During the break, Karpin made two substitutions, but it didn’t help. Bukharov took advantage of the confusion in the Spartak defense and scored the third goal. The game was done. Young Zhano Ananidze provided a little lead for the Spartak players, but this could not influence the outcome of the match. Rubin outright outplayed its main competitor. It’s too early to say that Kazan residents are champions. Anything can happen in ten rounds. But now everything is in the hands of Berdyev’s team. And these hands are strong, judging by the latest matches (2:0, 3:1, 4:0. 3:0, 3:0).
As for Spartak, Bystrov’s departure also broke the team psychologically. It is difficult to fight for gold when the best player leaves the team, and even on the eve of such a match. If he doesn’t believe in Spartak’s championship, then this uncertainty will certainly pass on to less experienced players. And for Karpin, Vladimir’s departure was a stone in the back.
Meanwhile, Lokomotiv comes to life with every tour. In the game with Kuban, the railwaymen conceded first, and then they got angry and started scoring. And the score became big in a matter of minutes - 4:1. And another big result - Saturn scored three unanswered goals against the declining Terek.
Results of the 20th round. "Tom" - "Moscow" - 0:0, "Saturn" - "Terek" - 3:0 (Kuzmichev 9, Al. Ivanov 43, Kirichenko 66) , "Lokomotiv" - "Kuban" - 4:1 (Sychev 69, Odemwingie 71, Kocsis 73, Vagner 86 - Tlisov 61) , Khimki - Zenit - 0:4 (Tekke 24, Bystrov 49, Rozina 68, Zinoviev 90 own goal) , "Spartak" (M) - "Rubin" - 0:3 (Semak 33, Dominguez 38 from the penalty spot, Bukharov 58) , "Krylya Sovetov" - "Dynamo" - 3:1 (Adamov 68, 69, Yaroshik 79 - Dimidko 63). The match "Rostov" - CSKA ended late yesterday evening.