Local fights

The lack of intrigue encouraged the teams to play productively

Due to the fact that the outsiders of the Russian championship emerged quite a long time ago, and the leading group has significantly broken away from their competitors, for many teams the championship is almost over. The only exceptions are the capital's Spartak and Lokomotiv, who have not yet determined which of them is more worthy of gold medals. And also clubs that have not lost their chance for bronze. However, the teams vying for the last place in the top three are becoming fewer and fewer in each round. It seems that Dynamo Moscow were also left out of the fight for bronze medals. Gazzaev's team, meeting with one of their direct competitors, Anzhi, lost the victory in the last minutes - 2:2. I must say that traveling to Makhachkala is considered one of the most difficult. Few teams managed to not only defeat the local Anzhi on the road, but at least share points with the Dagestan club. But the tournament situation forced Dynamo to play only to win, and at the very beginning of the match, visiting forward Spartak Gogniev managed to open the scoring. However, the joy of the “blue and white” was short-lived: the idol of Makhachkala fans, Budun Budunov, distinguished himself. Dynamo were able to take the lead again only at the end of the second half. Maxim Romashchenko helped his team out once again, but the guests were unable to maintain their advantage. A few minutes before the final whistle, Valery Alekseev crossed Dynamo off the list of contenders for bronze with a precise shot, making his club the favorite in this fight.

It looks like Anzhi will only have to fight for third place with Torpedo. In any case, another medal contender, Novorossiysk Chernomorets, having failed to beat Fakel Voronezh away (2:2), can now only count on a place in the UEFA Cup. However, access to Europe for Novorossians is not guaranteed. Zenit St. Petersburg, which defeated Krylia Sovetov with a score of 1:0, also “keeps in mind” a place in the European Cup.

The rest of the matches, although they turned out to be productive, essentially did not decide anything. Perhaps only Rostselmash, meeting with Moscow Lokomotiv, could influence the fate of the gold medals. However, the Rostovites, for whom there were no incentives left in the championship, were not eager to write their name in history and resignedly lost away to the railway workers with a score of 0:3. Another big score was recorded in the match between Rotor and Saturn. Moreover, just like in the game between Rostov and Loko, everything was already decided in the first half. And in the second, the guests from the Moscow region, although they tried to change the course of the meeting, were unable to oppose anything to the Volgograders who had caught their game. A major defeat for Saturn - 0:3 - could affect the fate of their head coach Sergei Pavlov, talk of whose resignation has been agitating the football community all last week. However, it hardly makes sense to change the coach at the end of the championship, especially since the Moscow region club is firmly stuck in the middle of the standings and no personnel changes can now move it from a dead point.

And the picture of a productive football weekend was completed by major victories for CSKA and Alania. The army team, having defeated Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod (5:0), practically signed the verdict on Ovchinnikov's team - most likely it will have to part with the major league. And the Vladikavkaz team defeated another loser of the championship - Elista Uralan - with a score of 4:0.

Russian Championship

	AND	ABOUT	M
1. "Spartak"	27	61	64:28
2. Lokomotiv (M)	27	58	38:16
3. Anji	27	48	41:28
4. "Torpedo"	27	46	37:28
5. Dynamo	27	44	41:33
6. Zenit	27	43	34:23
7. "Chernomorets"	27	43	41:26
8. "Alania"	27	37	33:33
9. CSKA	27	35	36:34
10. "Saturn"	27	35	25:29
11. "Rotor"	27	32	34:47
12. "Torch"	27	28	24:42
13. "Rostselmash"	27	28	21:25
14. “Wings of the Soviets”	27	23	23:43
15. Lokomotiv (NN)	27	17	15:42
16. "Uralan"	27	12	16:46

Andrey VDOVIN