Translated material
Age-old curse
Spartak again failed to beat CSKA
“Spartak” was one step away from lifting its main curse of the 21st century. Half a minute before the final whistle of the match of the 23rd round of the Russian Championship, the “red-whites” beat CSKA - 1:0 and were closer than ever to their first victory over the army team since 2001. But the Polish legionnaire David Janczyk, having corrected the ball into the Spartak goal, deprived the “red-whites” of three points and sole leadership in the standings.Apparently, Spartak head coach Stanislav Cherchesov, who celebrated his 44th birthday yesterday, has not yet completed all the rituals to lift the army curse. Although throughout the match it seemed that the necessary adjustments had been made after the matches with Rubin and Celtic, the Spartak team would not just beat CSKA, but would do so with a clear advantage. Having put out the fire in defense in the first minutes and eliminated Vagner Love's breakthrough, the home team surrounded the army penalty area. By the middle of the first half, Spartak could boast of several dangerous shots and Ignashevich’s yellow card.
In the 30th minute, CSKA's defenders could not withstand the tension - Vasily Berezutsky, after a corner kick, took the ball off the opponent's head with his hand. At first, the main referee of the meeting, Spaniard Undiano Mallenco, did not see any violation of the rules. However, the microphone and earpiece with which the Spanish referee ran throughout the match turned out to be not a sham: the line judge reported to the main player about the handball, and Malenko immediately returned to the CSKA penalty area and awarded a penalty. “I don’t know how he saw the penalty. Apparently, the team worked well with the Spartak football club,” CSKA head coach Valery Gazzaev was surprised and joked after the match.
Mozart was entrusted with taking the kick from the 11-meter mark, and he did not miss, although another recent birthday boy, Veniamin Mandrykin, who celebrated his 27th birthday on August 30, had a chance to take this ball. This goal was supposed to start the rout. But Spartak continued to squander one moment after another. After the break, there were episodes when Bazhenov, who replaced the injured Welliton, was unable to hit an empty goal, or when four of Spartak’s players went at two CSKA defenders. But until the last minutes, Spartak’s minimal advantage remained, which Gazzaev’s inert team did not encroach on for the time being.
Everything changed in the third minute of stoppage time. Rotinho, who made his debut for CSKA, walked along the right flank and was brought down near the Spartak penalty area. The victim himself began to execute the serve, which he found Ignashevich with. The CSKA captain threw the ball to Yanchik, and the Pole sent it into the goal. Pletikosa's jump was beautiful and useless - the goalkeeper could not help out at this moment even if he wanted to - 1:1.
“Congratulations to Spartak on the draw, and happy birthday to Stanislav Salamovich. They still have to work and work to beat us,” Valery Gazzaev was happy with the unexpected draw. But he has nothing special to be happy about - the eight-point gap with first place has remained, and CSKA will not be easy to reach not only a place in the Champions League, but also to win a ticket to the UEFA Cup. There is still a match ahead with Zenit away and a double load in connection with the start in European competition.
Meanwhile, there are now plenty of contenders for a place in the UEFA Cup. Dynamo and Moscow, to which their neighbors at the top of the standings have already become accustomed, were joined by Amkar and Saturn. The Permians, who had gained momentum, beat the stalling Rubin - 2:1, and again the victory was ensured by Martin Kushev, who had been productive in the last matches. His eight goals in the last five matches drew attention even to the Bulgarian national team, and the forward was invited to the national team for the first time in the last ten years.
Saturn's victory over Khimki - 1:0 - is important for Gadzhi Gadzhiev's team, primarily from a strategic point of view. Two Moscow region teams are financed from the same gubernatorial source, and for them there is no more important rival than their neighbor. Saturn won the last derby in the 89th minute - the hero of the match was Alexey Ivanov, who drove the ball into the net in the commotion at the gate. But then it will be more difficult for Gadzhiev - in the final part of the championship, his team will have matches with Moscow, Dynamo, Spartak, and Zenit.
Results of matches of the 23rd round. "Rostov" -- "Lokomotiv" -- 0:2 ( Odemwingie 42 pen., Sychev 67 ), "Zenit" -- "Kuban" -- 1:0 ( Zyryanov 78 ), "Spartak" -- CSKA -- 1:1 ( Mozart 30 with pen. - - Yanchik 90 ), Saturn - Khimki - 1:0 ( Ivanov 89 ), Amkar - Rubin - 2:1 ( Kushev 33, 44 pens. - Jean 85 ), "Luch-Energia" - "Wings of the Soviets" - 0:0, "Moscow" - "Spartak-Nalchik" - 1:0, "Dynamo" - "Tom" » -- 3:1 ( Semshov 9, 48, K. Kombarov - Skoblyakov 47 ).
Premier League
| 1. "Spartak" | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 35--23 | 43 |
| 2. Zenit | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 39--28 | 43 |
| 3. "Moscow" | 23 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 28--25 | 39 |
| 4. Dynamo | 23 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 32--25 | 36 |
| 5. CSKA | 23 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 30--20 | 35 |
| 6. "Amkar" | 23 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 24--18 | 34 |
| 7. "Saturn" | 23 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 25--21 | 34 |
| 8. "Lokomotiv" | 23 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 30--31 | 33 |
| 9. "Ruby" | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 24--23 | 28 |
| 10. "Spartak" N | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 22--25 | 26 |
| 11. Khimki | 23 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 21--23 | 25 |
| 12. "Kuban" | 23 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 19--27 | 25 |
| 13. “Wings of the Soviets” | 23 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 22--32 | 24 |
| 14. "Tom" | 23 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 28--30 | 24 |
| 15. "Beam-Energy" | 23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 19--27 | 22 |
| 16. "Rostov" | 23 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 15--35 | 14 |