Translated material
The emergence of the middle class
Amkar caught up with the leading group
Missing round after round of the national championship, Zenit is gradually plunging into the relegation zone. At the same time, it gives the middle peasants a taste of what it’s like to be at the top of the standings. Amkar took advantage of the postponement of the central match of the 9th round, Lokomotiv - Zenit, and ascended to the leading group, above which only Rubin.Before the start of the championship, a place somewhere near the leaders was mainly assigned to Saturn. A team without financial problems seemed to have gotten rid of the bad habit of playing in a draw by the end of the last championship. But the expectations of fans and specialists were disappointed: in the 9th round, Gadzhi Gadzhiev’s team suffered their fourth defeat, giving rise to renewed talk about the possible resignation of the head coach.
"Saturn", however, lost not to anyone, but to "Amkar" - the finalist of the Russian Cup. This status means no less for Perm than reaching the UEFA Cup final for St. Petersburg, and implies good organization of the game and balance in all lines. The team built by Rashid Rakhimov last year did not undergo any special changes under Miodrag Bozovic and only benefited from it. The stable defense coped with the load offered by Saturn without much difficulty. And the only goal scored by Amkar was the result of a combination played a year and a half ago. Sirakov and Peev organized a breakthrough along the right flank, from where the third Bulgarian in the Perm team, Kushev, usually completed the crosses. However, this time it was Sikimic who was at the forefront of the attack, who threw the ball to Starkov, who completed the rapid attack - 1:0.
It has long been noted that Saturn this season is playing the second halves much weaker than the first. This time, Gadzhiev’s team also did not have enough for all 90 minutes of playing time. And even though the guests did not concede after the break, this was primarily due to the exceptional practicality of the hosts - Amkar, since the days of Sergei Oborin, appreciates the beauty of the winning score on the scoreboard, no matter what numbers it is expressed in.
And the Saturn coaching staff, no matter who heads it, still has to puzzle out how to combine the not-so-mobile Loskov, Karyaka and Eremenko in the center of the field. Each of them, even standing still, can still disperse the team’s attack with a witty pass, but when all three are in the starting lineup, there is no one to disperse.
Valery Gazzaev has approximately the same problem: his CSKA is not running at all. In past seasons, this was usually associated with the fact that the army team was purposefully brought to peak form by the fall, for the decisive games of the championship and the group stage of the Champions League. However, now such a strategy is hardly justified, but the Brazilians, on whom CSKA entirely depends, are again out of shape, and Zhirkov alone, who, as always stood out for his activity on the flank, was not enough to win even over Tom. And so the teams defended a colorless goalless draw in Tomsk.
Dynamo again did not take advantage of the inertia of the leaders. Even returning to the scheme with one striker, Andrei Kobelev was unable to interrupt the looming winless streak. That same only forward Alexander Kerzhakov, having sent the ball into the Krylya Sovetov goal after Dmitry Kombarov's cross, scored his second goal after returning to Russia in the 2nd minute.
But after the break, Krylia, thanks to a free kick from 37-year-old Tikhonov, won back. The help of the second striker of the “blue and white” Tsvetan Genkov was needed to score the second goal. But the large-scale fireworks with which Moscow greeted the Bulgarian’s goal were still dedicated not to Dynamo’s victory, but to the inauguration of the president. And “Wings”, having scored in stoppage time, again from a free kick, did not upset Samara that day.
Results of the matches of the 9th round. "Dynamo" - "Wings of the Soviets" - 2:2 (Kerzhakov 2, Genkov 78 - Tikhonov 67, Budylin 90) , "Luch-Energia" - "Spartak-Nalchik" - 0:2 (Lago 56, Kochubey 90) , "Tom" - CSKA - 0:0, "Amkar" - "Saturn" - 1:0 (Starkov 37) , "Khimki" - "Terek" - 0:1 (Zabavnik 78 ) .
Premier League
| 1. "Ruby" | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 16--6 | 24 |
| 2. "Spartak" | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 18--12 | 16 |
| 3. "Amkar" | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11--6 | 16 |
| 4. "Lokomotiv" | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10--5 | 15 |
| 5. Dynamo | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13--11 | 15 |
| 6. “Wings of the Soviets” | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 13--9 | 14 |
| 7. CSKA | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7--4 | 12 |
| 8. "Terek" | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8--13 | 12 |
| 9. "Tom" | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8--10 | 11 |
| 10. "Spartak" N | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7--11 | 10 |
| 11. "Saturn" | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9--10 | 9 |
| 12. "Shinnik" | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12--16 | 8 |
| 13. Zenit | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7--7 | 7 |
| 14. "Moscow" | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10--13 | 7 |
| 15. "Beam-Energy" | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7--13 | 6 |
| 16. Khimki | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10--20 | 6 |