Translated material
The highlight of the program
Yuri Semin's team broke the series of failures
On the eve of the start of the group tournaments of the Champions League and Europa League, Russian clubs once again tested their readiness and military weapons. Almost everyone is doing well: Welliton scores at Spartak, Carlos Eduardo fits in well at Rubin, and Zenit still has no equal in our Premier League. And only CSKA misfired, losing to Lokomotiv.Event. The “railroad workers,” however, had nowhere to retreat. Before the break in the championship associated with the qualifying matches of the Russian national team, the board of directors of FC Lokomotiv did not fire Yuri Semin. But most likely, the head coach was given a specific task, the quality of execution of which will determine his future career. Taking into account the team's tournament position, the best real result for it would be to reach the European Cup zone.
Yuri Semin began to carry out the task immediately, and 36-year-old Dmitry Loskov became his main weapon. As in the old days, having received the captain's armband, he started the match with CSKA in the starting lineup and spent the entire 90 minutes on the field. Together with the veteran, the team maintained concentration throughout the game, almost for the first time this season managing to do without fatal mistakes in defense.
Having opened the scoring in the middle of the first half, Lokomotiv defended staunchly for more than an hour. This is exactly how the “railroad workers” ten years ago, under the leadership of Semin, won victories, medals and glory, and CSKA had no arguments against such a game - 1:0. However, Loko has retained something from modern times. Once again, the “railroad workers” did not finish the meeting in full force - Asatiani’s nerves could not stand it, who, having provoked a clash with Gonzalez, was sent off. However, the Chilean also saw a red card in front of him.
Scandal. Dynamo is not losing hope of saving the season either. But every victory for Miodrag Bozovic's team is difficult. A refereeing error helped them beat Terek. Referee Egorov and his assistants did not see how, with the score 1:1, the ball crossed the goal line of Vladimir Gabulov. The guests, upset by the referee's decision, soon conceded a curious goal - Samedov's cross turned into a goal kick. Another counterattack by the hosts set the final score - 3:1.
Bombardier. Spartak again won thanks exclusively to the Brazilian Welliton. When he opened the scoring already in the eighth minute of the meeting with Saturn, taking advantage of a pass from debutant McGeady, it seemed that the “red-whites” would be able to get another three points without any problems. But it’s not for nothing that half the team of Spartak veterans performs at Saturn, including Evseev, Boyarintsev and Parfenov, who turned 36 years old on the day of the game. They tried to do everything not to spoil their holiday, and after an excellent combination from Kirichenko, who equalized the score, they tightly blocked all the paths to their goal.
Karpin’s team cracked the ramen defense for quite a long time, and if not for Welliton’s individual skill, they would hardly have been able to achieve success. The Brazilian single-handedly dragged the ball through all the Saturn defenders, and then threw it over the running Kinski - 2:1. Welliton with 15 goals becomes the undisputed leader of the scorers race.
Debut. The most high-profile acquisition of last summer, Carlos Eduardo, already in the first match made it clear that it was not in vain that Rubin paid 20 million euros for him. Even though Amkar is not as formidable an opponent as those who will await the Kazan team in the Champions League, the Permians have always been famous for their defense and it is not easy to take a double in a match against such a team. Carlos Eduardo completed it in an hour and also managed to hit the post.
Intrigue. While Amkar is in a dark period, Krylia Sovetov showed unexpected activity. The Samara team won their first victory since May, and now it was Krylia, and not Siberia, that had a chance of salvation. The fate of the “eagles” seems to be predetermined. They were leading until the 90th minute of the match against Alania, but conceded two goals in stoppage time. After such defeats, rarely does anyone manage to raise their head.
Tour phrase. “In August, they hammered our coffin with big nails, but we didn’t let us hammer in the last one,” Lokomotiv head coach Yuri Semin returned to a good mood and imaginative thinking.
Results of matches of the 20th round. "Lokomotiv" - CSKA - 1:0 (Maikon 25) , "Wings of the Soviets" - "Spartak-Nalchik" - 2:0 (Djordjevic 74, Yakovlev 87) , "Dynamo" - "Terek" - 3:1 (Kuranyi 43, Samedov 66, Semshov 73 - Lakhiyalov 35) , "Sibir" - "Alania" - 1:2 (Zinoviev 12 - Gnanu 90, Collins 90) , "Zenit" - "Tom" " - 2:0 (Petkovic 3 own goal, Bukharov 45) , "Spartak" - "Saturn" - 2:1 (Welliton 8, 74 - Kirichenko 21) , "Rubin" - "Amkar" - 3 :0 (Carlos Eduardo 26, 52, Martins 86 from the penalty spot) . The match "Rostov" - "Anzhi" ended after the issue was signed for printing.
Premier League
| 1. Zenit | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 31--7 | 46 |
| 2. "Ruby" | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 24--8 | 40 |
| 3. CSKA | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 30--15 | 36 |
| 4. "Spartak" N | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 27--22 | 33 |
| 5. "Rostov" | 19 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 20--24 | 29 |
| 6. Spartak M | 19 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 29--25 | 29 |
| 7. "Terek" | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 22--19 | 27 |
| 8. "Lokomotiv" | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 23--24 | 26 |
| 9. Dynamo | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 23--19 | 26 |
| 10. "Tom" | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 25--31 | 25 |
| 11. "Anji" | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 18--21 | 23 |
| 12. "Alania" | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 19--28 | 22 |
| 13. "Saturn" | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 14--20 | 21 |
| 14. "Amkar" | 20 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 12--23 | 18 |
| 15. “Wings of the Soviets” | 20 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 14--28 | 16 |
| 16. "Siberia" | 20 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 25--42 | 12 |