Russkoye zarubezhye: Zakharyan scored for the first time in the season in Spain

Real Sociedad footballer Arsen Zakharyan scored his first goal of the season in the starting lineup of Spanish Real Sociedad. After a long recovery from injury, he finally began to show his best qualities and hit the gates of Leganes (3:0) in a La Liga match. Three days earlier, the Russian midfielder made a goal in the Europa League match against Danish Middjuland (5:2).

His team went further in the European Cup. Matvey Safonov did the same in the Champions League PSG. Meanwhile, Leonid Slutsky successfully started his second season in China. "Shanghai Shenhua" first won the Super Cup of the country, and then won the first round. Alexei Miranchuk's Atlanta United scored three points in their first match of the season in North America.

Zakharyan

The second season in Spain did not go well for Zakharyan from the very beginning. Due to injury he missed the entire first half and only after the New Year he started training. Only on February 2 he was given to play in an official match for the first time - Arsen came on as a substitute in the 78th minute of the away game of the national championship against Osasuna (1:2). Two weeks later, Real Sociedad head coach Imanol Anguasil released the Russian for two minutes of the match in the away game against Betis (0:3).

And last week on February 20, he gave Zakharyan a game only in the 83rd minute. But it was enough to score his team's fifth goal against Middjuland in the 90th minute. The club from San Sebastian had defeated the Danes on the road a week earlier, and taking into account the home defeat it would have gone further without the performance of our midfielder.

But with his play in such a short period of time, the 21-year-old convinced the coaching staff to give him the opportunity to play from the first minute for the first time in the season. It happened on February 23 in a home match against Leganes. Zakharyan opened the scoring in the 12th minute and was substituted at halftime. His team won 3-0. In the Spanish championship it is in eighth place, one point behind the sixth line, which gives the right to get into the European Cup next season.

In the Europa League after passing "Middtjuland" in the playoff round "Real Sociedad" got into the 1/8 finals, where they will play twice with English "Manchester United" - at home on March 6 and away on the 13th.

- I'm glad that Zakharyan is clinging to his chance in Spain and even after his injury he is making effective actions," former Russian national team and Dynamo Moscow striker Sergey Kiryakov told Izvestia. - I hope Arsen will cling to a place in the Real Sociedad squad. He is already the second season in the team, and his adaptation has been delayed. It is clear that there was a long injury, but now he needs to take advantage of the situation and continue to make results, as it happened in the last match. Then he will have a chance to play in this championship.

Slutsky

In his first season as head coach of Shanghai Shenhua, Leonid Slutsky frustratingly missed out on winning the Chinese championship, unexpectedly losing to one of the mid-table sides in the penultimate round and losing the top spot. Now he is trying to get to the top in 2025. It's off to a good start so far.

And in the first two games of the season, his team did what it often demonstrated last year - the ability to snatch victory in the end of the match. In the Chinese Super Cup, they lost 0-1 to reigning champions Shanghai Porto in extra time, but two goals in the 94th and 95th minutes allowed them to win (2-1). And in the game of the first round of the national championship at the expense of a goal in the 98th minute, the team of the Russian specialist won against Changchun Yatan (2:1).

- Slutsky's team already has a trademark - the ability to play to the last second of matches and snatch victories in the end," Boris Ignatyev, former head coach of Chinese Shandong Luneng, said in a conversation with Izvestia. - Hopefully, this ability will help us win the championship this season. Leonid Viktorovich is in his second year with the team, he is used to China and local customs, and the team is used to him. Therefore, the work should go easier. And a successful start to the season confirms it.

Miranchuk

In the first round of MLS Atlanta United played at home with the Canadian Clube de foot Montreal. Alexei Miranchuk played the match in full. He didn't score, but he contributed to a difficult 3-2 victory. His team led twice and allowed the opponent to equalize, but managed to score the winning goal in the 85th minute. Ahead of it has a trip to FC Charlotte, and already in the 4th round it is waiting for a game with Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, which was sensationally knocked out by Atlanta in the playoffs last season.

- "Even last fall, Miranchuk quickly settled in America," former Russian national team and Lokomotiv Moscow forward Dmitry Bulykin shared his opinion with Izvestia. - He scored some beautiful and important goals, helped Atlanta reach the playoffs and go pretty far there. Now, after spending a preparatory period with the team, Alexey should show himself even more confidently overseas. He has everything he needs to do that.

Safonov

Matvey Safonov's PSG defeated Brest (3-0; 7-0) in the Champions League playoff round without much trouble. In both games our goalkeeper did not play - again head coach Luis Enrique entrusted the place in the lineup to the main goalkeeper, star Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma. But between these meetings, he released the Russian for the away match against Toulouse.

It was Matvey's first game in Ligue 1 after the New Year. Safonov played without conceding a goal and allowed PSG to win a difficult minimal victory 1:0, strengthening their leadership in the national championship. With 15 rounds to go, the Parisians are 13 points ahead of their nearest pursuer.

- It's unlikely that anything will prevent Safonov from winning the championship in his first season," former Russian national team midfielder Alexander Mostovoi told Izvestia. - We can only congratulate him on that. And Matvey will contribute to it - he has already played six games in this championship. And this is in the presence of such a star as Donnarumma, which can be considered a great success. Hopefully, he will be given more time to play this season, and in the future there will be a chance to fight for a permanent place at the heart of the team.

In addition to Safonov and Zakharyan, three more Russian legionnaires continue to fight for European competitions. In the 1/8 finals of the Europa League goalkeeper of Greek Panathinaiakos Yuri Lodygin will play against Italian Fiorentina, midfielder of Serbian Red Star Egor Prutsev will face Swiss Lugano, goalkeeper of Norwegian Budo-Glimt Nikita Haykin will play two matches against Greek Olympiacos.

In addition, Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov made his U.S. debut. His "Sporting Kansas City" lost away to "Austin" with the score 0:1. In addition, in France, another defeat was suffered by "Monaco" Alexander Golovin. He lost away to "Lille" (1:2) and fell out of the top 4 of the championship, giving the right to play in the next Champions League. A little earlier, the Monegasques also fell out of the current Champions League, losing in the playoff round to Benfica (0:1; 3:3).

Anton Miranchuk is gradually settling in Switzerland. In February, he scored two goals and made one assist in five games in the national championship - his best stretch in his debut season in Europe. However, his Sion are still at the bottom of the table. "Daniil Khudyakov's Sturm are leading the Austrian championship, but our goalkeeper is on the bench after the winter break.