Double Martins: how Spartak beat Zenit

Spartak Moscow scored a 2-1 victory over Zenit St. Petersburg in the central match of the 21st round of the Russian Football Championship. However, Krasnodar benefited from this result first of all, which became the sole leader after an away victory over Rostov (1-0). Meanwhile, Lokomotiv returned to the fight for medals, having beaten its direct competitor Dynamo in the Moscow derby (2:1).

Spartak – Zenit

Both teams missed important players due to suspensions — Spartak defender Alexis Duarte, Zenit midfielder Wendel. Both received red cards during the away matches of the last round against Rubin Kazan and Fakel Voronezh.

Zenit tried to get the suspension lifted from its player. The club referred to the fact that Wendel's indecent gesture in Voronezh, which led to his removal, was shown due to provocation from the stands and racist chants from fans. As a result, the RFU KDK fined Fakel 1 million rubles and closed access for viewers to its next home match. But he could not remove the disqualification from Wendel according to the regulations. However, he limited the additional disqualification for the gesture to the maximum — one match suspended.

For the first time in a long time, Spartak's home match gathered full stands. In this setting, the central game of the tour was rife with emotion and struggle. However, it didn't come to scoring chances for a long time. However, towards the end of the first half, Spartak managed to put pressure on the opponent and open the scoring — Christopher Martins scored.

In the first quarter of an hour of the second half, Zenit could do nothing to restore balance. Spartak suppressed any attempts of the opponent to attack with their pressure. It was only towards the end of the match that the guests began to squeeze the opponent. In one of the episodes, the goalkeeper of the red and white Alexander Maksimenko was forced to make a double save. But he couldn't handle Luis Enrique's shot in the 83rd minute.

Race without a leader: Zenit will visit Spartak without a key player

Zenit will face Spartak, Lokomotiv will play Dynamo Moscow, and Krasnodar will face Rostov.

Nevertheless, Spartak still had the last word — Martins scored a double in stoppage time. Dejan Stankovic's team equaled Zenit in points and are now ahead of him in personal meetings. Both teams are three points behind Krasnodar.

"It turned out to be a bright and exciting match between two good teams," Alexander Zhukov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and Honorary President of the Russian Olympic Committee, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — I think Spartak deserved to win, they were sharper and better. Can Spartak win the current championship? Quite possibly. If he continues to play the same way.

Rostov – Krasnodar

For Rostov, this match was one of the last chances to cling to the fight for medals. And Jonathan Alba's team managed to impose their game on the leader. Both teams played poorly at home in the Russian Cup. Krasnodar finally dropped out of the tournament as a result of a 1-2 home defeat against Akhmat Grozny in the Path of the Regions. Rostov is still far from that, as it continues to compete in the RPL Path, where the semifinal clash with Zenit consists of two matches.

The first one ended with the victory of the St. Petersburg club with a score of 1:0. A return meeting will be held in the Northern Capital in mid-April. But even in the event of an unsuccessful end, Rostov will still have a chance to compete for the trophy through the "Path of the Regions".

During the southern derby in the championship, the residents of Rostov had a territorial advantage. And in the middle of the second half, Mohhamad Mohebi even managed to score a goal, but the referee did not count it due to a violation of the rules in the attack. But Krasnodar used their chance in the 79th minute. Moses Kobnan, who came on as a substitute, opened the scoring and brought victory to the bulls, thanks to which they become the leaders of the championship during the March break related to the national teams' games.

"The Rostov players played sharper and looked good, so they may be unhappy with this result," Maxim Demenko, a former Rostov and Krasnodar midfielder, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — They forced a sharp fight on the opponent, created chances and at least played for a draw. Krasnodar showed character, at times showed high-quality football and created scoring chances. Congratulations to the team on their success in this difficult match, which is of great importance in the race for medals. But intermediate leadership is always pressure. And Krasnodar doesn't always stand up to him. We've already seen situations where, once at the top, he started losing points out of the blue. Therefore, the fight for gold is still ahead.

Lokomotiv – Dynamo

Both teams had a very uneven start to the spring part of the season. Lokomotiv in the championship, after a 1-1 draw away from Dynamo Makhachkala and at home with Akhmat Grozny, fell behind in third place. However, only by three points. And Dynamo narrowly avoided an away defeat from Rostov (1:1) and defeated their Makhachkala teammates at home (4:0). This allowed the blue and white team to be only one point behind Spartak, which closes the top three.

The first half of the derby was held with the advantage of Dynamo. They created several scoring chances, hit the posts, and in one of the episodes of Loko, Alexander Silyanov pulled the ball out of an empty net. It is all the more surprising that Dmitry Vorobyov scored a goal in the Railwaymen match.

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The semi-finalists of the Path of the Regions were determined in the Russian Football Cup

However, very soon Dynamo equalized. Just before the break, Arthur scored. But in the second half, Lokomotiv already had the advantage, and shortly before the end of the meeting, its hero Silyanov again led the red-greens ahead, who managed to take fourth place from their opponent.

"It was an equal game with equal opportunities," Dmitry Bulykin, a former forward of Lokomotiv and Dynamo, told Izvestia. — The Railwaymen realized their chances a little better and won, regaining their chances for the highest places. Dynamo looked very unstable again — a bright first half was replaced by a mediocre second. You can blame all this on personnel problems, injuries to leading players, first of all, Konstantin Tyukavin. But there are big questions about the team's game, too. However, Dynamo had the same problems a year ago, but it eventually accelerated and almost became the champion, missing out on gold only in the last round.

There were also five more matches in the last round. In the battle of the outsiders, Orenburg snatched a 1-0 home victory over Fakel Voronezh in the last seconds and reduced the gap from the penultimate place to three points. But the club is still seven points away from the transition zone, which offers a chance to escape relegation. Fakel is four points behind her. Khimki drew at home with Akhmat Grozny (1-1).

Dynamo Makhachkala defeated Krylia Sovetov Samara (4:0). CSKA Moscow won 2-1 against Akron Togliatti. Rubin Kazan prevailed over Pari Nizhny Novgorod (1-0) at home. The RPL draw will resume at the end of March after a two-week break for the national team games.