Gold with reserves: how Safonov brought PSG closer to the championship

After a two-week pause for the national team games, the national championships in Europe resumed. Last weekend was especially productive for Matvey Safonov and Alexander Golovin, who performed in France. The first came out in the main squad at the PSG goal and helped his team defeat Saint-Etienne (6:1) in the 27th round of the local championship and bring the capital's team very close to gold - there was one point left before the championship was awarded. The triumph could have happened in the last round, but it was postponed by Monaco, which Golovin returned to after an injury. The Monegasques won a strong-willed victory over Nice at home (2:1) and came in second place.

In addition, the Russians have successfully competed in the American league MLS. Alexey Miranchuk scored his first goal of the season for Atlanta United, and Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov scored the first goal of his career in the United States, scoring an assist for Kansas City.

Fedor Chalov scored the winning goal in the Greek Championship as a member of PAOK. And in the Chinese championship, Shanghai Shenhua is among the leaders, whose head coach is Leonid Slutsky.

Safonov

Last weekend, PSG head coach Luis Enrique left the star main goalkeeper, the European champion in the Italian national team, Gianluigi Donnarumma, in reserve and put Safonov at the start. The capital's club played away with Saint-Etienne in the penultimate place. This is Matthew's third appearance in the French championship after the New Year.

Already in the first half of April, we can expect Safonov's first career victory in the Ligue 1. But it could have happened at the end of March. On the evening of the 29th, seven rounds before the finish, Marseille finally dropped out of the fight for gold, losing to Reims.

Immediately after that, a match with PSG took place. At the away meeting with Saint-Etienne, Luis Enrique released Safonov at the start. Perhaps this was due to the desire to give Donnarumma a rest after a trip to the national team, in which he unsuccessfully played in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Nations League — after two matches, Italy lost to Germany (1:2; 3:3) and was eliminated from the tournament.

Safonov, who did not travel to the Russian national team in March, missed a quick goal in the game against Saint-Etienne when the PSG defense lost the fight in its penalty area. One of the outsiders of Ligue 1 held the advantage in the score for a long time, but before the break the visitors equalized, and in the second half they staged a tough defeat and won 6:1, becoming inaccessible to Marseille. This match was Safonov's eighth in the current championship.

Monaco and Nice were the last ones who had a chance to catch up with PSG. Coincidentally, they played against each other that evening. The Parisians were satisfied only with the draw of the two pursuers. But in the end, Monaco won. Now the Monegasques are 21 points behind the leader. And for the championship, they need to win in the seven remaining rounds and at the same time count on seven defeats in a row by the strongest team in the league. Formally, the victory of Monaco only postponed the PSG championship for a short time.

Next weekend, Safonov's team, which is on a streak of eight consecutive league wins, will only need to draw at home with Angers to win its fourth consecutive Ligue 1 gold. Meanwhile, on April 1, PSG will have an away French Cup semi-final against Dunkirk. In the two previous stages of this tournament, it was Matvey who played in the main squad. Perhaps it will be the same now. And in the middle of next week, PSG will play at home with English Aston Villa in the first match of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

—Safonov is having a decent first season in France and fully deserves this victory in the championship," goalkeeper coach of the Russian national team Vitaly Kafanov shared his opinion with Izvestia. — It is important that he was allowed to play in the national championship, the National Cup and even two matches in the Champions League. And he generally performed well. How has Safonov improved in France? Everything Matvey does now, he was able to do before. Another thing is that at a higher level, responsibility and stress are higher. And decisions need to be made faster. In France, Safonov learned to read the game faster, make decisions faster, and react faster to changing situations. And technique, reaction, and jumping ability are all things a goalkeeper needs—he's had them before.

Golovin

The victory over Nice was very important for Monaco, which is fighting for a place in the top 4, which gives a ticket to the next Champions League draw. The misfire of Marseille, which lost three matches in a row, gave the Monegasques a chance to rise to second place. The main thing was to win a face-to-face match against a competitor. At first, it turned out badly: in the 9th minute, Mika Bieret missed a penalty against Nice, and closer to halftime, the visitors led.

But in the 55th minute, Bieret rehabilitated himself with a goal from the game, and in the 73rd minute, Monaco took the lead — Bril Embolo scored. Among others, Golovin was released in the 84th minute to hold on to a much-needed victory — this is the first appearance of our midfielder on the field since February 12. He missed a month and a half due to injury. Monaco is now second, but it has only three points ahead of fifth-placed Lille. So in the last seven rounds, the fight for participation in the Champions League will be serious.

—Golovin performed well in his allotted time, but now the main thing is to get in shape and not get hurt again, which happens to him quite often," Andrei Chervichenko, the former owner of Spartak Moscow, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — Sasha was and remains one of the leaders of Monaco. And his return is a good help in the midst of the struggle for participation in the Champions League. If he gets into his best shape and shows his best football, then his club will calmly solve the problem for the rest of the season.

Miranchuk and Suleymanov

Six rounds have already passed in the new MLS season. And Atlanta United is once again outside the playoff and playoff zones of the Eastern Conference. Last year, Alexei Miranchuk, who came closer to the end of the regular season, helped his team cling to the playoffs, and then go to the playoffs, where Atlanta made a lot of noise, knocking out Lionel Messi's Inter Miami.

She also started the new season with Alexey unsuccessfully. Having won in the first round, the team has not won four matches in a row. But last weekend, she scored a strong-willed victory at home over New York City. "Atlanta" lost 0:1 and 1:3 during the match, scored three goals in the last half hour of the meeting and won 4.:3. And Miranchuk scored the first goal of the hosts in this match — this is his first goal of the season.

Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov, who moved to the USA in the winter, is constantly playing in the starting lineup of Kansas City. Last weekend, with his transfer, the team opened the scoring in the away match against Dallas. However, this did not help her score points — the club from Texas eventually won 2:1. And the situation for Kansas is very bad — it scored only one point in the first six rounds, being in last place not only in the Western Conference, but also in the entire championship. However, the former Krasnodar player can be congratulated on his first successful action overseas.

— It's nice that both Miranchuk and Suleymanov came to court in their teams, — said Dmitry Bulykin, a former striker of the Russian national team. — They are constantly playing, and now they have started to perform effective actions. Alexey has become one of the leaders of his club since last season, and Shapi may well become one in the near future. Their level is quite consistent with this.

Slutsky

In March, Shanghai Shenhua, led by a Russian specialist, was eliminated from the Asian Champions League, but it continues to be at the top of the table in the Chinese championship. In the last third round, an away strong-willed victory was won over Henan (3:1). Slutsky's team has seven points in total after two wins and one draw. Three other clubs have the same indicators — together with Shanghai Shenhua, Shanghai Port and Shandong Taishan share the leadership.

"Slutsky has been working in China for more than a year and has adapted to the championship and the team, which gives him a chance of success this season," Boris Ignatiev, former head coach of the Russian national team and the Chinese Shandong Taishan, told Izvestia. — He was close to winning the championship in the last draw, but he was a little short. And now, when he got used to his players and managers, having understood the local specifics, and his players and managers got used to him, realizing that big tasks can be solved with this specialist, there is reason to expect great success from Shanghai Shenhua.

Chalov and Ozdoev

The Greek championship has launched the Super League playoffs, a separate finishing tournament within the framework of the national championship, in which the top four teams compete. They play two matches against each other. Thus, six rounds are held. At the same time, the points scored in the first part of the championship are counted towards the final tournament.

The PAOK of Magomed Ozdoev and Fedor Chalov is fourth, 14 points behind the leading Olympiacos. There is no chance of winning a second gold in a row. But you can cling to the second place, which gives you a ticket to the Champions League. It is occupied by AEK Athens, with whom PAOK played an away match last week.

Losing 0:2 at the beginning of the second half, the club from Thessaloniki won a strong-willed victory 3:2 and reduced the gap from the competitor to four points. The winning goal in the 85th minute was scored with a heel pass from Chalov, who replaced him in the middle of the second half. In his debut season in Greece, he has already scored six goals and made five assists in all official tournaments. Ozdoev played the whole match. He plays most of the games, just like last season, when he became the champion of Greece.