Scoring in St. Petersburg: what to expect from the match between Zenit and Krasnodar in the RPL

The match between two teams from the top three of the Russian championship — Zenit St. Petersburg and Krasnodar — will be central not only in the upcoming 24th round of the Russian Premier League, but also in the entire spring part of the season in our football. The leading Krasnodar is going to visit the current champion. And their meeting will largely determine the balance of power in the fight for gold. Spartak Moscow, another contender for the first place, will host Dynamo Makhachkala.

Zenit – Krasnodar

Seven rounds before the finish of the championship, Krasnodar has a five-point lead over Spartak and Zenit. If he does not lose in the away match against Zenit, he will come much closer to breaking the hegemony of the St. Petersburg club in the RPL.

Zenit in the last round only saved themselves from defeat in the away match with Lokomotiv (1:1) in the last minutes. Alexander Sobolev, who scored for the first time in official matches after moving to St. Petersburg from Spartak in September, equalized the score in that game. He was able to successfully finish off the ball, which bounced off the post after being hit from an acute angle by Maxim Glushenkov. Now Alexander and his team will try to achieve more in the home match against Krasnodar and reduce the gap to two points.

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— The match will significantly affect the championship race, it may become a prelude to the appearance of the RPL winner, but it may also preserve the intrigue, — Anatoly Byshovets, former Zenit head coach, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — If Krasnodar wins, then the gap will be such that there is little chance of taking the gold away from him. If Zenit wins, it will be the favorite, as it will come close to Krasnodar, and the leader may get nervous. And in case of a draw, Spartak will become the favorite. It can be said that it will be extremely difficult for Zenit in the upcoming face-to-face match. He has problems playing offensively when the opponent defends with a low block and keeps all the players in his penalty area. That's what Lokomotiv did in the last round, and Zenit had difficulty opening the redoubts. Only the appearance of Glushenkov and Sobolev on the field as a result of substitutions in the second half increased the attacking potential of the team.

Krasnodar won in the previous four rounds, and the team never missed. In many ways, this is the merit of goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev, who managed to successfully replace Matvey Safonov, who was sold last summer for € 20 million to French Paris Saint-Germain. The team is also doing well with the offensive game: in addition to team leader John Cordoba, Eduard Spertsyan returned to the squad after an injury. At the same time, Nikita Krivtsov, who made his way to the base after a long stay in the reserve, brings considerable benefits.

—Krasnodar has moved away from its traditional game, and has started to win more at the expense of defense,— Byshovets added. — Very high-quality foreign players gathered there, plus the experienced Sergey Petrov and the reliable goalkeeper Agkatsev, who successfully replaced Safonov, who left for Paris. Due to them, Krasnodar misses very little. And it will be very difficult for Zenit to crack this defense. Given that Wendell has passed, and Glushenkov and Sobolev don't get much playing practice, St. Petersburg players often lack variation in attack if their opponents manage to deprive Luciano Gonda and Matteo Cassierra of space. Then you have to roll down the pile. But perhaps now the attacking potential will increase if Sobolev feels confident after scoring against Lokomotiv and starts scoring regularly. Nevertheless, Krasnodar can respond to this with their game ahead. There is Cordoba, who will always find his moment, and with the appearance of Krivtsov at the base and the return of Spertsyan after injury, Krasnodar's creativity in attack has become higher. And now the question is whether the championship leader is mentally ready to play for victory in St. Petersburg and seriously go for gold.

Spartak – Dynamo (Makhachkala)

After a crushing away victory over Rostov in the last round, Spartak caught up with Zenit in terms of points and will now try to get Krasnodar. Having recently issued an eight-match winning streak in the championship, the red and white seriously claimed leadership, but two away misfires in the form of a defeat from Rubin Kazan (1:2) and a draw with Akhmat Grozny (0:0) left Deyan Stankovich's wards in the role of catching up.

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The Southern club increased the gap from the red and white to five points and retained a three-point advantage over Zenit

Now they have to play at home with Dynamo Makhachkala. The Dagestani club is fighting for survival. In the spring, he scored two home defeats of direct competitors — Samara Krylia Sovetov (4:0) and Khimki (4:1). This allows the team to stay in the top ten with a four-point gap from the transition zone. Dynamo have already beaten Spartak away this season. It was in the summer at the group stage of the Russian Cup. Then the Dagestani team prevailed, 1-0.

—Spartak looks to be the clear favorite of this match and can lose points only if they don't play well, as they did with Akhmat," former red and white midfielder Alexander Mostovoy told Izvestia. — Stankovic's team plays great offensively, constantly fights to the end and creates dangers at other people's gates. And more often than not, they win confidently, or they snatch victories in the endings, as in the match with Zenit (2:1). And even with Akhmat, she played better, but, I repeat, the realization of the moments let her down. Makhachkala residents are able to impose a fight on Spartak, as Akhmat did, but they can still score points only with great luck. Spartak players will still find an opportunity to score a goal, and the question is how they will use it.

Pari Nizhny Novgorod – Dynamo (Moscow)

Paris NN found itself in a serious crisis in the spring. Strengthened by a group of high-quality players during the winter break, Viktor Goncharenko's team first won at home against Akron Togliatti (2:1), but then lost four matches in a row and dropped from a comfortable 11th place to 14th, in the zone of transitional matches.

And they lost mainly to their direct competitors — Khimki (0:2), Orenburg (1:2). Now the gap from the direct relegation zone is only four points. From the outside, it seems that Paris NN has neither the game nor the character to turn the situation around. In addition, the team has a very difficult calendar ahead: a home match with Dynamo Moscow, trips to Lokomotiv, Zenit and CSKA. And the remaining home matches with direct competitors — Akhmat, Krylia Sovetov and Voronezh Fakel — do not bode well yet, as all three teams look stronger than Nizhny Novgorod in the spring.

Therefore, Pari NN now seems to be the main contender for departure. And Dynamo Moscow, which comes to him, plays with fluctuations, but it takes points from the teams from the bottom of the table regularly. The blue and white team is in fifth place, five points behind the top three. They could have been higher if they hadn't lost the CSKA Moscow derby in the last round (1:2).

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After the game, Chairman of the Board of Directors Dmitry Gafin harshly criticized Sergey Karasev's refereeing, sarcastically calling him one of the best referees in Saudi Arabia, recalling that he periodically works at matches in the Middle East. The main episode that raised questions was the non—dismissal of CSKA midfielder Kirill Glebov for a hard foul on Mumi Ngamala.

"Everything is clear in this game as a whole: the difference in the class of the teams is too obvious," Dmitry Bulykin, a former Dynamo Moscow and Volga Nizhny Novgorod striker, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — Dynamo are the clear favorites, and Paris NN cannot adjust the game and improve the results. Of course, the hosts will try to resist, but so far I don't see how they can take away the points. The probability of Nizhny Novgorod's departure from the RPL is very high. And Dynamo needs to defeat a team located near the relegation zone if the blue and white team wants to compete for medals in this championship.

There will also be five more matches in the upcoming 24th round. Orenburg, which is in last place, will host CSKA on its field. Khimki will meet Krylia Sovetov at home. Rubin will play against Lokomotiv at home. Akhmat will host Rostov. Akron will have a home match with Fakel.