Saving the Motherland: the RPL debutant beat Zenit on a visit
The main event of the third round of the Russian Football Championship happened where it was least expected. The reigning champion Zenit St. Petersburg sensationally lost at home to the RPL debutant Rodina Moscow, for which this is the first victory in the history of its elite performances. Krasnodar took advantage of the misfire of the club from the Northern Capital, which won the central match against Spartak Moscow (2:1) and became the leaders of the tournament. And Dynamo Moscow won the first victory of the season, taking home the upper hand over Dynamo Makhachkala, which unexpectedly climbed into the leading group (3:1).
Zenit – Rodina
There were no prerequisites for the reigning champion to lose points in the match against Rodina. And it's not even that Zenit is the richest club in the country, and its players have a huge winning experience. And it's not that the Moscow team is playing in the RPL for the first time in its history.
There was no reason to believe in the "Motherland" due to the fact that in the first two rounds, she gave the impression of a team that had failed to grow above the level of the first league, where Juan Diaz's wards played back in the spring. And this is not surprising, since the club has not strengthened in any way for the Premier League.
He deliberately relied on the team that got a ticket to the elite. Even in the midst of the fight for the first two places in the FNL, Rodina sports director Alexei Zinin said that in case of promotion, the team would not be updated globally. The logic was to preserve the atmosphere that had been achieved within the team, to give a chance to prove themselves at the highest level to those who achieved entry there, and also not to spend money on newcomers who were not completely confident.
After the crushing defeat in the derby by Spartak (0:3) and Rostov (2:4), it seemed that this move would not justify itself. And the trip to St. Petersburg was supposed to turn into another defeat. However, in the middle of the week, Rodina won with a big score, destroying Rubin Kazan at home (5:0) in the first round of the group stage of the Cup of Russia.
Nevertheless, that success could be attributed to the rotation of the squad of the club from Tatarstan, which deliberately gave rest to most of the main players. But the success in the match with Zenit, without any reservations, indicates that Rodina is ready to gain a foothold in the RPL.
She began to resist the blue-white-blues in the first half, but still allowed them to open the scoring in the 23rd minute - Maxim Glushenkov scored. Nevertheless, the fact that the teams left for the break with a minimal advantage of the hosts was already a success. And in the middle of the second half, the situation was radically turned around by Artur Gharibyan, who scored two goals from Stanislav Bessmertny and Soltmurad Bakayev with an interval of six minutes.
After that, Rodina began to play quite confidently on the score and brought the meeting to victory, scoring the first three points in the history of its performance in the RPL. Zenit, after two away defeats over Tolyatti Akron (5:0) and Orenburg (3:0), remained with six points.
Spartak – Krasnodar
If it weren't for the sensation in St. Petersburg, the central match that took place in Moscow on the evening of August 9th would have attracted all the attention in this round. Along with Zenit, these two teams went without misfires. The Bulls did not play well, but they beat Rubin away (3:1) and Fakel Voronezh at home (3:2). Spartak, in addition to a confident victory over Rodina, barely put the squeeze on Akhmat Grozny, scoring the winning goal from a free kick at the end of the match as a result of a mistake by goalkeeper Giorgi Shelia.
The start of the match with Krasnodar was also marked by a goalkeeper's gift for the red and white. In the 3rd minute, after Marquinhos' cross, Manfred Ugalde hit the near corner, where Bulls goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev had already jumped, but the ball bounced into the goal from his hands.
However, the guests did not worry for long about what had happened. Three minutes later, Lucas Olasa leveled the score with a shot from an acute angle into the far post. And in the 11th minute, Joao Batchi put Krasnodar ahead with Nikita Krivtsov's pass.
Before the break and immediately after it, Murad Musayev's team calmly held the advantage. And in the middle of the second half, we even had two good opportunities to score more.
However, at the end of the meeting, Spartak had excellent opportunities to equalize. Jedson Fernandes hit the post from a distance, and in the last minutes Christopher Martins hit point blank from the corner of the goalkeeper, but missed. Krasnodar won and is in the lead with nine points.
Dynamo (Moscow) – Dynamo (Makhachkala)
The Dagestani club unexpectedly advanced to the third round, being higher in the table than its Moscow teammates. Dynamo Makhachkala scored two strong—willed victories with a score of 2:1 - away over Fakel and at home over Lokomotiv Moscow. This allowed Vadim Evseev's team to be in the leading group, scoring maximum points along with Zenit, Spartak and Krasnodar.
Dynamo Moscow had one point after a home draw with Samara Krylia Sovetov (0:0) and an away defeat from Kaliningrad Baltika (1:2). The team, which Sandro Schwartz returned to the post of head coach in the offseason, needed to win in the third round in order not to let the competitors break away.
But until the 77th minute, the blue and white had little success. The Dagestani team defended quite skillfully and had a good chance to take at least a draw away from the capital. But then the young midfielder Timofey Marinkin had his say. The Dynamo graduate, who turned 18 in early June, regularly took the field in the Russian Championship and Cup matches under former head coach Rolan Gusev in the spring.
But for the first time, Schwartz entrusted him with a place in the starting lineup for the championship match in the game against the Dagestan club. And Timofey did not disappoint — he opened the scoring with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area. Two minutes later, Dmitry Skopintsev doubled the advantage of the hosts. But two more weeks later, Hamid Agalarov reduced the gap.
Nevertheless, the Muscovites had the last word — Anton Miranchuk scored the third goal shortly before the final whistle. With four points, Dynamo Moscow is still in the middle of the table, while Makhachkala residents complete the top five with six points.
— I think that we were able to at least not lose this match, but towards the end of the meeting, somewhere subconsciously they began to hold a draw, - Dynamo Makhachkala midfielder Daniil Lesovoy, who played for Dynamo Moscow in the first coming of Sandro Schwartz, told Izvestia. — Although we still tried to run out on the counterattack. And we had chances to score. But it didn't work out. Did the fact that you went to this match as one of the leaders of the RPL put pressure on you? No, there was no such pressure that you need to draw blood from your nose to score points. On the contrary, the standings were liberating. I think we deserve to be at the top, and we actually won the first two matches. And we will try to keep gaining the maximum number of points.
There were also four more matches in this round. Two games in Moscow ended in a draw (0-0) — Lokomotiv could not beat Tolyatti Akron, who scored the first point of the season, and CSKA could not cope with Rostov. Kaliningrad "Baltika" defeated Samara "Wings of the Soviets" (2:0). Rubin Kazan drew at home with Orenburg (1:1). The tour will end on the evening of August 10, when Voronezh Fakel will host Grozny Akhmat.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
