"Since the goal was canceled, apparently, there are rules for that"

The spring part of the Russian RPL Football Championship began with a series of refereeing scandals during the 19th round. The main one took place in the first official game of 2026 between Zenit St. Petersburg and Baltika Kaliningrad. In the 75th minute, Baltika opened the scoring thanks to Kevin Andrade's shot. But the referee did not count it, because he saw an offside kick from a Kaliningrad player who was in the path of the ball and blocked the view of St. Petersburg goalkeeper Denis Adamov. The episode caused a big scandal, as after numerous video replays, few people could clearly see the offside.

As a result, the score remained 0-0, and in the 87th minute Zenit scored a goal and won 1-0. Thanks to this victory, it secured second place in the standings, and Baltika, which was fifth, lagged behind the leaders, although in case of a victory over a competitor it could get even closer to the top three.. In an interview with Izvestia, Kaliningrad defender Alexander Filin commented on the actions of the referees, appreciated his team's first game after the winter break and expressed confidence in the positive future of the club.

— What do you think about the scandal with the uncounted goal against Zenit?

— I don't like to criticize judges or condemn them in any way. Since the goal was canceled, then, apparently, there are rules for that. So, everything is according to the rules. Of course, it's unpleasant if you score, but your goal doesn't count. But you have to trust the judges. If they decided that, then there were grounds for it.

— Did the fact of the uncounted goal break Baltika? Can we say that this affected the subsequent missed goal in the end and the defeat in an even game?

"It's not like I broke it... But if the referee had counted it, we would have had a better chance to achieve a positive result and score points in St. Petersburg. The score would have been 1-0 in our favor. Even if Zenit had scored anyway, there would have been at least a 1-1 draw. Maybe we could have held her back. In any case, there are referees who review every episode with every goal. I won't criticize anyone.

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Baltika will try to create another sensation in St. Petersburg, and Krasnodar will win the southern derby.

— Are you satisfied with the quality of the game?

— It is clear that our team is on the move. She scored the first goal for Zenit this year. What else is there to note? We are 100% ready, we try to do our best, we do our best to have a good result. We're doing everything right, we're going the right way. We're going to be fine.

— So are you ready to score points regularly in the spring, as in the first part of the season?

— 100%. I repeat, we are doing everything right. When you do everything right, make the right decisions, prepare, move, analyze, you get a positive result. Therefore, I am optimistic about the future of Baltika.

— What do you expect from the upcoming cup match with Zenit next week? Are there any revanchist sentiments after such a defeat?

- Necessarily. I want to recoup. Especially at home with our fans. I think a lot of fans will come to the game in Kaliningrad. There were a lot of them in the last match in St. Petersburg. We have heard the support — thank them very much. But a house is a house — native walls help. Let's see what happens at home.

— Is Baltika ready to fight on two fronts for trophies, both in the championship and in the Cup?

— We just prepare for every game. We don't look too far. It's just that the ultimate goal is to win every game. Together with the coaching staff, we try to achieve the maximum in both tournaments.

— In the first part of the season, when Baltika got off to a good start, many expected a downturn from the team, but in the end, it stayed at the top until the winter break and went on vacation in fifth place.

— There have always been, are and will always be haters. So let them say what they want. The dogs are barking, and the caravan is moving.

— Now do you feel that teams like Zenit are tuning in to you as a real competitor in the fight for medals, and not as a random upstart?

— Everyone is seriously tuning in to us. How can you not tune in to us? Everyone is getting ready and tuning up.