Honorary President of the Russian Football Union, in the 6th round match of the group stage of the Russian Cup, Zenit St. He commented on the collective fight that broke out after the match between St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow.
“This fight is the result of all the struggle and intensity of emotion that players have. It all started with the game itself, which actually bodes well. This is not some kind of indifference to the results of the match. And indeed, the players approached the match with full dedication, tension and tremendous responsibility.
We saw the result of these rising emotions after the match. Now I will not strongly condemn any of the parties, ”quotes Koloskov Metaratings.ru.
The match, which took place on 27 November, ended with the blue-whites winning the penalty shootout (0:0, 4:2 penalty). Immediately after the end of the regular time of the match, a collective brawl broke out on the field, in which not only the players, but also the substitutes and technical team representatives participated.
As a result of the fight, the chief referee of the meeting, Vladimir Moskalev, removed three players from each team. From Wilmar Barrios, Rodrigao and Malcolm Zenit; Shamar Nicholson, Alexander Selikhov, and Alexander Sobolev were expelled from Muscovites.
It is noteworthy that Zenit, who was initially seen as the favorite of this group, took the third place and went only to the Regions Road. At the same time, Spartak led the group and entered the Russian Cup playoffs from the first place.
Former coach of the Russian national team Oleg Romantsev criticized Legionnaires fighting in the match between Zenit and Spartak.