Heit Dziuba and 90th minute penalty: Spartak and Zenit draw

The match between Spartak and Zenit in the penultimate round of this season had no tournament value. The team from the banks of the Neva once again became the champion of Russia, and the centennial hero lost the opportunity to rise above the seventh line in the tableau, keeping hopes of saving the season thanks to the victory in the final of the Russian Cup. .

Clubs expected this match in different ways. Three days before the match, Petersburgers released a concise video commemorating Rui Vitoria’s team’s defeat in October by a humiliating 1:7 score.

Capital Club responded with an art film video with many references to the legendary band Korol i Shut.

On the day of the game in Tushino, the weather improved – the forecasts of the capital’s weather forecasters about heavy rain did not come true.

Sergey Semak chose the following cast for the game:

19-year-old Daniil Odoevsky played his second game in a row in the Russian Premier League (RPL).

Paolo Vanoli has released Alexander Selikhov, replacing Alexander Maksimenko, who had healed his back injury by updating his goalkeeper line.

In 2022, for the first time Nikolai Rasskazov arrived at the base – he replaced Maximiliano Kofrier on the right side of the defense. The game was started on the bench by French defender Samuel Gigot, where it was his last home game – at the end of the season, the red-whites’ second number will go to Marseille and play there. local club.

Zenit began playing according to the 3-5-2 scheme: central defenders Chistyakov and Alip were joined by Colombian defensive midfielder Wilmar Barrios. The first moment in the game was created by the guests – tight pressure caused Litvinov to incorrectly throw the ball to Selikhov, who only at the last moment hits him in front of the approaching Yuri Alberto.

Spartak, St. Petersburg club – Jikia acted in the central defense zone together with Khlusevich and Litvinov.

The host’s response was not delayed – Alexander Sobolev won the equestrian ball fight against Chistyakov, advanced to the goal and hit the far corner well – Daniil Odoevsky pulled the ball in one jump.

Zenit had the ball under control throughout the first half. More often, the Petersburgers attacked from the left flank, where, with the help of Daler Kuzyaev, Malcolm easily shook George Jikia, making room for him to serve and pass.

The capital club responded with occasional counterattacks, but Promes, Martins and Sobolev’s runs stopped long before the Zenit penalty area.

As the 30th minute of the match approached, the visiting team got tired and this negatively affected their offensive quality. The red-whites also started to play more calmly in defense, keeping up with the speeds offered by the hosts. Sharp attacks Zenith at halftime to create fretless alongside her opponents.

A minute and a half before the end of the first half, Nikolai Rasskazov hit Odoevsky on goal – the Spartak player was allowed to pick up the ball, which he walked a few meters and hit hard right in the middle.

During the pause of the first half, the hosts got a corner, but they failed to play well.

0:0 – the first half of the match ended with such a score.

The second half started as positively as possible for Muscovites – Alexander Sobolev closed Mikhail Ignatov’s serve with his head and scored in the match! True, the joy of the red-whites vanished in an instant – Pavel Kukuyan put his hand to his ear and paused in the VAR room to watch the episode “quietly”. Sobolev frankly went crazy and threw a bottle of water on the grass, for which he immediately received a yellow card from the judge.

The goal was still counted, but the fire in the Spartak bench could no longer be extinguished – Vanoli so emotionally tried to shout at reserve referee Andrey Fisenko. A possible fight with the referee was avoided only by the assistant who embraced the Italian and did not allow him to approach the referee’s technical area. Vanoli received a legitimate warning for his extravagance.

After the goal was scored, Spartak tried to increase their advantage – Douglas Santos blocked Ignatov’s punch from the penalty area.

After an hour of play, the first substitutions began. Vanoli decided to keep the score, freeing Samuel Gigot instead of Ignatov. Sergei Semak, who made a substitution on the spot, removed Yuri Alberto and Nurali Alip from the field. Instead, Daniil Krugovoi and Artem Dzyuba, who took the field, were greeted with a deafening whistle by the fans of both teams.

The game made sense – Zenit controlled the ball, tried to send the ball into the penalty area through the sheds of Dziuba and Sergeyev, and Spartak deftly played at the intersections and repeatedly counterattacked.

With 20 minutes left in the regular time of the match, Semak removed two Brazilians, Claudinho and Vendel, and released Ozdoev and Mostovoy instead. At first Andrey could not enter the game, so towards the end of the game the Petersburgers started to play on the right flank.

Endless passes into the penalty area of ​​Selikhov eventually brought Zenit a draw – Spartak’s goalkeeper cut Erokhin, and Pavel Kukuyan awarded a penalty for this. Mostovoy approached the ball and successfully turned the set goal 1:1.

For the remaining three minutes, the Moscow club once again failed to take the lead and gave their fans a victory. The result of the game is a draw.

After this meeting, Spartak collected 38 points and remained in tenth place in the RPL ranking. The team, led by Paolo Vanoli, will play the final match of the championship in the Moscow region, where they will play with Khimki. Petersburg will wrap up the season in Nizhny Novgorod, where they will play with a team led by Alexander Kerzhakov.

All matches of the 30th round will be held simultaneously – on May 21 at 17:00 Moscow time.