Paris Nizhny Novgorod midfielder Alexander Troshechkin believes the referee in the cup clash with Spartak swayed the outcome. He spoke to Sports Express and made his stance clear, arguing that the officiating not only affected the flow of play but also the final result of a tightly contested match.
For the second consecutive game, Troshechkin pointed out a pattern in which the official appeared to grade their opponent’s performances with near bludgeoning precision while allowing little to be said in defense of his own side. He claimed that his team faced three to four contentious moments on the field in which judgments could have favored them, yet the referee seemingly concluded the action in favor of the other team. In Troshechkin’s view, certain decisions around goals and key incidents in the penalty area were decisive and skewed to benefit one side, leaving his squad feeling hard done by as the whistle blew.
The cup meeting between Paris NN and Spartak took place in the fourth round of Russia’s Cup on September 19, with Guillermo Abascal guiding Spartak. The visitors surged to a 3-0 victory, with Leon Klassen, Christopher Martins, and Quincy Promes all finding the back of the net as the clock wound down. The scoreline reflected a dominant performance from Spartak and left Paris NN facing a tougher route ahead in the group stage.
After four rounds, Spartak sat at the top of the group, holding a slim lead in the standings and having secured a place in the play-offs. Paris NN, by contrast, found themselves at the bottom of the table, forced to regroup as the competition moved forward. The Nizhny Novgorod side still had remaining fixtures against Krasnodar and Dynamo, matches that carried the weight of possible late improvement and the chance to alter their trajectory in a group that had proven unforgiving for them to date.
Meanwhile, a former Paris NN defender publicly accused a Spartak player of employing MMA-style techniques during the contest, a claim that added a new layer of tension to an already charged encounter. The allegation underscored the heated atmosphere surrounding the match and contributed to the ongoing debate over the competitive climate within this cup campaign, as observers weighed the rough edges and the legitimate physicality that characterizes modern football.