The clash between Spartak and Zenit in the penultimate round carried no bearing on the title race. Zenit St. Petersburg once again clinched the Russian championship, while Spartak, the centennial club, failed to climb higher than seventh in the table, though they kept their season alive by reaching the Russian Cup final.
Both clubs approached the match with different expectations. Three days earlier, the Petersburg side released a compact video that reflected on Rui Vitoria’s squad suffering a crushing 1:7 defeat in October.
Meanwhile, Spartak’s camp countered with an artful film featuring numerous nods to the iconic band Korol i Shut, signaling a broader cultural tone to the confrontation.
Match day in Tushino brought improved weather compared with forecasts of heavy rain, allowing play to proceed under clearer skies. Sergei Semak named his lineup for the occasion:
In the youthful ranks, 19-year-old Daniil Odoevsky started his second consecutive game in the Russian Premier League. Paolo Vanoli reshuffled the back line, recalling Alexander Selikhov to goal while replacing the injured Alexander Maksimenko, who had been nursing a back issue.
Back in 2022, Nikolai Rasskazov first joined the squad as a base defender on the right side, taking the place of Maximiliano Koffier. Veteran Samuel Gigot was left on the bench, with the French defender preparing to bid farewell to the home crowd at season’s end as he moved to Marseille, a transfer that would take him away from the red-and-white club.
Zenit set up in a 3-5-2, with central defenders Chistyakov and Alip flanking Colombian defensive midfielder Wilmar Barrios. The visitors opened the scoring spark through tight pressing that forced Litvinov into an ill-advised pass to Selikhov, a moment that Yuri Alberto nearly capitalized on before Odoevsky intervened. Spartak’s Jikia lined up in central defense alongside Khlusevich and Litvinov for the home side.
The hosts answered quickly. Alexander Sobolev won a contested ball against Chistyakov, advanced toward goal and found the far corner, only for Odoevsky to deny the shot in a dramatic save. Zenit exercised sustained pressure in the early stages, frequently attacking down the left flank with Daler Kuzyaev and George Jikia pulling the strings to craft chances for Malcom and teammates.
Spartak, resilient in their organization, tested Zenit’s shape with rapid counterattacks, though Promes, Martins and Sobolev often curtailed by Zenit’s solid defensive lines before the box.
As the first half neared its zenith, Zenit’s intensity waned slightly, which allowed Spartak to stabilize their defensive shape. From there, both sides produced relentless, if goal-less, exchanges as the clock ticked toward halftime. A minute and a half before the break, Nikolai Rasskazov nudged a ball toward the goal that allowed Odoevsky to pounce and strike powerfully from a short distance, but the effort was kept out by a last-ditch defensive block.
At the interval, Spartak earned a corner but could not convert it into a decisive moment. 0:0 at halftime reflected a balanced contest with moments of promise for both teams.
The second half opened with immediate intent from Spartak. Alexander Sobolev headed home from a Mikhail Ignatov serve to give the Moscow side the lead. The joy, however, was short-lived. Pavel Kukuyan radioed an appeal to the VAR monitor and received confirmation after a pause that he had heard the whistle in his ear, prompting Sobolev to react emotionally by tossing a water bottle, a move that earned him a yellow card.
The goal stood, but the ensuing celebrations cooled quickly as Vanoli signaled for calm in the technical area. A tense moment followed with the Italian coach warning by gesture the bench and the fourth official; an on-field incident was narrowly averted thanks to the intervention of an assistant referee who restrained Vanoli from approaching the referee’s area. The coach received a formal warning for his conduct.
Spartak pressed to widen their margin, with Douglas Santos actively denying Ignatov on a promising chance from the penalty spot.
Approaching the 60th minute, Vanoli made a pair of substitutions designed to preserve the score by housing Gigot in place of Ignatov. Semak responded in kind for Zenit, removing Yuri Alberto and Nurali Alip while sending on Daniil Krugovoi and Artem Dzyuba to inject a different attacking dynamic. The on-pitch atmosphere grew tense as whistles from both camps disrupted the rhythm of play.
Zenit began to apply greater pressure in the later stages, with Semak bringing on fresh legs Ozdoev and Mostovoy and shifting mating lines to the right flank. The visitors moved the ball with purpose through the wings, while Spartak attempted to exploit faster breaks through their wide channels and quick transitions.
With around 20 minutes left in regulation, Zenit’s midfielders Claudinho and Vendell were replaced by Ozdoev and Mostovoy as the visitors sought to reassert control. The substitution pattern gradually tilted toward Zenit’s advantage as the game wore on, with Andrey substituting in to stabilize the midfield.
Endless forays into Spartak’s penalty area culminated in a controversial moment when a cross from Zenit found its way to the hands of Spartak’s keeper and a subsequent penalty was awarded to Zenit after a foul by Mostovoy. Pavel Kukuyan calmly converted to level the score at 1-1, a strike supported by a chorus of cheers from Zenit supporters and groans from Spartak’s side.
In the dying minutes, neither team managed to claim victory. The match concluded in a draw, leaving Spartak on 38 points and maintaining their position in the lower half of the table. Under Vanoli, Spartak will close the season against Khimki in the Moscow region, while Zenit will complete their campaign away to a Kerzhakov-led Nizhny Novgorod outfit.
All 30th-round fixtures were scheduled to kick off simultaneously, with the action set to begin at 17:00 Moscow time. [Citation: Russian Premier League]