Unable to win against “Sheriff” in Tiraspol (1: 1), Vladimir Fedotov admitted that he was mistaken with the roster. In support of his words, the head coach of Spartak made two permutations: Mikhailo Pyanovich and Sergey Kovalchuk remained in reserve, and Maxim Kalinichenko and Fernando Cavenaghi were among the first eleven.
Kalinichenko began to work out advances from the very beginning. After a corner submitted by him in the 10th minute, the first scoring opportunity came up: Radoslav Kovacs with the back of his head tried to throw the ball into the far corner. Five minutes later, Maxim himself was obliged to score - point blank, from the goalie line, without interference. But he hit the goalkeeper Sebastian Khutsan. And then the guests who have mastered on the artificial Luzhnovsky grass began to respond with an attack on the attack. Titov’s solo passage in the center is a dangerous blow to Florescu from the goalie corner. An attempt by Cavenaghi to score through himself is Omotoyossi's one-on-one exit with the goalkeeper. The ball was still often owned by Spartak, but the score did not change - 0: 0.
Soon after the break, Yegor Titov was forced to leave the field. The captain of Muscovites, having opened on the flank canopy, managed to break through on goal, but crashed his head into the back of the head of the defender. Yegor was taken to the locker room, and Quincy, who came out with fresh forces, began to terrorize the defense of the Sheriff. Not for long - soon he himself was injured, and Fedotov had to make a second forced replacement.
About 10 minutes before the end it became clear that the big victory that the fans of Spartak had hoped for, it makes sense to forget, but on the contrary - it is worth thinking first of all about the safety of your own goal. After all, a single goal conceded could put an end to the champions dream. The ending, as in Tiraspol, turned out to be extremely nervous, but unlike the first match, the Spartacists did not miss.
It is unlikely that the fans were satisfied with the game of the vice-champion of Russia, nevertheless, the score 0-0 was arranged by Spartak, who will now meet the Czech Slovan (Liberec) in the third qualifying round of the League. By the way, according to the last and final decision of the UEFA, it is from this stage of the draw that the admission to the European Cups “Milan” will begin, whose first rival will be the winner of the pair “Crvena Zvezda” (Serbia) - “Cork City” (Ireland).
Anton FILINSKY