Now the main contenders for the November championship laurels (and then us) will have to wean from the regularity of weekly cycles. The heartbeat is doubled, and attention and strength will have to be divided between the ups and downs of the domestic and international calendars. (I would like to believe that Lokomotiv will not get around this honorable share, although it is still separated from Belgium by the UEFA Cup group stage.) The last round of the Premier League with a top derby in Cherkizovo gave, in fact, the first experience of mastering one weeks of double dose of loads and impressions.
To tell you the truth, the aftertaste of the European meal Tuesday-Thursday was not so hot. Although, it is likely that this round, which crowned only the second third of the tournament path, we will call closer to the finish line decisive - despite the dismal deficit of goals (only 6 in 8 matches) and a clear enumeration of draw outcomes. The notable feature of the observed gaming day is that it significantly changed the alignment in the head of the champion race. Having won in Tomsk, even in the match that caused the train of rumors, CSKA broke the distance of “direct reach”. Perhaps it will still change. But today, even the closest of the pursuit of the army is not in the right to hope in a dispute with them only on their merits. In other words, even win the Lokomotiv next Saturday against the champion in the next capital derby, the leader will not change, and in bold dreams, the pursuers will have to ask for help from someone else.
Sunday zeros on the Cherkizovsky scoreboard - in favor of CSKA. Football shown by Lokomotiv and Spartak, perhaps, too. With a noticeable preponderance of the hosts in the first half and relative equality of rivalry in the second, the preference for the totality of “artistic impressions” could be given to the team of Slavolyub Muslin, whenever she had any good use. Before the break, Loko dominated due to the obvious superiority over his midfielders. Loskov was more enterprising and more precisely Titov in the role of the organizer of the game. Izmailov and Bilyaletdinov, gravitating to the flanks, were eclipsed by the activity and acuteness of the opposing Bystrov and Kovalchuk. Spartak held on and did not collapse thanks primarily to the steel armor of the opornik Mozart, and secondly, to the positional coherence of the liaison of Gedera and Stranzl in the center of defense. They could have had more problems if the coherence of the attacking actions of the hosts had not been lost when the ball hit the forwards O'Connor and, especially, Sychev. Dmitry, with a commendable amount of work, activity of movements and saved game wit, alas, lost the reflex of the executor. Decision and dexterity now leave him exactly in those moments when it is necessary to immediately realize the goal chance.
About Pavlyuchenko and Cavenagi, who played time with a little in attack at Spartak, you can not say this. It is no coincidence that Vladimir Fedotov, having exhausted hope for his forwards, replaced them with Bazhenov and Quincy in one fell swoop. This happened on that post-period segment of the match, which is rightly called the most interesting. In a lively exchange of attacks and boring moments, the Spartak coach clearly assigned a double substitution to the importance of the weight, which should finally tip the scales to the guest side. The effect was, but clearly weaker and more transient than desired. For a short period of the game, Bazhenov made a convenient discount to Bystrov, who hit his head above the empty net. And the impulsive Dutchman twice guarded the flaws of another's defense and goalkeeper Polyakov, but he also did not have enough sniper training.
Among the counter measures of Lokomotiv, the most radical thought was, apparently, the restructuring of tactics after replacing Izmailov with Sennikov. The speculative scheme 3-5-2 (instead of the starting 4-4-2) was perceived as more aggressive. It’s a paradox, but with it, the Loko game only moved away from the starting harmony.
However, both sides noticeably wandered in the end. The scoreboard could have been refreshed except by the negligence of Kovalchuk. He cut into his own net the flanking chamber of Sychev - Spartak rescued Kowalewski.
After the match, at a press conference, both Muslin and Fedotov only hinted at the consequences of the recent European cup lists. It is right. To master this topic as a refrain and possible excuses is short-sighted. Then it’s better to immediately admit that the object of their special attention is not CSKA, but the Zenit coming from the rear. He, to everything else, is also threatened by the fact that he will not go away to and from Europe this fall ...
Sergey NOVIKOV