The visit of Hamburg to Moscow was intriguingly close in time to the defeat of the army from Lokomotiv. This made the Champions League match indicative not abstractly, but convenient for comparisons. It was necessary to pass the test on Saturday's assumptions, many of which, frankly, were not in favor of the champion of Russia.
Bravado Valery Gazzayev after the then failure seemed ostentatious. Her background was painfully alarming - a game in which the coach and his team did not succeed in a single successful counter-approach. Well, the contrast that CSKA was on the third day was all the more advantageous for the army team. The “export” option presented in Cherkizovo was liked primarily by the thoroughness and thoughtfulness. The team without shyness and skillfully embodied the proposed option to get three points. So to speak, from a position of eternity, the match is hardly valuable - in the catchiness, he probably lost even to some of the calendar neighbors. But by and large, the time to impress in the league has not yet come. The foundation is intended to hide in the ground. But when laying it in the price of caution.
For example, the entry in the starting lineup of Šemberas was a clearly proactive measure, dictated by the recovery of the rookie rivals Sorin. In the absence of van der Warth, they predicted that in “Hamburg” the role was almost crucial. But at the start of the season due to the injury of the eminent Argentine, it was impossible to really consider. And therefore, to contrast him on the flank of Krasic, who was not strong in the destruction, seemed a clear risk. Although the Lithuanian legionnaire did not succeed in supporting the offensive, he undoubtedly coped with his main mission. The presumably thin right vertical line of the army did not break. And the first half helped to convince not so much of Sorin’s poor readiness, as of his still poor “built-in” in the Hamburg game mechanism.
And as soon as after the break the star left-hander found Krasich attack-oriented in his flank opponents, he outwardly meekly accepted the new condition of Gazzayev. And, until it was replaced, he was mainly engaged in neutralizing the Serb.
The intermission replacement leveled at first the tactical roll consciously admitted by the army team. Their construction has become more familiar to players, and activity in the alien half has become more bold and variable. Pretty soon, the winning goal was a reflection of these changes. Incidentally, he was a Brazilian classic that was already familiar to us: Carvalho throws the ball into the penalty area from the “standard” - Dudu memorized frees up near the goal and just hits his head. At the same time, we will put the deuce for laboratory work to Thomas Doll. If he meticulously studied a future rival, then this method of extracting goals by the army team should be well known to him from the videos. And then the coach could appoint a guardian for Dudu in such situations more dexterously than striker Sanogo - he was too elementarily mistaken in calculating the trajectory of the goal pass.
Having opened an account, CSKA once again confirmed in practice the uncomplicated football truth: the main thing is the order in the rear, and then the chance at someone else's goal will certainly arise. If we return to the parallels with a well-memorable match with Loko, then the army team scored a similar ball in something like that. By the way, by the efforts of the same performers. The whole difference is that in the match against Loko, the red-blue had a badly organized defense. This time the team defended themselves great. And, perhaps, the most useful (and noticeable, which is rare) were on the field Ignashevich, Rakhimich and Dudu, who cemented the approaches to the penalty area in the central zone. In a defensive context, it is worth mentioning the decision of Gazzayev not to include Aldonin among the "eleven first". And such a sacrifice of a sacred cow resulted in obvious dividends. Firstly, the opportunity appeared to play two forwards, and this advantageously flourished the army attack. Secondly, an important defensive trump remained in the deck. He was thrown on the lawn in the endgame, reacting to Dol's double substitution when he went all-in, numerically strengthening the attack group.
Gazzaev played that evening at the edge amazingly accurately. He was not late with any of the moves made both in anticipation and in response.
Meanwhile, in London, Arsenal secured its leadership in Group G, and on occasion, it celebrated Arsen Wenger’s anniversary. On Wednesday, the trainer closed the ten-year cycle at the head of the Gunners team. Londoners dealt with “Porto” in the classroom. And as compared to the starting tour, it has grown significantly: Henry has returned. Under the equanimous leadership of the French, partners uncovered someone else's defense, tearing it on the flanks. The first goal came from the right: Ebué hooked on the edge, and goalkeeper Henri scored with his forehead a kick in the counter. He soon after a break from the environment of three rivals rolled out a lone Gleb such a pass offer that it was impossible to refuse with the Belarusian technique.
Three weeks later, Arsenal will arrive in Moscow.
Sergey NOVIKOV