Visiting the "Saturn" Spartacists played strained and boring. And it’s just awful - for a team that was in one victory from a guaranteed place in the Champions League, and just before entering the field, learned about the unexpected Samara misfire of a competitor in a gold dispute.
The legendary Spartak spirit indeed becomes nothing more than a figure of speech, a common place of memories passing into memoirs. One can argue about the readiness of Fedotov's Spartak to play modernly, about its compliance with the heights to which the team is being raised in plans. It is possible to discuss from different perspectives the potential of the players gathered there and their training specialists. Or about the ceiling height of club management. But there is no doubt: the team, with pleasure and even puffiness trying on the status of “national”, does not have the right to go out to matches of such significance without gleam in their eyes.
In the story of the first half, the only significant mention of Spartak could be the forced replacement of Kovalevsky. Having received a clearly deliberate boorish blow to the head in martial arts with Gyan, the bandaged goalkeeper stubbornly lasted only ten minutes. And he managed, by the way, to pay off the most acute episode of the first half of the meeting. Vukchevich escaped from the central circle from slipping Shishkin and confused Kovalchuk, but before the formidable guard of the gate he drifted.
At this point, the hit counter showed a rare combination of numbers: 7-0 in favor of the hosts. By the way, on the account of the Spartacists there were not even such manifestations of activity as the earned corners!
Having met the organized resistance of “Saturn” (missed, note, a good half of the base!), The red-and-white did not manage to even hint at a threat to the gates of others. Not one of Fedotov’s personnel innovations worked. Kalinichenko and Kovalchuk obviously did not reach at least the expression of Bystrov and Boyarintsev on the flanks. And Ramenchane Pavlenko, sent to the defensive order, disguised himself there thoroughly: the whole time he was not noticed by either his partners or the audience.
The beginning of the second half was encouraged by changes in the mood of the coaches. Both Vladimirs were looking for increased attack. Fedotov again put him on Cavenagi because of hopelessness. Weiss did not make replacements, but clearly commanded his own to be bolder. It was later that the Slovak mentor of the hosts went all-in and saved the match, brought the number of forwards to four to the final whistle - sent to support Vukchevich and Gyan Lebedenko, and then Yakubko.
Especially revealing was the first substitution of the hosts. Weiss did not give up his intention to strengthen the attack even after the loss of key defender Petkovich, to whom Kovalchuk brutally cut his leg. It is difficult to evaluate this coaching move unambiguously. Perhaps Weiss simply did not have equivalent destroyers in the reserve, and he decided to defend himself by attacking? In any case, in the final quarter of the match Spartak became clearly more comfortable near the Saturn penalty box.
Several filigree "diagonals" succeeded Shishkin. One of them put Cavenaggi perfectly into the scoring position, but the Argentinean disgraced the nation while taking the ball. Kalinichenko from the left edge perfectly hung on the far corner of the goalkeeper, but Pavlyuchenko, who hit his head, missed by centimeters.
The hosts did not hesitate to answer, loading with the work of bravely holding Khomich at the Spartak gate. The game unfrozen, revived completely. Nobody could rely on its dry outcome. The recklessness of Eremenko, who played a hand in front of the Saturn penalty box, turned into an encouraging Spartak “standard”. After a series of run-ups that masked the truth, Kalinichenko performed the blow and hit the corner, covered by a “wall”, with a well-executed sweep. 0: 1 - it seemed that the taken aback Kinsky watched not only the ball, but also Saturn's hope.
The defeat of the Ramenchians violated the logic of events. Saturn had about a dozen minutes to restore it. The hosts managed to recoup on the flag. Spartacists, it seems, are already panicky afraid of the last circles of the second hand. The sweeping and crowded attack of the opponents turned their heads around, confused in their own penalty area. The transfer of Petrash on the right found on the goalkeeper line recently replaced Jakubko. He did not really hit, but only landed the ball. But on the catch was a cunning Lebedenko - 1: 1!
... Spartak will have to worry for at least ten days about champions silver. And even dreaming of gold - but again not out loud so that no one would laugh.
And on the account of "Saturn" is recorded the 16th draw. In those days, such a "peacefulness" would be a sure sign of a tarnished conscience. Now it is a sign of valor: they don’t trade here, they just play football here.
Sergey NOVIKOV