Spartak after the derby and an important match for Russia

Spartak approached the match with Braga in a good mood. In the last four matches in all tournaments, the red and white won four victories. Especially important was the success on Monday in a derby with CSKA thanks to the double of Samuel Gigot.

True, a too tight schedule of games could become a problem for red and white, because in the summer Spartak has to play twice a week. However, Kononov before the match in Portugal noted that this is not a problem for his team, as well as the absence of Jordan Larsson and Gus Till, who are already flirted in the qualification of the other teams.

But if the inferior in the “Tun” class managed to get through without them, then the Moscow team was waiting for a much more stubborn fight with “Braga”, because the team of Ricardo Sa Pinto regularly participates in European competitions and in almost every season tries to compete with the “big Portuguese three” in the face of Porto, Benfica and Sporting.

However, “Spartacus” just needs to pass “Braga”, given the fight between Russia and Portugal for sixth place in the UEFA odds table, giving the right to enter three clubs in the Champions League. Moreover, Krasnodar a little earlier unexpectedly managed to knock out the much more powerful Porto out of the fight.

As for the opponent, then last season he finished fourth in the national championship. At the same time, the departure of the former head coach Abel Ferreira and the top scorer Diego Souza was a huge fly in the ointment for the team. But even without them, “Braga” in the third qualifying round of LES passed Danish “Brondby” without any problems.

Andre Orta, who scored two goals, made a significant contribution to this success, but there was a possibility that the lead midfielder of the team would not take part in the first match with Spartak due to minor damage. Precisely the central defender Raul Silva could not appear on the field.

Unfortunately for the guests, Andre Horta ended up in the starting lineup, as did his brother Ricardo. As for the roster of Spartak, it turned out to be absolutely predictable and completely repeated the composition for the return game with Thun.

Boring game and moments in the ending

Many fans rightly feared for Spartak ahead of the match in Portugal, but in fact the first half turned out to be absolutely equal. Yes, the owners had an advantage in owning the ball (60 to 40), but this possession was “sterile”. Red-white calmly retreated to the defensive and waited for the opponent to conduct another protracted multi-pass attack, which, as a rule, ended in a penalty kick. And Samuel Gigot with George Jikia calmly won the fight on the "second floor".

The only time when this was not possible was the submission of a standard from the left flank in the middle of the second half. Then his head managed to break through Paligne, but Alexander Maksimenko formed on time and once again in the last matches he saved his team. In other episodes, things did not reach the shots on target.

It is not surprising that Paligny's shot on target remained the only one for the hosts in the first half. Similar statistics were shown by Spartak - Zelimkhan Bakaev from outside the penalty area struck into the near corner, which the goalkeeper dealt with.

I must say that the teams shortly before the break, finally activated, and the red-white managed to organize several promising approaches. In addition to Bakaev’s strike, one can recall the dangerous shot of Ponce past the far corner.

And in another episode, Esekiel closed the backache of Reziuan Mirzov, but somehow miraculously hit the goalkeeper. True, the line judge recorded an absolutely fair offside.

Summarizing, in the first half, both teams did not show some incredible speeds, which was quite in the hands of Spartak, which, unlike Krasnodar, did not try to get on the rampage the day before, but was ready to flee to the counterattack at the right time. Once again, Andre Schürrle was active, who, by his pressure, did not allow his opponent to launch attacks quickly, and also made a lot of useful actions in the game.

Fatigue of Spartak and failure on the flank

And at the beginning of the second half, Spartak even managed to add a little and carry out several unpleasant attacks. However, things didn’t reach the truly dangerous moments, but with every minute the feeling grew that red-and-white could pass such a “Braga”. Of the most promising episodes, one can recall Shyurrle's kick covered by the defender after the rally of the standard, as well as Mirzov's shot from outside the penalty area, which the goalkeeper managed not without difficulty.

However, closer to the middle of the second half, the players of Spartak began to have more and more fatigue, plus not so successfully instead of Mirzov Lorenzo Melgarejo left on the left flank. Braga finally took the ball under its control.

The flank attacks turned out to be especially dangerous for the hosts, with which Kononov's wards did not manage to cope. It was not easy on the left side to have a tired Ayrton. Ultimately, the goal came from his area. The Brazilian did not have time to return to the defense and allowed the opponent to shoot. João Novaisa didn’t get a shot, but there was a perfect discount on Ricarda Horta, who calmly sent the ball to the target.

After that, the Spartacus finally clung to their own goal and risked to repeat the fate of “Krasnodar”. Fortunately, Kononov’s next replacement turned out to be quite successful. The trainer sent Ayaz Guliyev, exhausted to the bench, and released the young Nail Umyarov instead. And the footballer for the minutes allotted to him was able to regain control of the ball to Spartak.

As a result, in the end, red and white could even equalize. After Schürrle's submission from the right flank, Ponce struck his head into the far corner, and the goalkeeper with great difficulty transferred the shell to the corner. Almost the entire team came to the last corner, but still failed to score.

Nevertheless, a defeat with a minimum score should not be very upsetting. Let Spartak lose, but it may well turn out to be stronger than the opponent at home. It is important that in a difficult moment for the red-white, everything turned out to be just one missed ball. It remains to state that at some point the team simply “stood up”. At the same time, faith in the successful outcome of the confrontation between Russian fans should not leave.