Kutepov’s own goal, Ozdoev’s removal and Meshkov’s controversial decisions: Zenit beat Spartak in the RPL

Dziuba's revenge and Zenith's fatigue

Derby of the two capitals between Zenit and Spartak fans are always waiting with special interest, but this time he was accompanied by a number of intrigues. Firstly, the conflict between Artyom Dziuba and the fans of red and white escalated. They insulted the striker at the match of the national team in San Marino and continued to do so already in the RPL game with Ural. As a result, the league even fined the club.

And already in St. Petersburg, right in front of the derby, fans of the guests were detained, chanting impartial cries to the captain of the national team. Of course, he himself was eager to answer “Spartak” on the field, especially since he did not score against the former Dziub team since 2017.

In addition, this match was incredibly important for Petersburgers. Just a couple of hours before him, Lokomotiv in Moscow lost to Dynamo and provided the leader with an excellent opportunity to increase the lead. The only thing fans of the hosts could worry about was the functional state of the players, because on Tuesday Sergei Semak's wards had an exhausting match with Lyon in the Champions League.

“Spartak” flew out of the European Cups back in the summer, and therefore had the opportunity to calmly prepare for the derby. In addition, the burden of responsibility pressed on the red and white is not so much, because they are already seriously behind the first five. On the other hand, in case of victory, the Moscow team got an excellent opportunity to approach it in the light of the latest misfires of Rostov and Lokomotiv. In addition, it was necessary not to let go ahead of the Dynamo.

Well, in the event of a defeat in the garden Domenico Tedesco hardly anyone would have thrown a stone. At the same time, the guests got an excellent opportunity to play “second number” on counterattacks again, as in the game with Lokomotiv (3-0). The red and white ones do so far better than cracking a saturated defense.

As for the starting lineups, both coaches as a whole did not surprise the fans, releasing all the strongest players on the field. Is that the “Zenith” on the right flank of midfield appeared Oleg Shatov, and not Daler Kuzyaev, who had an extremely energy-intensive meeting with “Lyon”.

Faded "Spartak" and "Zenith" in the classroom

From the first minutes, Petersburgers showed that they did not intend to give the initiative to the opponent. They owned the ball about 70% of the time, and in case of loss they instantly went into high pressure, not allowing Spartak to launch a counterattack.

As a result of dangerous moments, the red-whites in the first half practically did not have one. I recall only a couple of shots by Zelimkhan Bakaev from outside the penalty area and one unpleasant backache from the right flank. The tenth issue was generally the only guests footballer who tried to think of something on the alien half of the field. All possible assistance was provided to him by Jordan Larsson and Esekiel Ponce, but Zenit quite calmly coped with the attacking three of the opponent.

In turn, the team of Semak confidently controlled the ball in the wrong half and regularly looked for free zones in the red-white box. They were often found, despite the scheme with three central defenders. Petersburgers regularly developed attacks through the right flank, taking advantage of Ayrton's sloppiness.

Actually, it was from there that the goal came to the goal of Spartak. After the filing of Magomed Ozdoev, Dziuba sold Ilya Kutepov and struck his head from several meters. Alexander Maksimenko miraculously parried the ball, but transferred it directly to the same Kutepov’s leg, from which the projectile still flew into the net.

The defender tried to convince the referee Vitaly Meshkov that the attacker fouled on him in the fight, but the referee, using the help of video assistants, pointed to the center of the field.

A little later, VAR again intervened in the game. In Sebastian Driussi’s fight with Roman Zobnin, the ball seemed to fall into the latter’s hand, but here Meshkov decided that there was no violation of the rules. The referee was also remembered for the fact that already in the first half he showed five yellow cards: three for the guests and two for the hosts.

Tedesco's unsuccessful replacements and Jano's skirmish with Melgarejo

However, Spartak did not intend to surrender to the mercy of the winner, and in the second half a completely different game went on the field. This was largely due to tactical restructuring from Tedesco. He replaced central defender Kutepov with midfielder Lorenzo Melgarejo, while Ayrton sank a little lower.

And before the Paraguayan appeared on the field, he became the hero of a controversial episode. The footballer burst into someone else's penalty area and fell on the lawn after a push from Ozdoev. Meshkov decided that there was a game in the corps, and again did not appoint a penalty.

And after a couple of minutes, the judge removed Magomed for the not-so-tough, at first glance, elbow game against Larsson. The referee showed the opornik a second yellow card, and he was forced to leave the field.

So “Zenith” unexpectedly remained in the minority, and “Spartak” began a systematic siege of the penalty opponent. In addition, Tedesco released Andre Schurrle instead of Ayrton, finally betting on the attack.

And at that moment it seemed that Petersburgers were about to flinch. The guests loaded the ball into the opponent's box, and the defenders coped with their work with great difficulty. Ponce missed a particularly dangerous moment. After filing from the left, Esekiel hit his head in the far corner, but the bar saved the team of Semak.

However, gradually the pressure of the red-white became less active, and Semak made competent replacements. The center of the field was alternately strengthened by Alexander Erokhin and Alexey Sutormin. Now Petersburgers were defending without panic.

But without another controversial judicial decision could not have done. 15 minutes before the end, Yaroslav Rakitsky in a tackle interrupted Larsson's backache in the penalty area, after which the ball may have rolled over his arm. Meshkov did not begin to point to the "point" here, which caused the indignation of the guest bench.

This was perhaps the last chance of Spartak. In the end, organizing the bulk of the red and white did not work. Yes, and the output of Jano Ananidze did not help much. On the contrary, the Georgian almost got in hand to hand with his own partner Melgarejo, when he unsuccessfully went to the stroke. And in general, Tedesco replacements were not the most successful.

Already in the time added by the arbitrator, Zenit could have doubled the advantage in the long run. So, Erokhin from a slaughter position struck higher after the transfer of Dzyuba.

One way or another, Petersburgers scored the most important three points and took the next step towards defending the title. Spartak lost the opportunity to get closer to the top five and lost the sixth line to Dynamo.