Vlachich’s double, Zobnin’s incontinence and Goncharenko’s tactical victory: what did CSKA - Spartak remember in the RPL

On the eve of the central match of the 25th round of the RPL, Spartak looked like a clear favorite. For the wards Domenico Tedesco spoke both successful performances after the resumption of the championship, and a successful series in the confrontation with a principled opponent. Three times in a row, the red and white ones defeated the opponents from CSKA, and the meetings fell on three different tournaments - the national championship, the Russian Cup and the “Match Premier Cup”.

Optimism in fans of ten-time champions of Russia was inspired by the fact that they are one of the leaders in the number of points scored at a party. In 12 matches, they scored 20 points and were second only to Zenit, Lokomotiv (both 27 each) and Krasnodar (21). At the same time, CSKA at home did not look so convincing - only 18 points in 12 games and, as a result, sixth place.

One of the main questions was with what tactics Viktor Goncharenko's wards will come to this meeting. After the resumption of the season, they had already managed to perform both in a brightly attacking and more defensive manner. Moreover, in the first case, everything turned into a fiasco in the form of a devastating defeat from the “Zenith”, which easily caught the enemy in counterattacks. In the second, the result was much better, but also far from ideal. CSKA looked very faded in the confrontation with Dynamo, but managed without goals conceded. Then, many associated the shift of emphasis towards defense with the figure of Sergei Ovchinnikov, who replaced the Belarusian specialist.

Apparently, the CSKA coaching staff was pleased with the progress of the game with Dynamo and decided to bet on a more cautious and less risky style. This was easily explained, because in this way the army team deprived the opponent of his main and almost only weapon - counterattacks. It is no secret that on the eve of the meeting Tedesco wards were one of the RPL leaders in terms of the number of goals after counterattacks (six) and shared the first line with colleagues from Sochi.

The German specialist himself also understood that opponents are unlikely to rush to the attack, mindful of the recent failure. Tedesco was aware that his wards were unlikely to have many opportunities for counterattacks and made up the central pair of forwards from Alexander Sobolev and Esekiel Ponce. According to the coach’s plan, Sobolev had to win the fight on the second floor and supply the ball with either the Argentine or one of the attacking midfielders in the person of Zelimkhan Bakaev and Roman Zobnin. But already in the first minutes it became clear that the circuit did not work.

Sobolev was very active and selflessly fought for riding balls, but it was very difficult for him to fight with Herdur Magnusson, Igor Diveev and Kirill Nababkin. Goncharenko relied on the opinion of Ovchinnikov and left the defensive line unchanged. Looking ahead, the Belarusian turned out to be absolutely right. This combination, although it was not sinless, but on the whole looked much more whole and organized.

In the first minutes, the red and white were marked by a couple of dangerous passages to the gate of Igor Akinfeev, but that was where their success in the first half ended. It is noteworthy that Bakaev and Ponce were on the cutting edge, becoming one of the main disappointments of the derby. This is especially true of Zelimkhan, in the current championship who has earned the title of one of the leaders of Spartak. However, this time he practically “disappeared” in the field. It was impossible to deliver the ball to him from the bottom, and Sobolev's discounts practically did not reach the tenth guest number.

By the middle of half, CSKA felt a weak spot in the construction of Spartak. It turned out to be the left flank of the defense, for which Ayrton was traditionally responsible. During the first 45 minutes, Mario Fernandez repeatedly demonstrated the failure of the Brazilian when playing on the defensive, but up to the 27th minute it did not lead to a change in the score. True, Alexander Maksimenko was not without a blunder, who was unable to cope with the not-so-difficult blow of Nikola Vlasic. But the attack arose precisely on the edge near the coaches.

Thus, CSKA scored the first goal after the resumption of the championship and now could act with even greater eye on the defense, which put Spartak in a more difficult position. After that, the Moscow derby could become like a game with Ufa, during which the red and white practically did not create problems for Alexander Belenov.

If before the break the army team still continued to raid the possessions of Maksimenko, then they finally retreated to their half of the field. In many respects this was facilitated by the counterparts, who took control of the ball and besieged Akinfeev's penalty. Gradually, more and more acute episodes began to appear at the gates of CSKA, the main creator of which was Zobnin. In the first 45 minutes, the midfielder looked brighter than the partners, and in the second he completely assumed the role of leader. The novel was very active and resembled itself a model of the champion season of Spartak. But, ironically, it was the best footballer of the guests who practically deprived them of a chance of success.

The key episode of the meeting took place in the 77th minute. By this time, CSKA was left without a clean striker due to an injury to Fedor Chalov and was locked in his own half. And it was at that moment that Zobnin allowed himself the go-ahead in the fight against Ivan Oblyakov, and after watching the video replay the chief referee Alexey Yeskov showed the Spartak midfielder a red card.

It is worth noting that earlier in the match there were controversial episodes. So, already in the debut, Eskov could appoint an 11-meter goal to CSKA for a foul on the same Zobnin, but did not punish Magnusson. Perhaps this was the reason that at some point Roman lost his nerves. In general, the meeting turned out to be very tough, which was quite expected derby. For two teams earned nine "mustard plaster", one of which went to Tedesco. The German received the fifth “mustard” of the season, once again unable to cope with emotions.

The final ten minutes were not the richest in events. Spartak clearly felt that there was no person who could give the last pass, which is so necessary in positional attacks. The transition to the scheme with two central defenders and three forwards did not help either. Jordan Larsson left instead of Nikolai Rasskazov and was supposed to bring mobility to the attack of the hosts, but by this time CSKA had already firmly sat down in defense, so all the advantages of the Swede were leveled. A long-range strike by Nail Umyarov could be a salvation, but Akinfeev performed another miracle and fished the ball out of the lower right corner.

The red and white did not stop pressing, but they no longer had the strength. At the 95th minute, Sobolev could not cope with Viktor Vasin, who left the bench, and allowed the army team to organize a quick counterattack. Arnor Sigurdsson brought to blow Vlašić, and he “shot” Maksimenko. For CSKA, this ball was the first in the championship scored as a result of a counterattack.

Wards Goncharenko took an important step in finding a balance between the attacking game and strict actions in their half of the field, which allowed them to win the long-awaited victory. It is possible that Ovchinnikov also has merit in this success. During the temporary absence of the Belarusian specialist, Schennikov and Magnusson returned to the defensive line, and Nababkin was transferred from the flank to the center. Given the fact that earlier in the media there were reports of a conflict between the old-timers of the team and the head coach, the intervention of the former goalkeeper could be a key factor in solving this problem, if it really existed.

As for Spartak, this meeting showed that the result of the confrontation with Ufa was not accidental. Red and white did not learn how to conduct positional attacks, which is a serious problem for any team with a claim to high places. In modern football it is very difficult to achieve success, relying solely on counterattacks, which was perfectly demonstrated by the derby. At the same time, only Tedesco cannot be blamed for this. The point is in the performers, most of which are not suitable for this style. Among midfielders, only Bakaev and Zobnin, when in good shape, correspond to him. But this is clearly not enough to deal with the massive defensive formations of rivals.

This weakness was noticeable long before the derby with CSKA. It was especially pronounced in the second round match with Zenit, when Spartak was in the majority for 40 minutes. However, during this time the Tedesco team practically did not create dangerous moments at the gates of Mikhail Kerzhakov. Red-white obviously needs reinforcement, otherwise they will still have problems every time they are confronted by a well-coordinated defensive line.