The return of Tedesco, loss of leaders and mutual injections: what you need to know about the semifinal of the Russian Cup Zenit - Spartak

Home Stadium Advantage

The semifinal of the Russian Football Cup between Zenit and Spartak promises to be one of the most anticipated matches of the summer segment of the season. Largely because of how much is at stake for each of the teams. The victory will allow the hosts to continue the campaign for the first gold double since 2010, and the guests - to maintain the chances of a successful end to the failed season. In the championship, red and white are in ninth place and retain ghostly chances for a ticket to the Europa League.

In early June, it became known that the match will be held in St. Petersburg. On paper, everything looked logical: blue-white-blue had fewer games in their field during the tournament and, logically, should have been the hosts in the next meeting. The catch was that, unlike last year's competition rules, the current principle did not stipulate the definition of the owner of the field at this stage. As a result, a scandal erupted, and most of all, the owner of red-white Leonid Fedun expressed his dissatisfaction.

“I voted against. A large number of people abstained. It is clear that the “Zenith” heavyweight in football. Therefore, any requests are being squeezed. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any doubts here, ”Fedun told Sport Express.

The club owner had something to worry about. Spartak has never beaten Zenit at Gazprom Arena, and the last success at a party is dated May 2012. The meeting ended with the score 3: 2 in favor of the Muscovites, and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Emmanuel Emenike and Rafael Carioca scored. The owners of the same goals were marked by future coaches in the person of Alexander Kerzhakov and Sergei Semak.

At the same time, it is worth noting that recently Spartak does not often win Zenit at all. The unbeaten run consists of four meetings (two losses, two draws), and the last time the red-white defeated opponents in November 2017. It is noteworthy that from that moment the composition was significantly updated, and among the 14 who appeared on the field, only five still protect the colors of the club. 

For fans of ten-time champions of the country, only a win-win series in the confrontation with St. Petersburg in the Russian Cup can be considered a small reason for optimism. There, the rivals held only two games - as part of the quarter-finals of the 2006/07 tournament. On the road, red and white prevailed (2: 1), and in their field were content with a draw (1: 1).  

Medvedev's joke and Fedun's provocations

The RFU’s decision to hold the match in the Northern capital was only one of the events that maximally heated the atmosphere around the derby of the two capitals. Subsequently, representatives of both Zenit and Spartak noted a number of statements that caused wide resonance in the sports community and made the upcoming meeting extremely fundamental.

First of all, it is necessary to note the comments of Zenit CEO Alexander Medvedev regarding the incident involving Artem Dziuba and Serdar Azmun. Forwards originally celebrated the victory in the Russian championship by imitating a sexual scene, which immediately became one of the most discussed topics in domestic football. At the same time, the club leader personally added fuel to the fire, interpreting the behavior of athletes in his own way.

“They fooled around. This is a champion’s locker room: a reckless, untidy atmosphere reigns in it, the guys constantly tease each other and make a million other provocations. We will assume that Dziuba hinted at what would happen to Spartak in the cup match, ”Medvedev joked in a conversation with TASS.

However, in the camp of red and white, the general director’s sense of humor was not appreciated and they filed a complaint with the ethics committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU). The meeting took place two days before the semifinal of the Cup of Russia, and Medvedev was fined 200 thousand rubles.

The “Zenith” had enough reasons to complain about Fedun. He regularly hinted that the judges were biased against his athletes and forgive a lot of blue-white-blue. After defeating Akhmat, he even called for the launch of the hashtag #SuiteSpartakKakZenit. Another object of attacks from the functionary was the referee Mikhail Vilkov, previously repeatedly accused of excessive loyalty to athletes from the Northern capital.

“Who will judge the match against Zenit? No idea. If there will be Vilkov, then you can not go out, ”said Fedun.

Claims to judges and Ivanov’s candidacy

Recently, Spartak has become closely associated with judicial scandals. After a pause, almost every match of the team was replete with controversial moments, including unaccounted goals and ambiguous 11-meter appointments. One of these episodes led to the breakdown of Domenico Tedesco.

During the confrontation with Lokomotiv, the head coach reacted very emotionally to the penalty kick into the goal of Alexander Maksimenko and received a red card, which turned out for him to miss the final segment of the season in the RPL. But suspension does not apply to the Cup of Russia, and the German will be able to attend the coaching bridge.

To Fedun's delight, Vilkov did not receive an appointment to the semifinal of the Russian Cup, but the name of the chief referee was unlikely to suit the guests. The match was entrusted to the service of Sergey Ivanov, a well-known Spartak fan in the quarterfinals with CSKA. Then serious debates caused both an unassigned penalty for the game of Igor Diveev in the penalty area, and the removal of Esekiel Ponce, who allegedly hit Vadim Karpov in the face. Although the repetition clearly shows that the Argentine, although he touched his hand in the opposite, but hit him in the chest.

It is noteworthy that it was Ivanov who served the meeting between Sochi and Spartak in the 28th round of the Russian football championship. Then the hosts prevailed with a score of 1: 0, and Ponce again became a participant in one of the many controversial episodes. This time, the referee did not see a violation on the Argentinean by Nikolai Zabolotny. Esekiel came face to face with the goalkeeper and fell after contact, but the point was not indicated again.

Throughout his career, Ivanov worked in total at 39 games with the participation of future opponents. Each of the teams scored ten victories, while the red-white lost more often (seven against five). As for full-time confrontations, the native of Rostov-on-Don twice served the derby of two capitals, and in these cases, Petersburgers never lost. In 2015, at the Otkrytie Arena, opponents scored two goals, and a year later, in St. Petersburg, the hosts took the lead with a score of 4: 2. Two goals of blue-white-blue were the result of precisely executed 11-meter.

Leader disqualifications and tactical changes

Both teams approach the semifinal of the Cup of Russia with serious personnel losses. The “Zenith” definitely will not play the main goalkeeper Andrei Lunev, who received a hip injury in a match with “Akhmat”. The participation of Captain Branislav Ivanovich is also in doubt. In anticipation of the meeting of the 26th round with Sochi, the Serb urgently left for his homeland because of “family misfortune” and so far his return to St. Petersburg has not been reported. At the same time, the general director of the current champions of the country, Alexander Medvedev, expressed confidence that the main central defender will play with Spartak.

If Ivanovich will still be forced to miss the semifinals, then several players can replace him at once. It can be based on either Jordan Osorio rented from Porto or Danil Prokhin’s own pupil, who has already doubled Yaroslav Rakitsky in the RPL twice. True, in both cases, the defense of the champions will become less reliable.

As for the goalkeeper position, the main contender for a place in the start is Mikhail Kerzhakov. Both experience and the fact that it was he who occupied a place in the “frame” in the middle of the season, when Lunev had a decline, speak for him. Then the goalkeeper earned many compliments and was even mentioned as a candidate for the Russian national team. Alexander Vasyutin is unlikely to be able to win the competition, especially considering that in the game with Orenburg he did not act very confidently.

As for the guests, Tedesco will not be able to count not only on the disqualified Ponce, but also on Roman Zobnin. In the quarterfinal, the midfielder received a yellow card for a flagrant foul against Ivan Oblyakov. At the same time, Ivanov had every reason to respond and tougher, because after that the midfielder of the red and white almost provoked a brawl on the field.

The loss of Zobnin risks turning into serious problems for Spartak. During the final segment of the season, he was one of the best in the team and even resembled himself a model of the champion season. The midfielder played a huge role both in organizing attacks and in defensive actions, but he has no equivalent replacement. Instead, Guus Til or Nail Umyarov may appear on the field, but the Dutchman is unlikely to greatly help in defense, and the Russian will not be inventive in attack.

As for the attacking line, the absence of the best scorer of the season will surely be a serious loss for Spartak. Alexander Sobolev and Jordan Larsson, who are the team leaders in the expected goals in the end of the championship, will try to fill it. The only question is whether Tedesco will risk playing two forwards from the first minutes or leave one of them on the bench. But mindful of the fact that the red and white are not the best way to attack positionally and, therefore, do not have the right to pass first, it makes sense to immediately go all-in.