Miranchuk and Barinov's injuries, Slutsky's victory over CSKA and Ufa's scandalous statement: what was the RPL's fourth round memorable for

Zenit defeated Tambov and increased the gap from competitors to four points, and Serdar Azmun single-handedly led the race of the top scorers. Lokomotiv lost to Spartak and due to injuries lost two midfielders at once - Dmitry Barinov and Alexey Miranchuk. Krasnodar sensationally lost to Ural on the road, while CSKA lost at home to Rubin, conceding in the 92nd minute. After the match with Rostov, the management of Ufa threatened to be withdrawn due to dissatisfaction with the work of the referees, and Daniil Lesovoy and Nikita Burmistrov issued a double for Arsenal and Sochi. RT tells what the fourth round of the RPL was remembered for.

Ural's first victory and Pomazun's saves

The fourth round of the RPL started with a sensation in Yekaterinburg. "Ural" in the second home match in a row took points from the current championship medalist. A few days ago, Yuri Matveev's team drew with Lokomotiv (1: 1), and on Saturday they won with a minimum score over Krasnodar.

The only goal with a beautiful kick into the far top corner was scored by the former southerners footballer Vyacheslav Podberezkin already in the third minute. Also among the hosts should be noted Ilya Pomazun. The goalkeeper rented from CSKA made several saves and for the first time in his career played to zero in the Premier League.

"Krasnodar" to turn the tide of the meeting was prevented by personnel problems. Midfielders Wanderson and Remi Cabella did not arrive in Yekaterinburg due to injuries. And at the beginning of the second half, referee Yevgeny Turbin showed the second yellow card to the defender of the guests Cayo Pantaleao.

Ural at the end of the match could have increased the advantage - the team's players hit the post twice. However, one goal scored was enough for them to win their first victory in the new season, as well as beat Krasnodar in the national championship for the first time in almost five years.

Lesovoy's double and a terrible injury to the goalkeeper

Arsenal also managed to win their first victory of the season. The Tulyans unexpectedly beat Dynamo at home, which after three meetings shared the second place in the standings with Lokomotiv and never allowed opponents to score their own goal in the new season.

However, in Tula, Kirill Novikov's charges conceded two unanswered goals. Both were chalked up by 22-year-old midfielder Daniil Lesovoy. For him, this double was the first in his career.

The best scorer of Arsenal at the end of last season, Yevgeny Lutsenko, in the match with the former team also did not leave the field without a point for performance and gave an assist to a partner in the middle of the first half after winning a single combat on the flank.

And 15 minutes before the final whistle, the hosts converted a penalty kick, moreover, Dynamo newcomer Nicola Moro broke the rules in his penalty area. The only fly in the ointment at the end of the match for the Gunners was the injury of goalkeeper Artur Nigmatullin. In the end, Vyacheslav Grulev broke the goalkeeper's nose with spiked boots, and he needed a replacement.

Strong-willed victory for Akhmat and two send-offs for Khimki

Meanwhile, in the Moscow region, Akhmat's head coach Andrei Talalaev met with his former team, Khimki. The specialist led the red-blacks from April 2019 to January 2020 and left the team in second place in the FNL standings. Khimki's class has been promoted under the guidance of Sergei Yuran. But Talalaev even received a silver medal of the FNL before the game.

The meeting itself turned out to be eventful. In the middle of the first half, the hosts took the lead thanks to a successful corner kick. Defender Yegor Danilkin managed to hit the other's gates.

The main character in the second half of the meeting was Akhmat's midfielder Artyom Timofeev. In the 65th minute, he broke the rules in his own penalty area. Artyom Polyarus had an excellent opportunity to increase Khimki's advantage from the penalty spot, but shot wide of the goal.

Soon Timofeev was rehabilitated for his mistake. First, he earned a penalty kick for Grozny, which was converted by Vladimir Ilyin. And a minute later, Artyom himself hit someone else's goal after the transfer of Bernard Berisha. So "Akhmat" won a strong-willed victory.

The hosts ended the meeting with nine. First, experienced Brian Idovu received the second yellow card, and then Kirill Bozhenov. Moreover, the last fatal foul for himself was committed on Timofeev.

Azmun's fourth goal of the season and Douglas's debut goal

And the current champion of the country "Zenith" won the fourth victory in four matches of the new RPL season. This time the Petersburgers left no chance for Tambov at home - 4: 1.

Even the absence of the main midfielder Magomed Ozdoev at the start did not prevent the hosts. Nominal defender Danil Krugovoy played in the support zone from the first minutes.

For a long time the blue-white-blue failed to open an account. Sergei Ryzhikov, who made five saves before the break, played reliably on the last line of the opponent. But in the 41st minute, Douglas dos Santos managed to deliver a beautiful dribbling blow to the far top corner. For the Brazilian, this goal was his debut for Zenit in official matches.

In the second half, the reigning champion confidently brought the matter to defeat. Serdar Azmun scored the fourth goal in the current RPL draw and became the leader in the scorer race. Also goals were scored by Malcolm and substitute Alexander Erokhin.

But Artyom Dzyuba, who turned 32 on the day of the game, did not manage to score points for performance.

As part of "Tambov" the ball of prestige was scored by Kirill Panchenko in the end. For the former Dynamo forward, this goal was the first in the new team.

Dupin's incredible save and Slutsky's victory over the former team

But CSKA, which began the season with two victories in a row, suffered two defeats this week. CSKA with the same score 1: 2 lost first to Zenit on the road, and on Saturday to Rubin in Moscow.

Especially offensive was the misfire in the match with Kazan, which has recently been led by the ex-mentor of the red and blue Leonid Slutsky. In mid-July, Rubin in Moscow had already deprived CSKA of important points (1: 1), and now completely left the opponent without credits.

The guests opened an account at the end of the first half. Left unattended, Soltmurad Bakaev made a dash to someone else's penalty area and delivered an accurate blow. However, after just two minutes, Nikola Vlašić restored the status quo, with one touch passing the ball into the goal from the penalty line after a corner kick.

The denouement came shortly before the final whistle. Two minutes before the end of regular time, Viktor Goncharenko's wards could snatch a victory, but two incredible saves were made by Yuri Dyupin. First, he deflected a long-range shot from Kristiyan Bistrovic, and then coped with a header from goalkeeper Adolfo Gaic.

In the time added by the referee, “Rubin” punished the opponent for extravagance, and the goal was organized by the substitute players. Rookie Djordje Despotovich performed a soft discount on Denis Makarov, who sent the ball into the far corner from outside the penalty area. Hwang In Böm deserved special praise in the episode, whose jerk behind his back embarrassed Georgy Shchennikov and actually allowed the midfielder to break through without resistance.

Burmistrov's two goals and Sochi's rise to the top three

Due to misfires of the favorites, Sochi managed to climb to the European Cup zone. In Volgograd, the team of Vladimir Fedotov beat Rotor (2: 1), which returned to the RPL, and extended the unbeaten run in the new season to four matches.

Three points were brought to the guests by Nikita Burmistrov's double. The 31-year-old midfielder has scored two goals in one Premier League match for the first time in his career. The experienced footballer delivered both accurate strikes after free kicks.

It is noteworthy that six of Sochi's seven goals at the start of the season were the result of successful set pieces. And in the last two meetings, points for performance were scored by the newcomer of the team Joaozinho, who gave two assists. But 35-year-old southern midfielder Christian Noboa, who scored in each of the first three matches of the national championship, this time failed to distinguish himself.

Miranchuk and Barinov's injuries and Spartak's character

The unbeaten run of Lokomotiv's new coach Marko Nikolic was also cut short. Not knowing 11 matches of defeats in the RPL under the guidance of a specialist, the red-greens on Sunday were powerless under the pressure of Spartak.

The current silver medalist of the Russian championship did not help to score points and Murilo's quick ball, scored with his head already in the tenth minute after a free kick by Alexei Miranchuk.

However, even in the first half, Lokomotiv lost both Miranchuk and Dmitry Barinov due to injuries.

Left without leaders, the guests conceded two goals in the second half of the meeting. On the 53rd minute, Jordan Larsson scored the third goal in the current RPL season after Nail Umarov's timely transfer from the flank. And in the end of the meeting the victory of "Spartak" was brought by the substitute Alexander Sobolev. The 23-year-old striker has scored the fifth goal in 17 games for Spartak.

The Red and White won their third victory over Lokomotiv in the last four matches and climbed into second place.

Controversial decisions of Vilkov and harsh statements of "Ufa"

The fourth round did not go without another referee scandal. The management of “Ufa” remained so dissatisfied with the work of referee Mikhail Vilkov in the match with “Rostov” that it threatened to withdraw from the championship. Also, the chairman of the board of directors of "Ufa" Rostislav Murzagulov called to check the arbiter from Nizhny Novgorod on a polygraph.

“The way Vilkov worked is disgusting. This is many times worse than Vasily Kazartsev at the Spartak - Sochi match. We demand that Vilkov be tested on a polygraph for corruption and theft. His judging was biased. Today we are going to a football club and we will discuss the possibility of withdrawal from the championship if there is at least one more such game, "Sport Express quotes Murzagulov.

On Sunday, the Bashkortostanians were forced to play with ten men for more than an hour due to the removal of Vyacheslav Krotov. At the end of the first half, Vilkov showed the striker a red card after watching the replay for a rough foul on Alexei Kozlov.

Also, an episode at the end of the meeting could have caused Ufa's discontent, when Khoren Bayramyan kicked Catalin Karp on the head in the fight for the ball, but received only a yellow card.

And the fate of the match itself was decided by a header in the 79th minute of the newcomer of “Rostov” Kento Hashimoto. He became the third Japanese player to score a goal in the Russian championship, after Keisuke Honda and Takuma Nishimura.

Ufa, on the other hand, struck only two shots on goal during the entire game, only one of which was on target.