Sochi's winning goal in the end and Noboa's fourth goal
Sochi remains the main opening of the new RPL season. After five rounds, the team that debuted a year ago in the Premier League shares the second place in the standings with Spartak. On Tuesday, Vladimir Fedotov's wards extended the winning streak to three meetings. Southerners beat Tambov away with a minimum score, with which they rose to the elite from the FNL in 2019.
The only goal in the first minute added to the second half was scored by Christian Noboa. The 35-year-old Ecuadorian chalked up the fourth goal in the current RPL draw and caught up with Serdar Azmun's championship scorers in the race.
In the response attack “Tambov” could have equalized the score, but Soslan Dzhanaev repulsed a strong head blow from Kirill Panchenko.
The only fly in the ointment for Sochi was the injury of the newcomer Ivelin Popov. The Bulgarian, whom the southerners exchanged from Rostov for Dmitry Poloz, came on as a substitute immediately after the break, but in the 72nd minute he had to leave the field.
Lutsenko's injury after being called up to the national team and removing the debutant
Not without injury in the match Arsenal - Khimki. Moreover, damage to the back of the thigh at the end of the first half was received by 33-year-old Yevgeny Lutsenko, who was first called to the Russian national team on the day of the match. The club has already reported that it will take at least three weeks to recover the footballer. Accordingly, he will not be able to take part in the next games of the national team.
The meeting itself ended in a draw - 1: 1. Khimki took the lead in the 30th minute thanks to Kamran Aliyev's beautiful solo pass, but lost points for the third time during the season by opening the score.
With a quarter of an hour before the end of the second half, Evans Kangwa restored the status quo to the scoreboard. And literally in the next episode, 19-year-old midfielder of "Khimki" Danil Kazantsev, who was playing his debut game in the Premier League, received a second yellow card. In the current season of the RPL, the Moscow Region team has already earned three deletions. This is the worst result of the tournament along with Akhmat.
Controversial penalty in Volgograd and saves Maksimenko
Meanwhile, another rookie RPL "Rotor" was defeated at home with a minimum score from "Spartak". The match turned out to be extremely difficult for the red and white. For a long time, they could not create at least one really dangerous moment at the opponent's goal, although they owned the ball three times more than the opponent.
As a result, the fate of the confrontation was decided by a penalty awarded at the beginning of the second half for a foul on Alexander Sobolev. Judge Aleksey Sukhoi considered that Solomon Kverkvelia held the striker in his own penalty area with his hand. The penalty spot was scored by Zelimkhan Bakaev.
The hosts were unhappy with the referee's decision, and after the final whistle, the head coach of Volgograd residents Alexander Khatskevich even called for "giving Sobolev an Oscar for artistry."
“Rotor” later had chances to level the score, but Alexander Maksimenko played a great match, making several memorable saves. And already in the added time by the referee, the midfielder of the hosts Zuriko Davitashvili sent the ball into the crossbar from the free kick.
So Spartak won a second victory in a row, reduced the gap from the leading Zenit to one point and continues to share the second place with Sochi.
Guilherme's blunders and Ilyin's successful streak
But Lokomotiv, left without injured Alexei Miranchuk and Dmitry Barinov, followed by Spartak and lost to Akhmat - 2: 3. The Grozny team managed to defeat the railroad workers for the first time since March 2016. In Cherkizovo, the Grozny team had never won at all before.
This time Andrey Talalaev's charges managed to score two unanswered goals in the first half. Vladimir Ilyin first hit someone else's goal himself, running away from the defenders, and then gave an assist to Artyom Timofeev. It is noteworthy that the striker distinguished himself in the third RPL match in a row.
After the break, the Belarusian newcomer Vitaly Lisakovich managed to return Lokomotiv to the game. He earned a penalty kick, which was converted by Anton Miranchuk, and performed an excellent assist for Grzegorz Krychowiak.
By that time, "Akhmat" scored the third goal and earned a sending-off. The second card was received by Marat Bystrov. And in the time added by the referee, “Akhmat” remained nine at all after the referee showed a direct red card to Anton Shvets for the brawl in the center of the field.
However, this did not prevent Grozny from winning a third victory in a row. Lokomotiv again disappointed its fans. The goalkeeper of the Russian national team Marinato Guilherme also played not the best match, who in the episode with the second missed ball made a transfer to the opponent, and in the moment with the third goal missed the projectile between his legs after Bernard Berisha hit.
Hashimoto's second winning goal, injuries to Norman and Mamaev
The third victory at the start of the season was won by Rostov on Wednesday. The yellow-blues beat Ural with a minimum score, and the only goal in their squad in the second match in a row was scored by newcomer Kento Hashimoto.
The Japanese came on as a substitute at the beginning of the second half instead of the injured Matthias Normann and ten minutes later scored an effective hit. After a corner kick, the player turned out to be the most agile in someone else's penalty area and sent the ball under the crossbar of Ilya Pomazun's goal from close range.
Commenting on the outcome of the meeting, the head coach of Rostov Valery Karpin admitted that Hashimoto's goals were a pleasant surprise for everyone. The injuries turned out to be an unpleasant moment, because in addition to Norman, Pavel Mamaev received damage even before the start of the game. As a result, the experienced midfielder was not included in the application for the match.
Successful substitutions of Slutsky and Dupin's clean sheet
The first half of the meeting between Rubin and Ufa ended without goals scored. But after the break, substitutes Hwang In Byom and Denis Makarov distinguished themselves three times. The Korean newcomer of the team opened the scoring after just one and a half minutes after entering the field, having managed to adjust to the uncomfortable flying ball.
The double was followed by Makarov, who moved to Rubin from Neftekhimik at the beginning of the year. The midfielder extended his streak in the current RPL season to three rounds and, with four goals, shares the first place in the tournament's scorer race with Azmun and Noboa.
Kuchaev's third goal of the season and Wanderson's incredible kick
The game day ended with confrontations between the participants of the European competitions. In the first of them, Krasnodar and CSKA, who took the third and fourth places, respectively, at the end of the last season of the RPL, met.
Like a year ago, teams in the south of Russia drew 1: 1. After half an hour of the meeting, the army team was brought forward by Konstantin Kuchaev. The midfielder has scored the third goal in the current national championship. Nikola Vlašić made an assist to a partner, who scored three points for performance in three RPL matches (2 + 1).
Krasnodar fought back ten minutes before the end of regular time thanks to Wanderson's beautiful long-range shot. Thus, CSKA again failed to win in Krasnodar. The last time the army team succeeded almost three years ago - on October 14, 2017 (1: 0).
Unassigned penalty kick and sending off after watching replay
But a sensation broke out in Moscow. Dynamo defeated Zenit for the first time in the Russian championship in 333 days. The last time Sergei Semak's wards lost in the RPL on September 28 last year. Then the blue-white-blue on the road with a minimum score lost to Lokomotiv.
In the reporting opposition, only one goal was scored. At the end of the first half, Tony Shunich, who was playing the first game of the new season, struck an accurate header after Sebastian Shimanski's free kick. The Pole recorded the fourth assists at his own expense and strengthened the advantage in the race of the best assistants of the tournament.
In the second half, Zenit made every effort to level the score, and Sergei Semak even replaced Artyom Dziuba, but the guests failed to upset Anton Shunin. Dynamo have kept their goal intact for the fourth time out of five in the current RPL draw.
To be fair, it is worth noting that in the 15th minute of the match, the Petersburgers lost Sebastian Driussi due to injury, and at the beginning of the second half, referee Stanislav Vasiliev, after consulting with VAR assistant Mikhail Vilkov, did not assign a penalty to the hosts' goal in the episode with the fall Malcolm in someone else's penalty area, very reminiscent of Kverkvelia's foul on Sobolev.
True, 15 minutes before the end of regular time, the referee, having watched the replay, showed a straight red card to Dynamo defender Dmitry Skopintsev for a rough tackle in the center of the field. But soon Vasiliev equalized the squads: Vilmar Barrios received a second yellow card and had to leave the field. Now the Colombian will not be able to play against Lokomotiv on Sunday.