Controversial removal of Lesovoy and Sobolev's third goal

The sixth round of the RPL started with the match between Spartak and Arsenal. Red and white, in case of victory, could lead the standings at least until Sunday.

However, the meeting began for Domenico Tedesco's charges not too well. In the middle of the first half, the guests opened the scoring thanks to a successful corner kick. The ball flew into the net of Alexander Maksimenko's goal from the back of 19-year-old Daniil Khlusevich.

But before the break, Spartak managed not only to recoup, but also to come out ahead. First, Alexander Sobolev scored the third goal in the current season of the national championship after a penetrating pass from Zelimkhan Bakaev, and then Samuel Zhigot closed the serve of Jordan Larsson from the set. By the way, the Swede scored the fifth point for performance in the Premier League (3 + 2) and shares the first place in terms of this indicator in the tournament with five more players.  

In addition to all the troubles, Arsenal were outnumbered just before the break. Daniil Lesovoy received an optional second yellow card for using foul language and a go-ahead from the referee. 

Even ten men from Tula did not abandon attempts to equalize after the break, but still failed to score. And "Spartak" for the first time since the championship season 2016/17 finished the tour of the national championship in first place. 

The only fly in the ointment for the Muscovites was the injury of Gus Til. But Oston Urunov entered the field instead. The newcomer of the team played his debut match for her and left a very good impression.

Controversial decision by the referee and Konate's incredible miss

And in the Moscow region, a meeting took place between two newcomers of the elite division - Khimki and Rotor. Both teams expected to finally win their first victory of the season. As a result, the match ended in a draw - 1: 1.

The guests opened the score in the middle of the first half. Kamil Mullin closed Danil Stepanov's cross from the left flank. At the same time, Volgograd midfielder Zuriko Davitashvili played along with his hand during the effective attack, but the referee Kirill Levnikov counted the goal after watching the replay. 

Khimki fought back after the break, when Alexander Lomovitsky, who was loaned from Spartak, scored a shot from outside the penalty area after Arshak Koryan's flank cross. In the end, Dmitry Gunko's charges had an excellent opportunity to snatch the first victory, but Mohamed Konate struck the crossbar from the goalkeeper's line. 

Zhamaletdinov's beautiful ball and Dynamo's bad luck

The match between "Ufa" and "Dynamo" ended with a similar score. After defeating Zenit in the previous round, the blue and white counted on developing a successful streak, but were content with a draw. 

At the same time, it was the team of Kirill Novikov who opened the scoring at the very end of the first half. The second goal of the season was scored by Clinton N'Jier. Immediately after the break, Muscovites could consolidate their advantage. In particular, Sebastian Shimanski struck the post from a free-kick. 

Instead of hitting someone else's goal, Dynamo missed. Timur Zhamaletdinov managed to score a beautiful goal, the rights to which Ufa bought from CSKA in the summer. After filing from the flank, the striker neatly threw Anton Shunin with his head. The ball became for the 23-year-old striker his debut in the team from Bashkortostan and the first in the RPL since November 2018.

Zenit's zero shots on target and Guilherme's 130th clean sheet

It was not possible to determine the winner in the central match of the round, in which the reigning champion of the country Zenit and the RPL silver medalist Lokomotiv (0: 0) met in Moscow. The railroad workers, despite serious staffing problems, did not allow the opponent to hit their own goal. 

Moreover, Petersburgers in 90 minutes did not strike a single blow on the shots of the red-greens, and Artyom Dzyuba, already in the fourth meeting in a row, could not upset the goalkeeper of another team. Thus, Marinato Guilherme played the 130th clean sheet in Russia without making a single save.

His counterpart Mikhail Kerzhakov also did not have too much work - only two shots on target. Like the naturalized Brazilian, the Russian played a jubilee zero game in his career - 50th in the Lev Yashin club standings.

But "Zenith" was left without a victory in the second RPL match in a row and lost the leadership to "Spartak". Lokomotiv has not won the national championship for four meetings already. 

Kuchaev's fourth goal and CSKA's free throws

CSKA, on the other hand, managed to interrupt a three-game losing streak in the RPL. Moreover, the army team unexpectedly easily defeated Akhmat (3: 0), which scored nine points out of nine possible in the last three rounds.

On Sunday, Grozny did not deserve a major defeat. They struck more shots on goal than their opponents (14 versus 9), hit the post twice, but did not manage to break through Igor Akinfeev, who made five saves. 

The guests realized almost all of their moments. Already in the 11th minute, Konstantin Kuchaev opened the scoring. The 22-year-old midfielder scored the fourth goal in the current RPL season and overtook the tournament scorers Denis Makarov, Serdar Azmun and Christian Noboa in the race.

In the end, CSKA played the set pieces twice successfully. Nikola Vlašić first helped to score Kristian Bistrovic, and then distinguished himself with a powerful shot from 25 meters. Now the Croat has five points for performance in four RPL matches (3 + 2). 

CSKA extended the series of successful meetings with Akhmat. The Red-Blues have won the last six matches against Grozny and have not conceded a single goal. It is also worth noting that two foreign newcomers made their debut with CSKA that evening - Nigerian Chidera Ejuke and Brazilian Bruno Fuchs.

Goalkeeping blunders and Despotovic's double

The match between Rubin and Tambov in Kazan was also rich in goals. The rivals distinguished themselves twice and went their separate ways. 

At the same time, the goalkeepers, Sergei Ryzhikov and Yuri Dyupin, made a gross error at the exit. At the end of the first half, the most experienced goalkeeper of the guests dropped the ball from his hands directly to the leg of George Despotovic and allowed his former team to level the score.

And shortly before the final whistle, Dupin gave the ball to his opponent and helped Pavel Karasyov to bring Tambov forward.

But the same Despotovich saved “Rubin” from defeat. Djordje scored in the 90th minute after a corner kick and scored a brace. And for the Serb, the goals became the debut in the Kazan team. After the final whistle, he went to the location of the Serbia national team, for which he could make his debut on September 3 in a meeting with Russia.

Norman's goal from a free kick and another misfire of Krasnodar

In addition to the meeting between Zenit and Lokomotiv, the South Derby Krasnodar - Rostov attracted special attention of the fans in the tour program. Moreover, at the beginning of July, the game of these teams ended in a grandiose scandal with the yellow-and-blues realized in the 111th minute of a penalty kick. 

The reporting match ended with a similar score - 1: 1. In the first half, the rivals did not manage to open an account, although they had many chances. 

And after the break, “Rostov” managed to successfully execute the standard position. Matthias Normann, who entered the field not fully recovered from an injury, spun the ball from the free kick into the near corner. So Krasnodar conceded first in the third match in a row.

But, as in the meeting with CSKA in the middle of the week, Murad Musaev's team managed to win back. This time the team was saved by Marcus Berg. The Swede has already scored the third goal in the current championship. 

In the end, Krasnodar could have snatched a victory, but the owners were not lucky. After the final whistle, the coach of the team, Murad Musaev, ran onto the field and began to communicate with the referee in raised tones, for which he received a red card.  

Two shots on target per match and Mammana's injury

Finally, the sixth draw in the round was recorded in Sochi, where the local team of the same name failed to beat Ural (0: 0) and catch up with Spartak in the standings.

The reporting match turned out to be extremely poor in events. In all 90 minutes, the rivals struck only two shots on target. However, the owners still had a little more approaches. The shots of Ivan Miladinovich, Anton Zabolotny and Joaozinho lacked a little accuracy.

And for the coaching staff of Vladimir Fedotov, an additional headache was the injury of the central defender Emanuel Mammana, rented from Zenit. The Argentinean had to be changed already in the 28th minute.