Unconvincing claim: why Spartak's victory over Arsenal left open the question of a ticket to the Champions League

The match "Arsenal" - "Spartak" in the 28th round of the RPL unexpectedly turned into one of the key ones at the end of the season.

The crushing defeat of Lokomotiv in St. Petersburg gave the red and white a chance to bypass a direct competitor in case of victory and rise to second place, which gives them the right to play in the Champions League qualification.

At the same time, the Tula fighting for survival also needed to gain three points, because even a draw deprived them of their last chances to directly retain their place in the Premier League without the need to participate in play-offs with a representative of the FNL.

As a result, Domenico Tedesco's wards still turned out to be stronger - 2: 1, but at the same time they played another nondescript game.

If before the goal scored by Alexander Sobolev, the guests looked quite good, then after that, apparently, they decided to bet on retention, for which they paid.

The defensive mistakes, traditional for Spartak, have not gone anywhere.

However, this is not surprising, given the experimental combination in the center of defense Samuel Zhigo - Ilya Kutepov - Ilya Gaponov.

Pavel Maslov was not even in the application form due to injury, and they decided to keep Georgy Dzhikia on the eve of the match with Khimki.

As a result, at the end of the first half, the Muscovites' defensive line failed.

After Luka Djordjevic shot from the left flank, Kutepov, who was the first on the ball, unexpectedly cut the ball into the far corner with a rebound from the bar.

It is symptomatic enough that this own goal became the third for the red and white after the season resumed.

In matches with Dynamo and Rostov Maslov hit his own goal.

And at the beginning of the second half, to complete all the troubles, Kutepov was injured. Instead of him, the not completely ready Djikia had to enter the field. Later, Gaponov could not continue the game either. He was replaced by 19-year-old Ruslan Litvinov. And in the end, Arsenal almost took advantage of the opponent's defensive problems. In the 85th minute, after a serve from the left half-flank, Zhigo missed Djordjevic in the penalty area, and Djikia - Valery Gromyko, and the latter almost sent the ball into the far corner.

On the left flank of Spartak's defense, Victor Moses traditionally did not always improve in destruction.

In particular, it was he who, in the episode with Kutepov's own goal, did not keep track of Djordjevic and allowed him to raid along the edge and make an effective serve.

But in the creation of the Nigerian, there can be no claims, because he became the author of two assists.

First, the legionnaire from the right flank performed a perfect cross to Sobolev, and then found Jordan Larsson in the penalty pass.

On the opposite edge, Roman Zobnin was very good, replacing the disqualified Ayrton.

The Russian traditionally performed a huge amount of work and did everything so that his opponent practically did not appear in his zone.

At the same time, he regularly joined the team's attacks and even struck a couple of blows on someone else's goal.

It is also necessary to note Alex Kral, who not only successfully acted in destruction in the support zone, but also started the offensive of the red and whites with competent passes. Suffice it to recall the excellent diagonal of the Czech against Moses in the episode with Larsson's goal, after which Victor burst into someone else's penalty area.

In the attack, Sobolev was traditionally useful. In fact, after his goal, Spartak's game was reduced to taking over to someone else's half of the field. And Alexander managed to win most of the riding martial arts. Fortunately, in this component, he is one of the best in the RPL. And the goal was the reward for the striker's efforts. Now the footballer of the Russian national team has 13 goals in the current draw of the Russian championship, eight of which - after the resumption of the season. Larsson did not leave the field without a goal, who distinguished himself in the national championship for the 14th time and is the team's top scorer. In the list of the best snipers of the tournament, the Swede is second only to Zenit players Serdar Azmun (19) and Artem Dzyuba (16).

Finally, we cannot fail to mention Alexander Selikhov, who played the first match in two years for the main team of Spartak. In 2019, the goalkeeper suffered a severe Achilles tendon injury and missed about nine months. After recovery, he was no longer able to oust Alexander Maksimenko from the base and even had to play in the FNL for the farm club. But the disqualification of a colleague allowed Selikhov to return to the starting lineup. In general, he played a decent match and acted reliably, and the goalkeeper is definitely not the one to blame for the goal he missed.

In summary, Spartak can be praised for the fact that the team managed to score the most important three points in a game that was not very good for them.

After all, misfires in matches with inferior opponents in the class at the end of the season is a chronic disease of the red and white.

You can recall the recent defeat from Ufa (0: 3), the home fiasco in the game against Tambov (2: 3) in July last year, or the away defeat from Orenburg (0: 2) in May 2019, which left the team without the Europa League group stage.

This time Tedesco's wards managed to gain the upper hand.

However, the guests' game did not convince them that now they will keep the second place without any problems.

No one will be surprised if the ten-time Russian champion loses points in the matches against Khimki and Akhmat and lets Lokomotiv go ahead.