Kuzyaev's recklessness, Dziuba's exit in the 88th minute and claims against Karasyov: what is the memory of the Lokomotiv - Zenit match

An unexpectedly intense match

In recent years, Lokomotiv and Zenit have taught football fans that their confrontations in the national championship are rarely effective. If we take the defeat in the 28th round of last season outside the brackets, then the current meeting has become the richest for moments since September 2018. Moreover, the total indicator of expected goals (xG) for the two teams was 2.62 - just 0.75 less than almost three years ago, when the match ended with a score of 3: 5.

This time there were plenty of chances to excel. For two, the opponents struck 22 shots on goal, seven of which were on target. And this is not counting the phenomenal accuracy "shot" of Fedor Smolov from the "offside" position. The forward struck from almost zero angle and hit exactly the minimum gap between Mikhail Kerzhakov and the bar. Zenit's top scorers could have scored - Serdar Azmun was aiming at the far corner from within the penalty area, and Alexander Erokhin, while falling, was adjusting to a canopy from the flank, but in both cases Marinato Guilherme helped out. Lokomotiv has an excellent opportunity to open an account was missed by Ze Luis, who failed to realize a one-on-one exit with the goalkeeper.

Despite the abundance of chances, the teams scored only one goal each, and even then from the penalty spot - Alexei Sutormin and the same Smolov irresistibly struck from a point.

And if, in order to determine the first 11-meter, it was enough for the head referee Sergei Karasev to see the episode with the fall of Serdar Azmun in dynamics, then in the second case the help of a video assistant was required.

Initially, the judge did not determine the violation of the rules on Rifat Zhemaletdinov, but later changed his mind and pointed to the point.

Marko Nikolic for the fifth time could not defeat the Petersburgers, Lokomotiv for the fourth time at the start of the championship scored points, losing in the score during the meeting, and Zenit for the first time this season could not win, but continued to share the first line in the table with Ruby ".

Controversial refereeing of Karasev

The figure of the chief referee of the meeting was in the spotlight during not only the confrontation between Lokomotiv and Zenit, but also for the whole week. A few days ago, Karasev worked out a meeting for the UEFA Super Cup, which became the most status one for him in his career, and then quite logically received an appointment to the central game of the fourth round of the RPL. But if Chelsea and Villarreal were unlikely to have complaints against the Russian referee, then the leaders of the Russian championship could have reasons for dissatisfaction. This mainly applies to railway workers. And the point is not only that he did not notice the contact between Zhemaletdinov and Erokhin on the penalty line and Guilherme's claims to the 11-meter goal against the red-greens.

Already at the end of the first half, Lokomotiv could have gained a numerical advantage if Karasev determined a violation of the rules by Daler Kuzyaev on Dmitry Zhivoglyadov. In the 40th minute, he tried to knock the ball from the defender, but instead hit him in the leg. In the dynamics, everything looked pretty tough, and the midfielder's actions could well pull on a yellow card, which would be the second for him. By that time, the 14th number of the reigning champions of Russia had already had one yellow card on his account, earned for a reckless foul on Ze Luis in the center of the field.

As a result, even greater claims from the owners were avoided only thanks to the help from Kuzyaev himself. Already in the 50th minute, the midfielder, too charged for the fight, again rudely violated the rules, stepping on Zhemaletdinov's foot, and still left the field. Moreover, Sergei Semak met this decision of Karasev with a sarcastic smile, and later expressed disagreement with the referee's decision at the moment with the appointment of a penalty.

“In the first episode (with the participation of Kuzyaev. -

RT

), yellow could be given in the opposite direction, but we will not talk about the sad today.

There is a lot of food for thought, ESCs need to deal with many points.

In Grozny with VAR they mistakenly give a penalty, here they do.

Erokhin removed his leg, a second before that there was a foul on Wendel, perhaps this is a little strange.

But I will not touch on the judicial topic, it is either good or nothing, ”Semak said at a press conference.

Zhivoglyadov and Malcolm's injuries

To top it all off, Karasev was nearly injured when, at the end of the game, he was in the epicenter of the fight for the ball. Substitutes Anton Miranchuk and Alexey Sutormin flew into the referee at speed and knocked him down. But if the judge managed to do without injuries, then the three participants in this meeting were less fortunate. During the break, Maciej Rybus left the field, later seen on the bench applying ice to the ankle, and in the middle of the second half, with a difference of three minutes, Malkom and Zhivoglyadov went to replace them.

The Lokomotiv defender was injured in the episode with Kuzyaev.

Zhivoglyadov managed to spend more than half an hour on the field, but was still replaced.

According to him, he received a bruise in the collision.

The Brazilian midfielder is less fortunate.

Malcolm tried to organize Zenit's counterattack at speed, but first Pablo knocked him down, and then Stanislav Magkeev, who also participated in the chase, accidentally kicked him in the head.

Moreover, it happened in the 55th minute, and the replacement was required in the 74th minute.

Malcolm suddenly fell onto the lawn and grabbed his head, and managed to get up only after receiving medical attention.

As it became known later, the Olympic champion Tokyo was diagnosed with a concussion, and the timing of his return to duty is still unknown.

Dziuba's absence at the start

One of the most discussed events was the absence of Artem Dziuba in the Zenit starting lineup.

At the beginning of the season, he came out three times at the base, but his unsuccessful performances against the background of the bright play of competitors still forced Semak to take action.

Interestingly, the last time the forward remained on the bench was also in the match with Lokomotiv, albeit in the country's Super Cup.

It is difficult to argue with the head coach's decision, as well as to look for any ulterior motives in it.

Dziuba spent the beginning of the season faded and chalked up only one assist.

Azmun and Erokhin assisted their partners the same amount, with the only difference that they also have four goals each.

It is extremely difficult to argue with such statistics even for the top scorer of the last RPL season.

But if an unsuccessful streak is unlikely to affect Dziuba's prospects at Zenit, where he remains a record leader and enjoys great prestige, then it could seriously hit his chances of getting into the Russian national team for the September matches of the qualifying tournament for the World Cup in Qatar. Head coach Valery Karpin has already made it clear that he will not pay attention to the past achievements of the players, and a call to the team is not guaranteed even to its former captain. Taking into account the current results, Artyom can hardly count on getting into the cage.

Already on August 16, an expanded list of players will be announced to prepare for the qualifying tournament matches with Croatia, Cyprus and Malta, and so far Dziuba has no reason to get into it. By all game indicators, he is noticeably bypassed by the same attacking midfielder Erokhin (4 + 1), who is able to play as a forward, as well as "purebred" strikers Fedor Smolov (3 + 0), Nikolai Komlichenko (2 + 0) and even Alexander Sobolev ( 1 + 0), compensating for his low performance with a high xG (2.64) - the best in the RPL: ​​although the Spartak player has problems with implementation, he is constantly looking for and finding moments to excel.

And this is not counting Hamid Agalarov, who has already scored three goals for Ufa, who distinguished themselves in the last two matches of Krylia Sovetov forward Ivan Sergeev, as well as Fedor Chalov and Konstantin Tyukavin. Both of them distinguished themselves in the matches against Rostov.