Dziuba's double, Chistyakov's own goal and Slutsky's sending-off: how Zenit scored three goals in 20 minutes and defeated Rubin in the RPL

Before one of the central matches of the eighth round of the RPL between Rubin and Zenit, fans and experts waited with great interest to see what the starting lineups of the teams would be and with whom Leonid Slutsky and Sergei Semak would replace the injured leaders.

Both teams, on the eve of the most important meeting, faced serious problems in defense.

Kazan could have lost two extreme defenders at once - Ilya Samoshnikov and Vladislav Ignatiev, as well as midfielder Alexander Zuev.

Petersburgers could not count on Deyan Lovren and Vyacheslav Karavaev, as well as the long-injured midfielder Magomed Ozdoev.

As a result, the owners, one might say, got off with a slight fright, since Samoshnikov, included in the expanded composition of the Russian national team, appeared on the field from the first minutes.

Thus, the coaching staff threw into the battle all the players who were in the base for the game of the previous round with Ural.

It ended in a crushing victory for the favorite (4: 0).

In particular, on the right edge it was very curious to see the opposition between the newcomer of the team Anders Dreyer, who scored a hat-trick in the meeting with Yekaterinburg, and Douglas Santos.

Among the guests, Yaroslav Rakitsky's company in the center of defense was expected to be Dmitry Chistyakov, and the place of Karavaev on the edge of the defense was taken by the universal Alexei Sutormin.

Much more questions were raised by the absence of ex-forward Rubin Serdar Azmun even in the application of the current champions of the country.

According to Sport-Express, the Iranian did not arrive in Kazan.

In this situation, Semak had no choice but to bet on Artyom Dziuba.

And he needed to score in order to prove to Valery Karpin his need for the national team, in the extended roster of which he also got.

The fans were supposed to see an exciting match of equal rivals.

However, in reality, one of the parties completely dominated.

“Zenith” under Semak had perhaps the best half, and this is the great merit of the coach.

First, he again decided to saturate the center of defense in the absence of Lovren and moved Vilmar Barrios back.

The three central defenders ideally blocked all approaches to the penalty area, and Douglas and Sutormin got the opportunity to actively connect forward along the flanks.

Rubin, on the other hand, did not succeed in attacking practically anything.

Everyone expected the greatest activity, of course, from Khvichi Kvaratskhelia, but every time he received the ball, two opponents held the left edge at once.

And even if the Georgian beat the first, the second managed to work on a safety net.

In this regard, Sutormin and Barrios interacted well.

There is nothing to say about the rest of the players in the attack line.

The newcomers Dreyer and Sead Hakshabanovich were completely lost.

Did not meet with the ball in front of Djordje Despotovic.

An eloquent fact: Slutsky's team for the entire first half never struck a single blow on someone else's goal.

The guests, on the other hand, caught a real courage and wove combinations on the other side, regularly changing places.

Brazilians Wendel, Malcolm and Claudinho clearly enjoyed the game and easily cut off two or three opponents in several passes.

Actually, so blue-white-blue and opened the account.

Several opponents rushed to Claudinho, and he rolled the ball to Dziube into the free zone in the penalty area.

Artyom immediately hit the top nine and scored the first goal of the current season.

Soon, Claudinho himself distinguished himself.

After serving from the left flank, Dziuba neatly threw off the projectile to Malkom, and he actually “put the ball” in jeopardy to his compatriot.

To top it all off, due to injury, the main central defender of the hosts Philip Uremovich could not continue the game, and the young Konstantin Nizhegorodov had to enter the field.

“Rubin” was forced to go forward in order to get at least some chance at the wrong gate, and “Zenith” gladly responded with dangerous counterattacks, literally tearing apart the defense of Kazan.

It is not surprising that even before the break, the reigning champion brought the score to a large one.

Dzyuba scored a double after Kuzyaev's cross.

True, in the episode with the selection, Barrios played with his hand, but the referee Sergei Ivanov did not notice this, and his colleagues at VAR were looking at the moment only for an offside position.

After such an unsuccessful half, the question arose of what decisions Slutsky would make during the break in order to at least try to save the game.

However, the ex-coach of the Russian national team, in fact, did nothing.

He did not change either the formation or the composition, including keeping the absolutely inert Despotovich on the field.

However, Zenit also noticeably slowed down.

We must not forget that the Petersburgers had a tough match with Chelsea last week, and most of the team leaders played 90 minutes in London.

By inertia, the guests went ahead, continuing to catch the opponent on mistakes and collect all the orphaned balls, but they did not often threaten other people's goals.

And in really dangerous situations, Dupin came to the fore, making a total of six saves.

Passions began to flare up only after the 60th minute.

In many ways, Slutsky managed to start his own team.

After another tough clash with the participation of Kvaratskhelia, he shouted at Ivanov and received a yellow card for this.

The mentor's behavior made his charges angry, and they sped up a little.

It bore fruit almost immediately.

Rubin scored a largely random goal thanks to an opponent's mistake.

Rakitskiy knocked Dreyer down on the flank, and Chistyakov, after executing a not very dangerous standard, cut the ball into his own goal.

The owners had more than 20 minutes to save themselves, but by and large they had no chance. Yes, they took the ball under their control and settled in someone else's half of the field, but at the same time they practically did not penetrate the penalty area and did not strike. The opposition's three central defenders continued to work perfectly. Yes, and Slutsky clearly delayed the replacements. Only in the 74th minute, instead of the tired and inconspicuous Kvaratskhelia, Soltmurad Bakaev appeared on the field, and shortly before the final whistle, Despotovich, who had failed the match, gave way to Herman Onugha. But it was already too late, and in the added time by the referee Zenit could have scored the fourth goal rather than Rubin close the gap.

In addition, Slutsky was removed from the bench.

After a foul on Hwang In Byom, he again cursed at the referee and instantly saw the second yellow card in front of him.

However, the coach should swear first of all at himself.

It is worth recognizing that this time Semak completely outplayed him and for the first time in his career won a victory over a colleague.

On the whole, Zenit has shown itself to be a better and more skillful team.

Dzyuba was recognized as the best footballer of the meeting.

Artyom used his chance 100% and took a step towards remaining in the final composition of the Russian national team.

With such a performance, Karpin will not be able to ignore the striker.