The confrontation between CSKA and Spartak is traditionally considered one of the most high-status in Russian football, which is usually confirmed by the position of the teams in the standings. But this time it was impossible to say something like that, because the eighth and ninth teams of the championship met between themselves. The assets of both were listed only ten points in seven games, which fully reflected their current state. Both rivals are going through a difficult restructuring, and it is difficult to say if it will end soon. Therefore, at stake in the derby was not the fight for high places, but the opportunity to reassure their own fans and partially rehabilitate themselves for recent failures.
It is noteworthy that the opponents approached the head-to-head match not only with an equal number of points, but also with approximately the same number of losses. In addition to Herdur Magnusson and Bruno Fuchs who have been in the infirmary for a long time, CSKA was left without Georgy Shchennikov, and Spartak - without Pavel Maslov, Georgy Melkadze and Roman Zobnin. Two more players missed the game due to busting yellow cards. Alexey Berezutsky could not count on Maxim Mukhin, and Rui Vitoria - on Alexander Sobolev.
And for CSKA the absence of only four players could be considered good news. A few days ago, there were rumors that Anton Zabolotny and Mario Fernandez would miss the derby, and the recovery time of the latter was estimated at two months. Taking into account the injury of Shchennikov, the head coach was practically left without two flank defenders and would hardly have had the opportunity to play according to his favorite 3-4-3 scheme. But in the end, both were at the start and allowed Berezutsky not to deviate from the chosen model of the game. The top three in defense were Igor Diveev, Yaka Biyol and Kirill Nababkin.
In the case of Spartak, it was expected that Vitoria would get by with substitutions in position, and Esekiel Ponce and Jorrit Hendrix would play instead of Sobolev and Zobnin. The first one basically started a meeting with Legia in the Europa League, and the second one came out along the way. And if the Argentine really entered the number of starting 11, then the Dutchman did not even get into the application due to damage. His place was taken by Ruslan Litvinov, a 20-year-old graduate of the Academy. Another surprise was the absence of Nikolai Rasskazov on the field, apparently punished for his actions in the episode with the ball by Lirim Kastrati. Maximiliano Kofrie got a chance to prove himself, whose transfer from Saint-Truiden was one of the most talked about events of the summer transfer window in Russia.
Nominally, it was the Belgian who was considered the weak link in the defensive troika of Spartak, so it is not surprising that CSKA tried to carry out most of the attacks through his zone. Surely this was facilitated by the fact that the role of the right lateral was played by Victor Moses, who also does not act very reliably in his half of the field and prefers to spend time in the attack. However, Kofrie was pleasantly surprised and made a mistake only once in the first 45 minutes. In one of the episodes, he moved forward, but was caught at the sideline and lost the ball. A counter-blow followed, culminating in a dangerous blow in the fall of Zabolotny.
As for the rest, Spartak played quite confidently in defense and did not allow CSKA to bother Alexander Maksimenko even once. Flanking shots rarely reached their destination. Although Chidera Ejuke was quite active, he could not boast of high productivity, and Fedor Chalov looked like a foreign body in the attack of the hosts. He acted along its entire front, but neither his displacement to the left flank, nor running into the penalty area carried any danger. When serving high, he lost the fight on the second floor, and when playing low, he had difficulty with the last pass.
The same can be said in many ways about the red and white, who could not break into the opponent's penalty area, largely due to the successful actions of Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov, whom Berezutsky prudently released into the position of the defensive player. Judging by the logic of the head coach, the nominally flank defender was more predisposed to perform the functions of Mukhin than Oblyakov, who was again sent to the defensive flank. And it worked in the first half. For a long time, Quincy Promes and Jordan Larsson still tried to bring Esequiel Ponce to a rendezvous with Igor Akinfeev, but over time they began to beat more and more from afar. As a result, the most dangerous were the "shots" of Promes and Djikia.
In the second half, "Spartak" was also more aimed at the goal, and this was confirmed at the very beginning.
Litvinov again did not hesitate to shoot from a distance and forced Akinfeev to hit the ball directly at the oncoming Ponce.
However, the usually thrifty Ezequiel did not end up in an empty corner.
As a result, the guests almost doubled their opponents in the number of shots on goal (15: 8), and even scored in the 77th minute.
Vitoria's wards almost for the first time managed to deliver the ball into the penalty area with the help of a pass, and Promes cold-bloodedly beat Akinfeev.
However, the goal was canceled due to an offside position.
Perhaps the inconsistency of the hosts' defenders was due to the fact that by this time Berezutsky was forced to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Due to damage, Jaka Biyol left the field.
CSKA, on the other hand, could hardly have won the second half. The change of formation had a negative impact on their combination game, and with the departure of Alan Dzagoev, there were practically no dangerous attacks. Therefore, Zabolotny's goal in the 81st minute was both unexpected and illogical. After the rebound, the ball was at the marker striker, and he struck irresistibly into the far corner.
CSKA came out ahead and subsequently retained a minimal advantage, however, Zabolotny himself could not celebrate the victory in the derby with his partners.
In the second compensated minute, he received a second yellow card for disrupting the attack and was sent off.
In the minority, the army team, as expected, clung to their own penalty area and almost allowed Spartak to restore parity.
Ironically, one of the saviors of the red-and-white could have come out of the Stories bench, but Promes could not close his discount to the goalkeeper's border.
CSKA defeated Spartak in the Moscow derby and improved its position in the table.
After eight rounds, Berezutsky's charges with 13 points are on the seventh line and are seven points behind the leader in the person of Zenit.
Spartak suffered their fourth defeat of the season and remained in ninth place.