Ignatov's elegant serve and Selikhov's spectacular rescue: how Spartak took points from Leicester in the Europa League

To the return match of the Europa League with Leicester, Spartak approached, to put it mildly, not in the best condition.

After the defeat from the English team at home (3: 4), the Muscovites in the RPL lost to Zenit (1: 7), and then, in the added time by the referee, they missed the victory in the confrontation with Rostov (1: 1).

It is not surprising that in connection with such results in Rui Vitoria's charges before the meeting at King Power Walkers, few people believed.

However, their position in Group C did not look hopeless.

Although the Reds and Whites dropped to last place, they were just a point behind Leicester and Napoli and three behind Legia.

Therefore, in a duel with a direct competitor, it was extremely necessary to gain points.

The fans were waiting with great interest to see what starting lineup the Portuguese specialist would release for the game.

The main intrigue concerned the goalkeeper's position.

Alexander Selikhov replaced Alexander Maksimenko in a duel with Rostov, but made a productive mistake.

Nevertheless, he entered the field from the first minutes and this time.

But the place of Nikolai Rasskazov in the top three of central defenders was expectedly taken by the serving suspension Maximiliano Kofrie.

Finally, Jordan Larsson was replaced by Mikhail Ignatov, positioned over a pair of forwards Alexander Sobolev - Quincy Promes.

The rest of the roster has not changed. 

In Leicester, Spartak, who made a large number of mistakes in defense in previous games and left huge spaces between the lines, appeared unexpectedly collected and neat. Vitoria, remembering the first meeting with the English team, when Patson Daka regularly ran behind Rasskazov's back, was as safe as possible. As a result, the fans saw such a closed "Spartak", which it has never been this season.

If in the RPL Victor Moses and Ayrton regularly join attacks on the flanks, this time they acted strictly in their own half, practically without running forward.

The five defenders in the support zone were assisted by Roman Zobnin, Ruslan Litvinov and Mikhail Ignatov.

The red and white acted unusually compactly and practically did not leave the opponent any free zones.

And even if the ball still reached their penalty area, Kofrie, Georgy Jikia or Samuel Zhigot acted carefully in the selection.

The hosts, possessing the ball 73% of the time, practically did not create chances.

The author of the only one was Boubakari Sumare.

For the first and last time before the break, the support zone did not work out.

Zobnin did not have time to cover the Frenchman's shot from outside the penalty area, and after his powerful shot the projectile hit the crossbar.

The only shot on target performed by Brendan Rogers' charges turned out to be not dangerous at all.

And the fast forwards Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho were not in demand at all, since they did not have the opportunity to demonstrate their main trump card - speed.

True, Spartak did not have any counterplay at all.

Alexander Sobolev and Quincy Promes were cut off from their partners.

And Ignatov's help in developing attacks was not required.

But Mikhail had to work out with everyone in defense.

It is not surprising that the guests in the first half only once threatened the goal of others.

After a corner, Gigot struck well above the crossbar.

It seemed almost impossible to score against Spartak in such a game. However, at the very beginning of the second half, the Muscovites unexpectedly opened an account. In fact, the very first meaningful attack of the team ended with a goal. Red and White made a perfect attack on the right flank. Sobolev made an allowance for Ignatov, who ran forward into the free zone. It was Moses, not Sobolev, who went into the penalty area to close the midfielder's serve. The defenders of Leicester were not ready for this and allowed the Nigerian to carefully head into the far corner. Special attention should be paid to the neat cross of Ignatov, made with the toe exactly at such a height that the partner had time to strike and did not reach for the ball.

Unfortunately, Vitoria's wards did not hold the minimum advantage for long.

The opponent was still unable to perfect the positional offensive.

In a difficult situation, the standard position came to the rescue.

After a corner, Sobolev did not keep track of Ayos Perez on the near corner of the goalkeeper's corner and allowed the Spaniard to make a discount on Daniel Amarti, who easily pushed Zobnin through.

The incident did not affect Spartak in any way.

The guests continued to defend themselves compactly and calmly.

But their attacks practically did not pass.

Taking the ball away, they immediately came under pressure and had to play as easy as possible.

As a result, Sobolev and Promes were hardly in the spotlight in the second half of the meeting.

In turn, Rogers tried to change the course of the unsuccessful meeting with substitutions.

Immediately after the Amarti goal, he threw Oninye Ndidi and Ademola Lukman into the battle - on the right flank of the attack.

And then the main star of the owners, Jamie Vardy, appeared on the field.

It was planned that the latter will help Leicester to snatch victory, but he, on the contrary, acted as an antihero.

15 minutes before the end of normal time, Moses made a rare mistake in defense.

He not only ran a fresh Lukman behind his back, but for some reason grabbed him with his hands, although Kofrie managed to insure his partner.

Judge Khalil Meler pointed to the "dot" without hesitation.

As expected, Vardy took the penalty spot.

However, Jamie shot not in the best way - weakly at a comfortable height for the goalkeeper, and Selikhov coped with his blow.

Only after that, obviously belated castling, did Vitoria begin to carry out.

Promes and Sobolev left the field, and Nail Umyarov and Zelimkhan Bakaev, who had recovered from an injury, appeared.

The place of the only striker was nominally taken by Ignatov, but in reality Spartak refused from the attackers.

And shortly before the final whistle, the author of the assist received muscle damage out of the blue and was forced to go to the locker room.

But Bakaev managed to check in only with a minus sign.

In the time added by the referee, he dispersed the most dangerous counterattack of the team after the opponent's unsuccessful standard, but delayed the decision and lost the shell.

After that, Gigot, with the last of his strength rushing into someone else's penalty area, not holding back his emotions, made a complaint to the tenth number.

Finally, shortly before the final whistle, the coaching staff completely released the tall defender Ilya Kutepov into the support zone, in order not to allow Leicester to create chances thanks to top serves.

It worked.

Red-and-white played surprisingly almost perfectly in defense and took points away from the strong team of the Premier League.

In addition, the guests managed to score with one shot on target.

However, only 26% of the ball's possession left the fans with questions.