An unexpected denouement: how Spartak scored three goals in 16 minutes and defeated Zenit in the Russian Cup

Chance for Spartak

On the eve of the meeting of the Cup of Russia, many agreed that in the near future Spartak might not have a better chance to break the 11-match losing streak in the confrontation with Zenit.

Two weeks ago, the Petersburgers lost to Wings of the Soviets in a cup match and showed that they are not always able to maintain concentration, and even Sergei Semak started a rotation of the squad.

And if the absence of Wilmar Barrios, who returned too late from the location of the Colombian national team, and the disqualified Claudinho was forced, then the transfer to the reserve of Mikhail Kerzhakov, Dejan Lovren and Andrey Mostovoy was dictated by the decision of the head coach.

And this could well indicate his unwillingness to tear the veins at all costs in the framework of a minor competition.

In turn, Guillermo Abascal also did not do without permutations, but the most important change concerned the game scheme.

The Spaniard again relied on the 3-5-2 formation, and the top three were Georgiy Jikia, Ruslan Litvinov and Pavel Maslov.

The appearance of Leon Klassen in the role of a lateral from the first minutes was also a bit unexpected, but otherwise the combination turned out to be classic.

True, there were enough losses.

To injured Victor Moses and Christopher Martins Pereira, as well as suspended for doping Keith Balde, Danil Prutsev was added, who went over the yellow cards.

According to Tedesco

We can say that in Spartak it was Domenico Tedesco who popularized the scheme with three central defenders, who relied on transitional phases and high-speed counterattacks.

And although almost every new mentor after him at first tried to transfer the team to the classic four in defense, at some point they returned to the developments of the German specialist.

Apparently, by the end of September, Abascal also came to this.

For the first time, he tried this arrangement in the cup match with Fakel, and then he tried it in the derby of the two capitals.

Moreover, the decision to swap the positions of the laterals was curious.

The left-footed Klassen is on the right, and the right-footed Daniil Khlusevich is on the left.

And this had a positive effect both in defense and in positional attack, which was quite a lot.

However, the Muscovites' main weapons in the first half were quick attacks and set pieces, which regularly led to dangerous episodes at the gates of Ivan Quaresma.

Dmitry Chistyakov and Rodrigao did not act very reliably and allowed both Roman Zobnin and Alexander Sobolev to disturb the goalkeeper.

Quincy Promes also looked unusually active, having failed more than one status match this season.

A couple of times the Dutchman dangerously touched the ball from outside the penalty area, and at the end of the half he unstuck from the defender and dangerously hit his head.

Collection "Zenith"

Experts' fears about the mood of St. Petersburg residents were confirmed to some extent.

In the first half, they resembled themselves only occasionally, however, even this did not prevent them from sometimes responding well to the opponent.

If Malcolm hadn't hit the post, Zenit could have been in comfortable conditions, and the course of the match could have turned 180 degrees.

However, luck did not smile on either the Brazilian or Daler Kuzyaev, who also shook the frame, but after the break.

By this time, the guests had already turned on a little and stopped giving the Muscovites the opportunity to act on a collision course.

Wards Semak established control over the ball, locked opponents in their third and began to stretch the defense.

But personnel losses still affected the game "Zenith".

Without Claudinho, positional attacks were not so dangerous, without Barrios there was no reliability in the middle line, and Gustavo Mantuan, although he shook Litvinov and Maslov a couple of times, did not look his best.

Ivan Sergeev looked like a foreign body, still unable to establish himself as the main forward.

And after several unsuccessful attempts to crack the defense of the hosts, the guests retreated, and Semak made a fatal mistake.

Throwing Semak

13 minutes before the end of regular time, the St. Petersburg mentor tried to calm the game and strengthen the rear as much as possible.

Instead of Vendel, Nuraly Alip came out, which meant switching to a formation with three central defenders.

However, this rearrangement did not have a positive effect on his wards, but, on the contrary, confused.

And two minutes later, Spartak opened the scoring.

Rodrigao lost the ball not far from the penalty area, Chistyakov did not follow Promes' dash, and he "shot" Ivan.

It seemed that at that moment Zenith was in a panic.

In addition to Vendel, Malcolm, Mantouan and Sergeev have already left the field, and the substitutes who replaced them failed to help the guests regain the initiative.

And in this situation, Semak decided to take another rash step.

With the last substitution, he hurriedly removed Chistyakov and returned to the arrangement with two central ones.

But Spartak was already unstoppable.

In the 86th minute, Sobolev got too much freedom and hit the ball into the far corner, and in the fifth compensated rout, Promes completed.

The Red and Whites broke an 11-match losing streak and inflicted their first defeat since November 2017 on their principal rivals.