The RPL Winter Cup can be safely called a Spartak tournament.
It was the Muscovites who won the two previous draws, which were held under the name Match Premier Cup in Qatar in 2019 and 2020.
And then in six matches they won five victories with one defeat in a penalty shootout.
The change of signboard and venue did not affect the results of the team.
First, the red-and-whites in the "lottery" turned out to be stronger than "Rostov", and then sent four unanswered balls into the gates of "Krasnodar".
Thus, the Spartacists stopped one step away from winning the third trophy.
To do this, in the last round it was enough for them to beat Sochi at least in the penalty shootout.
But the southerners also started the week with a rout.
After the defeat from Krasnodar, they unexpectedly left Rostov no chance - 3:0.
And Kurban Berdyev, for sure, was eager to take over Spartak, even as part of a friendly confrontation.
Perhaps, including for this reason, he released from the first minutes an almost optimal composition.
But Guillermo Abascal diluted the base with reservists.
For example, Alexander Maksimenko is located at the last frontier, and not Alexander Selikhov.
The attacking trio, together with Mikhail Ignatov, was formed by Pavel Melyoshin and Balde Keita, who scored against Krasnodar.
In defense, the Spaniard completely trusted two newcomers.
Tomas Tavares is located on the left edge, and Alexis Duarte made up a duet for Giorgi Jikia.
Despite the reshuffle in the line-up, Spartak achieved a confident advantage in the score in the first half.
At the same time, it cannot be said that the capital club dominated, and the opponent locked himself in his own half.
On the contrary, the southerners acted quite boldly and included a positional attack in separate segments.
Georgy Melkadze was especially active at the goal.
Even in the control meeting, he was eager to upset his native team.
The forward successfully clung to the balls and dropped them to his partners.
He also missed the most promising chance to excel.
After a great throw from the depths by Christian Noboa, the striker handled the ball with his chest and shot.
However, Maksimenko played beyond praise, who promptly reduced the distance and saved teammates.
But Duarte in this episode did not act in the best way.
He missed the opponent and missed the pass behind him.
By the way, Tavares looked much more confident.
He was not afraid to go forward on the left flank and sometimes even shifted to the center.
He also tried to pass forward and played well on the left flank with Keita.
The Senegalese also became the main character of the Muscovites in the first half, as he participated in the creation of both goals.
First, after a rough cut of Artyom Meshchaninov, he brought Mikhail Ignatov one on one.
Southerners asked Vladislav Bezborodov to check the episode for offside.
On the first replay, it was clear that the midfielder's legs were behind the center line.
But on the second, there was a feeling that his body and head were already in someone else's half.
The referee did not change his decision, explaining that the camera is located at an angle, and therefore it is impossible to clearly judge the offside position.
Shortly before the break, Spartak doubled the lead.
This time, Danil Prutsev performed an excellent transfer from the center, and Ignatov found Keita on the far corner of the goalkeeper's area.
So Balde scored in the second consecutive meeting of the RPL Winter Cup.
Already in stoppage time, Muscovites also used the right to request a replay, when Sergey Terekhov sent the ball into the net, taking advantage of the fall of Maksimenko.
In this episode, Bezborodov canceled the goal, believing that Melkadze stepped on the goalkeeper's ankle and prevented him from repelling the blow.
In the second half, the teams were more likely to finish the game, realizing that the fate of the confrontation was decided.
However, Spartak still looked better and could bring the matter to a rout.
In particular, Meleshin missed the most dangerous moment.
After Ignatov's excellent rebate, he burst into the penalty area, but shot Denis Adamov from a lethal position.
Prior to this, Paul did not use a few more chances.
Despite this, he, as in the previous meeting, left a good impression: he actively opened up in front, put pressure on the defenders and clung to the balls.
It cannot but rejoice that the young striker regularly has moments.
It remains only to establish the implementation.
There is no doubt that in the derby with Lokomotiv in the National Cup, he will get playing time, taking into account the disqualifications of competitors.
By the way, Alexander Sobolev, who will miss these matches, came on as a substitute half an hour before the final whistle and could also score in a couple of episodes.
At the same time, Abascal again took him a position on the right edge of the attack, and the attacker had to work on the defensive, among other things.
Sochi had no chances at all, especially since Berdyev threw the youth into battle in the second half.
I remember only Luka Djordjevic's shot from outside the penalty area into the hands of Maksimenko, who had an excellent meeting.
The red-whites won another victory in the RPL Winter Cup and again won the trophy.
As in previous years, they approached him in excellent functional readiness.
The wards of Abaskal in the UAE knew no equal in terms of movement and due to this they did not leave any chances for their rivals.
Representatives of Lokomotiv should be unpleasantly surprised by such a form of opponents in the quarterfinals of the Russian Cup.
Moreover, the Muscovites scored the most in the tournament - six times and did not concede a single goal.
They could not hit only the gates of "Rostov".
However, fans should not delude themselves, because good results at the training camp do not guarantee success in official competitions.
For example, in 2019 in Qatar, Spartak also achieved three victories at the Match Premier Cup, defeating Zenit and Lokomotiv with a total score of 7:0.
However, in the spring the club suffered four defeats and broke the world with the Petersburgers and Rubin.
This did not allow the team to rise above the fifth line.