The face-to-face match was the last real opportunity for Rostov to impose on Zenit the fight for the championship, because if he won, he reduced the gap from the leader to six points. True, the defeat practically put an end to the gold race. In addition, then the yellow-blues would complete the tour on a par with Spartak and with a minimum margin from CSKA.
It is not surprising that the club's press service announced the confrontation through the film "Ocean's 11" - "Karpin's 11 Friends". In it, the meeting with St. Petersburg was presented as an opportunity to take the maximum.
"It is clear that taking into account the current realities and all our problems, it will be difficult. But since such a card has come, let's try to hit the whole jackpot, "Karpin addressed Alexander Silyanov in the pre-match video.
In reality, both experts spoke cautiously about the upcoming confrontation. For example, Sergei Semak refused to call him a champion, because there was enough time left before the finish line. In turn, his opponent called on everyone to remain realistic and complained that the capabilities of opponents are incomparable.
The return of Wilmar Barrios to the ranks also played into the hands of the guests. The key midfielder recovered in time for the meeting with Lokomotiv, but appeared on the field only in the end. This time he came out from the first minutes. But for unclear reasons, Rodrigo was not even included in the application. In his absence, Renan was paired with Dmitry Chistyakov in the center of defense. Mateo Cassierra, who successfully came on as a substitute in Moscow, also returned to the starting line-up.
But the southerners faced serious personnel problems. Due to various injuries, Evgeny Chernov, Nikolai Poyarkov, Daniil Utkin and Dmitry Poloz could not help their partners. The hole on the left edge of the defense had to be closed by right-back Andrei Langovich. Danil Glebov and Alexei Mironov were joined in the defensive zone by Kirill Shchetinin. And Nikolay Komlichenko was supported from the flanks by Khoren Bayramyan and Roman Tugarev.
To the credit of the yellow-blues, they were not going to close in defense, and from the first minutes they tried to take control of the ball and dictate their own terms to the venerable guests. To do this, the hosts turned on the trademark high pressure. The attacking trio did not allow the opponents to calmly start attacks. If they passed the first line, three midfielders instantly dropped to the four defenders, forming a powerful defensive block, which was difficult to pass.
In such a situation, it remained to rely only on the individual skill of individual performers. However, the leaders were almost invisible before the break. As soon as Claudinho and Malcom received the ball, they immediately found themselves under pressure. Maxim Osipenko was especially good at destruction. He not only did not allow himself to be beaten at the bottom, but also won six equestrian martial arts, not allowing St. Petersburg to cling to the ball after Mikhail Kerzhakov's takeaways from his half.
But Semak found a means to break into the opponent's saturated defense. They were the connections of Vyacheslav Karavaev. Alexander Silyanov did not always keep up with the enemy. As a result, he missed two chances before the break. First, the defender hit the crossbar with his head after a cross from the left, and then missed the target from the center of the penalty area. I also remember his cross after a tricky pass from Malcolm, which Claudinho failed to close.
"Rostov" had no similar chances, although they shot twice on target. As a rule, all the shots of Karpin's wards were delivered from a long distance. They also tried to overload the flank of Karavaev, but Barrios shifted to help him, who was much more difficult to beat. Komlichenko also clung to the ball. For example, at the very end of the first half, he almost headed in a cross from the right.
It would have been difficult for the southerners to act in such an energy-consuming manner in the second half. After the break, they involuntarily dropped to their own half and allowed the opponent to increase possession of the ball to 59%. Semak's permutations also benefited. Most importantly, he moved Claudinho to the attacking trio. The Brazilian stepped up the game on the left edge and interacted well with his partners, whereas before that he was almost invisible. Andrei Mostovoy, on the other hand, withdrew to the right edge, untying Malcom's hands.
All these steps, as in the previous match with Lokomotiv, helped the leader to increase the pressure on the opponents' goal. But in Rostov-on-Don it was not possible to score. It is even strange that the guests had only one shot on target. Actually, bad luck prevented them from snatching three points.
What is worth at least the moment when Malcom escaped almost one-on-one with Pesyakov, but miraculously did not hit the bottom into the far one. A little earlier, Wendel, after a pass from his partner from the front, shot higher. From time to time, the goalkeeper also helped out. For example, he caught the ball, which flew into the far after Cassierra's header. By the way, the Colombian again failed to distinguish himself and was replaced by Sergeev.
But first of all, for a successful result, Karpin should thank the wards, who acted with an incredible level of dedication and imposed a fight on opponents in every part of the field. Shchetinin was especially good, who, having made four tackles and interceptions, became the best in the team according to these indicators.
It is fair that it was he who almost earned a penalty at the end of the hour of the meeting. After Bayramyan's pass, the midfielder burst into the penalty area, but was brought down by Douglas, who frankly did not have time for the opponent. Sergey Karasev took a break, starting to communicate with assistants on VAR. The episode was complicated by the unexpected appearance of the second ball on the field. The discussion did not take much time, and the referee nevertheless awarded a penalty, considering that the violation took place outside of it. At the same time, the referee did not pay attention to the second ball. But even from this standard, the hosts almost scored. Kerzhakov, after Mironov's serve, played on the way out and knocked the ball straight into Osipenko with his fist, from which the projectile almost flew into the near one.
And at the end of the meeting, substitute Denis Terentyev made a header without resistance, but his shot was blocked at the last moment. Thus, the victory did not go to anyone. This result is more likely to play into the hands of Zenit, which retained a solid lead over its pursuers. But "Rostov" is now only a point ahead of "Spartak" and two - CSKA in the fight for bronze.