Karpin's tripping from Evseev, Volkov's hat-trick, CSKA and Lokomotiv victories: what the 26th round of the RPL was remembered for

Evseev's successful debut

On the first day of the 26th round of the RPL, there was a real sensation. Yes, this season Fakel has repeatedly surprised and taken points from the giants (which is the spoiled anniversary of Dynamo a week earlier), but it was difficult to expect a victory over Rostov, which is fighting for silver medals in the Russian championship. The only thing that could give the team from Voronezh additional motivation was the replacement of Dmitry Pyatibratov with Vadim Evseev on the coaching bridge.

But in principle, this castling did not change anything. The guests in Rostov-on-Don acted as the second number throughout the meeting and possessed the ball only 30% of the time. However, the southerners with great difficulty overcame someone else's defensive line and penetrated into the penalty area. As a result, they had only two shots on target by Ilya Svinov.

The counterattacks of the guests looked much more interesting. And immediately after the break, they managed to take the lead. Already in the 11th second of the second half, Roman Akbashev opened the scoring with an excellent shot from afar. A little later, all questions about the outcome of the confrontation were removed by Khizir Appayev.

After such a successful debut, Evseev did not miss the opportunity to pry Valery Karpin, who could not be present on the bench due to the removal in the match with Spartak. The specialist stressed that the second team of the championship failed to create anything at the gates of his wards. At the same time, he refused to claim that as a coach he is stronger than his colleague. Although statistically, Evseev is an extremely uncomfortable opponent for Karpin: throughout his career, the coach of the Russian national team defeated him only once with four defeats.

Humiliating defeat of "Torpedo"

Another RPL outsider, who changed his coach in the spring, is not doing so well. So far, Pep Clotet in Torpedo is remembered only for tough disciplinary measures. Following the withdrawal of three experienced performers from the base, including captain Ravil Netfullin, he, according to media reports, decided to close the wards at the base a few days before each game. But this did not affect the result of the match with Akhmat: the Muscovites suffered another major defeat at home - 1: 5.

Only Ilya Stefanovich can be singled out as part of the hosts. The striker, who had not previously played in the RPL, moved to the team in the winter from Volgar and has already scored four goals. In particular, he hit the goal of Giorgi Shelia with a beautiful header.

Grozny for the third time in the history of the club scored five goals in the championship. Mohamed Konate scored a double and reached the mark of ten goals in the current draw of the national championship. And he opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a beautiful dribbling shot by Darko Todorovic. In the end, even Hamid Agalarov, who failed this season, managed to score. The forward interrupted the "dry" series, which lasted from July last year.

In the next round, Sergei Tashuev's wards will face one of the key confrontations at the finish of the tournament - a match with Dynamo. If the Southerners can get three points in it, they will have a good chance to finish the season in the top five for the second time in history.

Chalov's jubilee goal

But CSKA looks the best in the spring stage of the tournament. After the defeat of Sochi, he won seven victories with one draw and, thanks to the misfires of Rostov and Spartak, rose to second place. Even the strong Orenburg failed to stop the army team, who had gained tremendous momentum.

The fate of the confrontation was largely decided in the eighth minute, when Igor Diveev opened the scoring after a corner. Then the team of Vladimir Fedotov calmly owned the initiative and could repeatedly distinguish himself, and in the end Fedor Chalov removed all questions. The striker scored the 15th goal of this RPL season, climbed to third position in the scorer race and repeated his personal scoring record.

It is impossible not to note the excellent game of Jesus Medina, who was transformed with the transfer to the position of the left lateral. The Paraguayan became one of the best in the derby with Lokomotiv, and then hit the gates of Ural in the Cup of the country with a beautiful dribbling shot. Now he has twice assisted his partners. True, the episode with Chalov's goal raised questions from rivals, since the midfielder, before running into the penalty area, pushed away the player who was taking care of him on the sideline.

Not without a couple of spoons of tar for Muscovites. Firstly, shortly before the break, one of the leaders of the team in the spring part of the season, Ivan Oblyakov, left the field due to a knee injury. Secondly, already in added time, Stepan Hovhannisyan reduced the gap in the score. It is curious that the player on loan from Spartak scored for the second match in a row after coming on as a substitute.

Volkov's amazing usefulness

But the "Wings of the Soviets" things after the resumption of the season are not going well. After the sale of the two main stars in the attack - Sergey Pinyaev and Maxim Glushenkov - they won only one victory in the championship and four rounds before the end of the season are in close proximity to the zone of transitional meetings for the right to remain in the elite division.

For the match with Krasnodar, the Samara team came out extremely motivated and hoped not only to take away points from the opponent, but also to take revenge for the defeat in the penalty shootout in the Russian Cup. And already in the 16th minute, Benjamin Garre opened the scoring in the match - the ball ricocheted into the ninth from the leg of defender Junior Alonso after the Argentine's strike.

However, the guests were seriously let down by Vladimir Pisarsky. The striker cannot score in the RPL after the transfer from Orenburg, and in the reporting match he also earned a removal after half an hour of the meeting. Moreover, both cards turned out to be optional. First, he grabbed Christian Ramirez by the neck, and then went to insure his partner on the left edge of defense and knocked down Sergei Volkov in a tackle, which instantly devalued his assist on Garr.

In the minority, the "Wings" could not even keep a draw. And as part of the opponent, the main character unexpectedly became the full-back Volkov, who scored a kind of hat-trick. He not only contributed to the fact that Pisarsky was kicked off the field, but also had a hand in both goals. Shortly before the break, he closed Ilzat Akhmetov's cross from the line. And in the 89th minute, after a throw from the center into touch, he sent the ball into the penalty area to John Cordoba, and he, having pushed the defender, left no chance for Bogdan Ovsyannikov.

Another defeat from Lokomotiv

Lokomotiv looks no less impressive compared to CSKA after the resumption of the season. In the 26th round, he defeated Sochi at home and won his seventh victory in nine matches. And in terms of the number of goals (25), Mikhail Galaktionov's wards in the spring have no equal at all.

At the same time, the southerners kept their gates locked almost until the end of the first half. An amazing game was demonstrated by Denis Adamov, who repeatedly helped out his partners. However, shortly before the break, the hosts fired a doublet. Moreover, those from whom it was least expected distinguished distinguished themselves: defender Nair Tiknizyan and midfielder Artyom Karpukas. For both, the goals were only the second in the current RPL season.

But Wilson Isidor, who returned to action after injury, has already accustomed the fans to the fact that he scores, coming on as a substitute. On May 8, the Frenchman extended this series to four meetings. Since 2008, only Lacine Traore from Anji has managed to do this in the RPL, who in the 2012/13 season hit the opponents' gates, appearing on the field from the bench, in five matches in a row.

Ilya Lantratov also had a terrific fight. He not only made six saves, but also saved the third penalty in the current RPL draw, and the second from Christian Noboa. The red-green recruit can be safely called the main specialist in penalty kicks in the Premier League. Having made his debut in it in August 2020, he saved eight shots from the "point" out of 24. For comparison, the closest pursuers in the RPL have only three saves. And in the whole of Europe in this segment he has no equal: Edgar Badia from Elche repelled seven shots.

The only fly in the ointment for Loko was the injury of Stanislav Magkeev in the first half. The defender out of the blue collapsed on the turf in his own penalty area and asked for a replacement. In this episode, it is necessary to note the behavior of Artur Yusupov. He did not continue the attack, but defiantly interrupted the game.