Leonid Slutsky is considered to be one of the most thorough, consistent, even conservative trainers Russian Premier League. The spirit of adventurism is, if not completely alien to him, then at least not too close. His CSKA is distinguished by consistency - in personnel, tactical and, as a result, points. Rotation for the sake of rotation is not about him. In a LAN, like in a computer, all moves are calculated and logically justified. Therefore, the reorganization of the red-blue game in the last round was discussed for a long time and quite lively in football circles.
Ignashevich And Shirokov in reserve - what was it, an additional day off for veterans (70 years old for a couple) before the national team matches or an estimate for the longer term? Leonid Viktorovich intrigued me, he intrigued me so much! The starting protocol of the St. Petersburg match indirectly confirmed the second version. Both “army” Nikolaevichs found themselves in the reserves for the second round in a row.
The center of the vice-champion's defense, as in the Paris battle national teams, turned out to be purely fraternal, and the “floating” place in the middle line again went to Golovin. Alexander’s chances for another trip to France, now longer, are growing day by day - if only the guy would avoid injuries and dizziness from a vertical takeoff. It’s not just him, it’s all football Russia vitally interested.
Villas-Boas He also refrained from adjusting the lineup and fielded exactly the same 11 people against CSKA as he did against Krylya Sovetov two weeks ago. Even the initial flanking Hulk And Shatova, periodically changing places, remained unchanged. Oleg gravitated towards the right edge, Zhivanildo – towards the left.
In the Russian national team Dziuba With Vasily Berezutsky They compete only in wit. But here they had no time for mutual teasing. From the first minutes Artyom began to put hard pressure on the Tseskov twins, forcing them to immediately work with maximum effort.
The teams' strategy was dictated by tournament expediency. In theory, the Muscovites could have been satisfied with a draw, but Zenit could not have been satisfied. This determined the character of the first half. “Zenith” began to be more aggressive, more proactive, and quickly indicated the seriousness of its intentions with a good standard from Mauricio and finally almost took the lead. Physically strong guys with Dziuboi deftly pulled off a quick attack, and did not take the right position Akinfeev, CSKA would have received an extremely unwanted ball into their own goal already in the opening. Igor did not flinch in close combat.
After the next invasion Dzyuba to the red-blue rear Danny hit the ball into the net. But in St. Petersburg today, offsides were recorded more clearly than the day before in Rostov-on-Don. St. Petersburg Portuguese goal referee Egorov annulled, and, I must say, for good reason. And there he gasped from a distance - he didn’t calculate the flight path quite a bit.
During the first third of the match, CSKA took the lead with an original corner kick (serve Dzagoeva low to the near post - reset Eremenko– shot Berezutsky No. 24 over the crossbar) and a couple of interesting, but unsaid approaches.
The hosts acted more variedly, skillfully alternating flank breakthroughs with attacks in the center, long passes with short ones. The fact that before the intermission the Petrovsky scoreboard retained the starting zeros is a great merit Akinfeeva. They Hulk took a hit and Witsel.
Once Egorov nevertheless, he took out a notebook from his breast pocket - but only in order to write the name of the first penalty in it. As you might guess, he was awarded a dubious honor Wernbloom, the sole leader of the season on the cards. St. Petersburg became the 12th for him - therefore, Pontus will not play against Mordovia next Saturday. Here's a chance for Bibrasa Natho loomed...
From the start of the second half, the warm-up sector became more active Shirokov. And on the field, the center of attention was another Roman, with number 25 on his back. And, to my regret, not in the best light. The Russian Finn's "cut" when going from defense to attack led to Zenit's rapid attack on the goal Akinfeeva. There are already two Berezutskikh it turned out to be not enough to restrain one Hulk. Dzyuba made an effective pass to his own number seven.
A few minutes later, dejected Eremenko went to rest, and jumped out onto the lawn to the whistle of the stands Shirokov. Even when he was an “anti-aircraft gunner,” his relationship with the local public was contradictory, especially with that part of it that inhabits the “turn.” The captain of the Russian team himself probably did not count on an ovation in St. Petersburg. And I’ve long been accustomed to the whistling.
Following Shirokov Slutsky raised the alarm Tsaunyu. The Latvian all-rounder took the position Shchennikova- on the left in defense. And he immediately fell under the Hulk. While Alexander looked around on the lawn, he cut out the perfect pass to Danny. But Miguel’s strike lacked accuracy. Just a little bit and still.
And then he took the initiative into his own hands. The Brazilian's free-kick in itself did not pose a great danger to Akinfeeva. The army captain became a victim of a banal ricochet. Hitting the head Dzagoev, the ball abruptly changed its flight direction and, instead of the right corner, plopped into the opposite one. Just abandoned by the goalkeeper...
At the end Boas released fresh Criscito, Kokorina And Javi Garcia, A Slutsky – Olanare. The last Zenit coach to remove him from the game Hulk- to a standing ovation. Andre understood Petrovsky’s hint and cordially escorted the hero of the evening from the field. He deserves it, no matter what!
And here is the 100th goal Dzyuba postponed again. True, I don’t think that Artyom is killed about this now. The interests of the team come first!
Yesterday in Moscow at the Lokomotiv stadium a match for the Russian Super Cup took place, in which the capital's CSKA and St. Petersburg's Zenit met.
The only goal in the meeting was scored in the 22nd minute of the first half by the Brazilian blue-white-blue midfielder Mauricio. The 27-year-old midfielder hit Igor Akinfeev's goal after a cross from the right flank by Artur Yusupov. After the break, the army team became more active and were able to organize several dangerous moments, but were unable to come back.
Zenit won the Russian Super Cup for the fourth time. As for CSKA, the Moscow club continues to maintain leadership in the number of victories in the tournament - Leonid Slutsky's team has won this trophy six times.
CSKA (Moscow) – Zenit (St. Petersburg) – 0:1 (0:1)
Goal: Mauricio, 22.
CSKA: Akinfeev, Mario Fernandez, Ignashevich, A. Berezutsky, Shchennikov, Tosic (Golovin, 61), Wernbloom, Natkho, Eremenko, Ionov (Milanov, 74), Traore (Strandberg, 78).
"Zenith":(St. Petersburg): Lodygin, Smolnikov, Neto, Garay, Crishito, Yusupov (Djordjevic, 80), Javi Garcia, Mauricio, Shatov, Kokorin (Zhirkov, 66), Dzyuba (A. Kerzhakov, 66).
Warnings: Tosic, 10. Kokorin, 45. Wernbloom, 61. Natcho, 61. Mauricio, 61. Shatov, 61. Lodygin, 76.
Words after the match:
Mircea Lucescu ( head coach"Zenith"):
"The first game turned out to be very difficult, there were a lot of emotions. The first game in Russia. This is a very strong championship, especially in the first match with the national champion it was very difficult. They will evaluate me and the team as a whole based on this result. It’s good that the result is positive, this allows me to continue to work calmly and implement my ideas. I am very pleased with today's game.
The Super Cup may not mean much, but it is important for the image of the club. The team played best players Russia, each of them has their own ambitions. We were on top. We had good points when we were in complete control of the game.
My the most important task- change the team's game. But this cannot be done in a short period of time: patience and scrupulous analysis are needed. I'm pleased that we were able to control the game. I'm happy last minutes both the first half and the second. We had three or four more chances when we could have scored. Both teams are not one hundred percent ready yet: amid fatigue, there were many mistakes on both sides. But overall the game turned out to be spectacular, and the spectators who came enjoyed it.”
Leonid Slutsky (head coach of CSKA):
“We started the match very hard, we weren’t able to make quality selections in the areas we planned. This is natural at the very beginning of the season. At the beginning of the game, Zenit looked stronger, then the game leveled off. We were able to use set pieces. But we didn’t have enough attacking resources to create more moments.
The newcomers played to the best of their ability - it was more about Traore. This important figure in the team's attacking formations. He clung to the balls, had a few chances, but so far it’s still not perfect in terms of mutual understanding with his partners.”
In the central match of the 15th round of the Premier League, the championship leader tied with the army team (1:1). The match was replete with clashes and did not go without removal.
« Zenith“He also scores much more often in the second half - and now he’s also clearly improved. From the locker room, the hosts served two dangerous set pieces in a row, but CSKA lucky. However, the pressure on the guests grew noticeably, and it became even worse for the army team in the 54th minute, when Biyol received a second yellow card in a row. CSKA remained in the minority.
« Zenith"I immediately increased my power, Semak threw into battle Shatova With Erokhin- and the changes took place. Oleg did a lot of useful work in the center of the field, and Alexander scored. After the goal is scored "Zenit"It became much easier, and CSKA continued to press into the penalty area - there was nothing more to do. Is it true, "Zenith“Defended high, so the visitors’ periodic counterattacks were dangerous. But it didn't lead to anything. I missed a great moment after one of these Chalov- For a long time he picked up his leg under the blow.
At the end of normal time, a brawl broke out on the field, in which the main characters were Oblyakov And Dziuba. But delete no one Vilkov he didn’t, but the teams ended up playing to a draw. Logical, but nervous.
