© EuroFootball.com
On Friday and Saturday, six matches of the 11th round of the Russian Premier League were played. The biggest surprise was presented by "Khimki", which defeated former leader Moscow "Spartak", while CSKA defeated "Zenit" and reclaimed the first place. Victories were also achieved by "Rubin", "Krylja Sovetov" and "Kuban", while Nalchik "Spartak" and "Rostov" shared the points.
The match on Friday was played at home by "Khimki" against "Spartak". In the 5th minute of the match, after a rough mistake by the visitors in their penalty box, Roman Shirokov scored with a header from a free position of about three meters. Despite the support of Moscow club's fans, "Spartak" couldn't catch up, while the home team created opportunity after opportunity.
In the 22nd minute, after a quick counter attack, the ball was sent towards the goalkeeper's box, but Martin Jiranek missed it, and taking advantage of the gift, a "Khimki" player passed the ball to Anton Archipov, who left no chance for "Spartak" goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.
After the break, the hosts took full control of the game and it seemed like only one team was playing on the field. Despite creating numerous dangerous opportunities, "Khimki" only managed to capitalize on one: in the 54th minute, after a lifted corner kick by Andrei Tikhonov, Miodrag Jovanovic scored with a precise header.
After this humiliating defeat, "Spartak" had to relinquish the leader's position, while "Khimki" rose to the 7th place.
The central match on Saturday took place between third-placed CSKA Moscow and the higher-ranked "Zenit". The match was refereed by a German refereeing team, with the well-known Markus Merk officiating on the field.
In the first half, the visitors from St. Petersburg tried to overcome CSKA goalkeeper Benjamin Mandrykin, but he guarded the goal reliably. The best chance to score in the first half was for CSKA players when after a shot by Ramon, Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev skilfully redirected the ball with his fingertips towards the crossbar.
It was only in the second half that the "Red Army" managed to score: in the 60th minute, after a corner kick, defender Sergei Ignashevich headed the ball and Brazilian Jo directed the ball into the net. Seven minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead. The same Jo scored the goal after receiving a smart pass from his compatriot Vagner Love from outside the penalty area and sent the ball into the bottom corner of "Zenit" goal.
After this victory, CSKA returned to the top of the league table, while "Zenit" remained in second place.
Statistics:
"Khimki" 3 – 0 "Spartak" 5‘ [1 – 0] Roman Shirokov 22‘ [2 – 0] Anton Archipov 54‘ [3 – 0] Miodrag Iovanovich
CSKA 2 – 0 "Zenit" 60‘ [1 – 0] Jo 67‘ [2 – 0] Jo
"Rubin" 3 – 0 "Luch Energija" 15‘ [1 – 0] Fernando Gabriel 44‘ [2 – 0] Vladimir Bairamov 89‘ [3 – 0] Vladimir Bairamov
"Krylja Sovetov" 3 – 2 "Dinamo" 42‘ [1 – 0] Aleksei Medvedev 47‘ [2 – 0] Marko Topich 64‘ [2 – 1] Denis Kolodin (11m.) 67‘ [2 – 2] Denis Kolodin (11 m.) 84‘ [3 – 2] Matheu But
"Kuban" 2 – 1 "Tom" 5‘ [1 – 0] Artur Tlisov 17‘ [2 – 0] Oleg Ivanov 45‘ [2 – 1] Balerij Klimov
"Spratak Nalchik" 0 – 0 "Rostov"
