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On Saturday, March 12th, the 2005 Russian Premier League season kicked off with five matches. "Zenit," "Krylja Sovetov," and "Lokomotiv" successfully started their season, while "Dinamo" and "Spartak" clubs suffered setbacks to their ambitions.
Lithuanian national team forward R.Poškus shone in the first matches of the season, scoring the second goal of the match and helping Samara's "Krylja Sovetov" team win at home against Vladikavkaz's "Alania." St. Petersburg's "Zenit" also played successfully in their own stadium, crushing the Portuguese-heavy Moscow "Dinamo" with a 4-1 score.
"Spartak" suffered an unexpected setback at home, failing to convert a penalty kick and losing to the "Moskva" team with a two-goal margin in the Moscow derby. Defending champions "Lokomotiv" achieved a convincing victory at home, defeating debutant "Tom," while the match between "Shinnik" and "Amkar" ended in a draw.
The remaining three matches of the first round will be played on Sunday - vice-champion "CSKA" will host "Terek" at home, "Torpedo" will meet "Rostov," and "Saturn" will play against "Rubin."
Saturday's match statistics:
2 - 0
31' [1 - 0] Matew But
47' [2 - 0] Robertas Poškus
R.Poškus ("Krylja") played until the 85th minute, N.Barasa ("Alania") played the full match, while D.Žutautas ("Alania") did not appear on the field.
1 - 1
41' [0 - 1] Alexandr Shutov
70' [1 - 1] Alexandr Kulchiy
A.Jankauskas ("Amkar") was not registered for the match.
4 - 1
38' [1 - 0] Ivica Kryzanec
46' [2 - 0] Andrey Arshavin
49' [3 - 0] Alexandr Kerzhakov
60' [3 - 1] Nuno Freso
73' [4 - 1] Pavel Maresh
Ž.Karčemarskas ("Dinamo") and E.Majus ("Zenit") were not registered for the match.
2 - 0
32' [1 - 0] Igor Lebedenko
64' [2 - 0] Dmitriy Loskov
0 - 2
23' [0 - 1] Marius Jop
55' [0 - 2] Dmitriy Kirichenko
34' Dmitriy Alenichev missed a penalty kick.
I.Dedura ("Spartak") played the full match, while R.Džiaukštas ("Moskva") came on in the 90th minute.
