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Today, on Sunday, the last matches of the first round of the Russian Premier League were played. The season started with a goal by Lithuanian national team striker Robertas Poškus - he scored for "Zenit" in the match against "Saturn", where another Lithuanian, Edgaras Česnauskis, made his league debut.
The match between "Zenit" and Ramenskoye's "Saturn" took place in Saint Petersburg. An interesting fact is that "Saturn" is coached by former Champions League discovery "Artmedia" coach Vladimir Weiss this season, while "Zenit" is led by Czech coach Vlastimil Petržela. Although it seemed that starting the season earlier, "Zenit" should have had an easy time dealing with mid-table teams, the first half was completely different.
"Saturn" constantly attacked and in one of their attacks scored a goal - newcomer Edgaras Česnauskis managed to pass the ball to his teammate in the box after being surrounded by two opponents, who then passed the ball to a free Branislav Obžera, who scored a precise shot into the far corner of the goal, putting the visitors ahead.
After the first half, "Zenit" made a couple of substitutions, after which Lithuanian national team striker Robertas Poškus appeared on the field, and it was he who equalized the score in the 74th minute after quickly taking a penalty kick.
After the goal, the situation on the field heated up and the players didn't always keep their composure, resulting in the referee showing as many as twelve yellow cards. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The second match of the day took place in Kazan. "Rubin" players faced off against Rostov's "Rostov" players, who barely avoided relegation last season. "Rostov" had not won at the "Rubin" home ground since 2003.
It seemed at first that they wouldn't succeed this time either, as Mikhail Osinov scored a penalty for "Rostov" in the 30th minute, but in the second half the hosts stepped up and scored the equalizer in the 50th minute, also from a penalty kick. In the 58th minute, a "Rubin" player was sent off the field, and in the 80th minute "Rubin" scored the winning goal. The hosts won 2-1 and collected the first 3 points of the season.
The last match of the round took place in Moscow. "Lokomotiv" with a new coach had to face "Krylya Sovetov" from Samara, who were still struggling financially. However, it seemed that it was "Lokomotiv" who was being tested that evening.
Already in the 3rd minute of the match, "Krylya Sovetov" scored a goal and tried to keep up the pace. After the second half, "Lokomotiv" improved, making it easier for "Krylya Sovetov" to score another goal, as the hosts' defense without two main players did not look impressive and often allowed the visitors to create chances, which they failed to capitalize on. With the score unchanged, the guests celebrated an unexpected victory with a minimal lead.
Sunday's match statistics:
1 – 1
28' [0 - 1] Branislav Obžera
74' [1 - 1] Robertas Poškus
R. Poškus ("Zenit") played from the 46th minute, E. Česnauskis ("Saturn") played until the 84th minute and was replaced by R. Džiaukštas ("Saturn"). E. Majus ("Zenit") was not registered for the match.
2 – 1
30' [0 - 1] Mikhail Osinov (11 m.)
50' [1 - 1] Alejandro Dominguez (11 m.)
80' [2 - 1] Ergen Jaaland
Andriy Bochkov ("Rostov") was sent off the field in the 56th minute.
0 – 1
3' [0 - 1] Kszysztof Lagievka
E. Raziulis ("Krylya Sovetov") was not registered for the match.
