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Over the weekend in the Russian Premier League, the second round of matches took place. There were quite a few surprises as newcomers "Spartak" and "Lokomotiv" continued to drop points, "Moskva" club suffered a crushing defeat, and "Dinamo" experienced failure in the match against "Tom," who became the league leader alongside defending champions "CSKA" with an impressive victory.
The Sunday matches started with Vladivostok's "Luch" and Moscow's "Lokomotiv" teams. At the end of the first half, "Luch" scored a goal, but they failed to maintain their lead as the visitors equalized in the middle of the second half. "Lokomotiv" did not show the kind of game their fans have come to expect, and they could only manage to get a point against the elite newcomers.
Russian champions Moscow's "CSKA" faced Yaroslavl's "Shinnik" and although they won 5-1, it was not a convincing performance, as they did not have much trouble playing against the visitors. "CSKA" scored first and a visitor's player was sent off in the 28th minute, but "Shinnik" managed to equalize despite being a man down. In the second half, the hosts stepped up their game and "Shinnik" faltered. "CSKA" scored four more goals in the second half, all by newcomer Joao, and secured a convincing victory.
In Tomsk, the local team "Tom" faced Moscow's "Dinamo." The hosts started the match more actively, but the only goal of the game came in the second half, scored by Branislav Krunic. The underdog "Tom" unexpectedly won with a minimal advantage.
"Rostov" met with "Moskva" players, who were bolstered by former "CSKA" player Sergei Semak during the break between seasons. The visitors started the match quite actively, but they conceded the first goal.
From the start of the second half, "Moskva" players also became more active, but they conceded a second goal in the 54th minute, which seemed to be the decisive moment. After that, "Rostov" dominated the game and scored two more goals without reply, celebrating an impressive 4-0 victory.
In Perm, the only Russian representative in the UEFA Cup, St. Petersburg's "Zenit," visited. Lithuanian international Robertas Poskus featured in the starting lineup for the visitors. Both teams attacked from the start, but the visitors scored the first goal.
In the second half, the pattern remained similar - "Amkar" tried to attack, while "Zenit" looked to counter-attack. "Amkar" equalized in the 63rd minute during one attack, but their joy was short-lived as "Zenit" restored their lead through Czech Radek Sirl in the 65th minute. Towards the end of the match, the same Czech player scored a third goal from a penalty kick, and the visitors won 3-1.
The poorest Premier League club, Nalchik's "Spartak," met with nine-time Russian champions Moscow's "Spartak." The match started evenly. Either team had the chance to score, but the hosts scored first. The titans were not satisfied with this course of the match, and towards the end of the second half, Maksim Kalinichenko equalized with a penalty kick.
In the second half, more pressure was expected from the silver medalists, but they had to concede a second goal. This spurred the visitors to take even more aggressive actions, and practically not leaving the hosts' half, they equalized with another goal towards the end of the game. The match ended with a fighting draw of 2-2.
In the last Sunday match, Ramenskoye's "Saturn" and Moscow's "Torpedo" met. In a dull encounter, neither team managed to score, and the match ended in a goalless draw.
2nd Round Statistics
1 – 1
42` [1 - 0] Aleksey Archipov
59` [1 - 1] Ivan Starkov
5 – 1
11` [1 - 0] Sergey Ignashevich
31` [1 - 1] Anton Chazov
49` [2 - 1] Joao
58` [3 - 1] Joao
80` [4 - 1] Joao (11 m.)
85` [5 - 1] Joao
D. Semberas ("CSKA") was registered for the match but did not appear on the field.
Anatoliy Romanovich was sent off in the 28th minute for a second yellow card ("Shinnik").
1 – 0
59` [1 - 0] Branislav Krunich
Z. Karcemarskas ("Dinamo") was registered for the match but did not appear on the field.
4 – 0
40` [1 - 0] Omar Perez
54` [2 - 0] Maksim Buznikin
61` [3 - 0] Mikhail Osinov
67` [4 - 0] Sergey Bendz
1 – 3
31` [0 - 1] Aleksandr Spivak
63` [1 - 1] Jevgeniy Savin
65` [1 - 2] Radek Shirl
86` [1 - 3] Radek Shirl
R. Poskus ("Zenit") played the entire match, E. Majus ("Zenit") was not registered for the match.
1 – 3
26` [1 - 0] Miodrag Djudovic
39` [1 - 1] Maksim Kalinichenko
55` [2 - 1] Sergey Pilipchuk
84` [2 - 2] Mihailo Pjanovic
I. Dedura ("Spartak") was not registered for the match.
0 – 0
E. Cesnauskis ("Saturn") appeared in the starting lineup and received a yellow card, and he was replaced by R. Dziaukstas ("Saturn") in the 64th minute.
League Table
