© EuroFootball.com
This Saturday in Russia, three matches from the 18th round were played. The top two Moscow clubs "CSKA" and "Spartak" played to a draw, "Moskva" secured a crushing victory in Samara, and "Amkar" won the battle of the outsiders against "Torpedo".
The round match took place in Moscow where the leaders of the tournament table, "CSKA" and "Spartak" clubs, clashed. The match, officiated by a referee from France, started with dangerous attacks from "CSKA" side, with opponents creating rare but more dangerous episodes.
However, in the 22nd minute of the match, only a miracle saved "CSKA" goals from a goal. Such activity from "Spartak" side did not last long and just five minutes after a penalty shot, the first goal for "CSKA" was scored by Brazilian D.Carvalho.
"Spartak" leveled the score also after a standard situation. J.Titov was fouled 20 m from the goal, the victim himself hit the wall, then Mozart struck the rebound, followed by R. Kovačas joining in the shot, and finally the goal was scored by Czech M. Jiranek.
As the first half came to an end, the game was marked by roughness and the French referee tried to calm things down by issuing yellow cards.
At the beginning of the second half, "Spartak" made a substitution and almost immediately had a chance to overturn the result. "CSKA" then responded with a substitution - I. Oličius appeared on the field. Although "Spartak" controlled the situation, "CSKA" attacks were more dangerous. In the 60th minute of the match, "Spartak" goalkeeper saved his goal twice.
However, soon after, "CSKA" surged ahead again when J.Zirkov found I. Oličius in the penalty area with a high pass, who scored the second goal for the "army" with his head. "Spartak" made a couple of substitutions and started playing with two attackers, and both teams had opportunities, but in the 81st minute, R.Pavliuchenko equalized the score.
"CSKA" did not intend to give up the win and continued to attack, but no more goals were scored. The Moscow derby ended in a hard-fought draw of 2-2, so the "army men" remained in the first position with a three-point lead over second-placed "Spartak".
In Perm, the outsiders met, the local "Amkar" and Moscow's "Torpedo". The first half was noteworthy in that "Amkar" had the initiative, but could not make anything out of it.
The second half started very actively from the "Amkar" side, and in the 61st minute of the match, the hosts scored a penalty. After that, "Torpedo" woke up and started attacking and fighting. However, the teams were more noticeable for fouls. With a score of 1-0, Perm's "Amkar" celebrated victory with a new coach.
In the last match of Saturday, Samara's "Krylja Sovetov" met Moscow's "Moskva". The match started with the hosts' dominance, but it was the "Moskva" players who scored a goal. At the end of the first half, the hosts dominated completely, but they failed to score a goal.
The second half started again with active actions from the Samara players, but in the last ten minutes, "Moskva" managed to score three more goals and crushed the opponents with a score of 4-0.
18th round Saturday match statistics
2 – 2
27’ [1 - 0] Daniel Carvalho
35’ [1 - 1] Martin Jiranek
63’ [2 - 1] Ivica Olic
81’ [2 - 2] Roman Pavliuchenko
D.Šemberas ("CSKA") played the entire match, while I.Dedura ("Spartak") was not registered for the match.
1 – 0
61’ [1 - 0] Martin Kushev (11 m)
0 – 4
17’ [0 - 1] Hector Brakamonte
80’ [0 - 2] Pablo Borientos
83’ [0 - 3] Roman Adamov
87’ [0 - 4] Roman Adamov
E. Raziulis ("Krylja Sovetov") was not registered for the match.
