Round 22: "CSKA" returns to the leader position in Russia

2006-10-15 23:58 © EuroFootball.com

Over the weekend, the 22nd round matches were played in the Russian Premier League. In the round match, Moscow's "Spartak" defeated St. Petersburg's "Zenit," "Lokomotiv" unexpectedly lost at home to "Moskva," "CSKA" regained leader positions after a victory against Kazan's "Rubin," and the "most Lithuanian" club "Dinamo" once again had to feel the taste of defeat.

In the first Saturday match, Vladivostok's "Luch-Energia" faced Moscow's "Dinamo," which was struggling at the bottom of the table. "Luch" started attacking from the first minutes and scored a goal in the 4th minute.

After conceding a goal, "Dinamo" responded with two dangerous attacks. In the first opportunity, R. Poskus had a chance to score, and in the second D. Chochlovas scored a goal to equalize the result.

However, right after equalizing the result, "Dinamo" received a painful blow. "Luch" players quickly organized an attack from the center, and B. Adzhindzalas scored again. The game then calmed down, but towards the end of the half, "Luch" organized another dangerous attack and scored a third goal.

In the second half, "Luch" dominated the field and had opportunities to score, but the match ended 3-1 in favor of "Luch."

In the round match, Moscow's "Spartak" played against St. Petersburg's "Zenit," led by head coach D. Advocaat, who had not lost a game yet.

In the beginning of the first half, the guests attacked dangerously, but the hosts also showed strength. Later, the game shifted to the center, where there was a fierce battle between the opponents.

In the second half, the situation remained essentially the same. Both teams tried to attack, but most attacking moves were stopped by defensive walls, with the most dangerous chances usually coming from set pieces.

"Zenit" had a hundred percent chance to score when A. Arshavin lifted a corner and a South Korean legionnaire headed towards the goal, but a little over the crossbar. In response, "Spartak" scored with a long-range shot from R. Shiskin.

V. Bystrov could have punished his former team, but his shot from an acute angle missed the target. Following this attack, "Zenit" intensified their attack, but it seemed like the match would end in a draw.

However, during added time after D. Bojarintsev's pass, R. Pavlyuchenko failed to break through "Zenit's" goalkeeper, but V. Bystrov, who was the first to the rebound, scored the decisive goal. "Spartak" won 1-0, taking a significant step in the ongoing battle for the championship laurels, while "Zenit" suffered their first defeat under D. Advocaat's leadership.

In Perm, the recently performing well "Amkar" faced Ramenskoye's "Saturn" club. The match started slowly, with occasional bursts of activity from both teams.

In the second half, "Amkar" handed over the initiative to the visitors, who had several dangerous opportunities. Meanwhile, "Amkar" hoped to achieve a positive result through counterattacks.

In one such counterattack near the penalty area, "Saturn" defender brought down V. Paramonov, who himself converted the penalty, creating a small football masterpiece. "Saturn" goalkeeper played the ball with his hands outside the penalty area to stop a dangerous attack.

A penalty was awarded for this offense, and the visitors' goalkeeper was sent off, but this time the penalty was not converted into a goal as "Amkar" settled for a minimal 1-0 victory.

In Nalchik, the local "Spartak," who had already achieved all their goals for the season, faced Moscow's "Torpedo," for whom every match lately seemed like the last.

The mood was set, and the hosts started the first half by completely dominating and trying to create dangerous opportunities, with one such opportunity coming right in front of the visitors' goal.

After twenty minutes of the first half, "Spartak" slowly began to take over the initiative and show something to their fans.

The second half began with attacks from the hosts. Initially, they attempted long-range shots, and later they tried intricate combinations near the penalty area.

However, neither team managed to score, and the match ended 0-0.

In another round match, Kazan's "Rubin" faced Moscow's "CSKA." "CSKA" had serious player problems when traveling to Kazan, and thus D. Sembera had to use his squad to the fullest.

The champions started the match actively, but lacked the final pass. Initially, "Rubin" played fairly cautiously and did not even try to attack, but after seeing that "CSKA" could not do anything, they launched a couple of dangerous attacks and scored a goal in one of them.

In the second half, "CSKA" began to attack "Rubin's" goal more fiercely, but they almost conceded another goal. This missed opportunity was a sign for "CSKA" to start scoring.

After a fine pass from D. Semberas, J. Zhirkov scored, and four minutes later, "CSKA" Brazilian legionnaire Dudu scored the second goal. After the missed goals, "Rubin" did not find the strength for a final attack, and "CSKA" won 2-1.

In the final Saturday match, Moscow's "Lokomotiv" faced "Moskva." The teams started the match slowly, but "Lokomotiv" increasingly shifted into the visitors' territory.

Despite being stuck in "Moskva's" defense, "Lokomotiv" could not extract anything from their dominance, while "Moskva" had several dangerous opportunities near the hosts' goal.

In the second half, "Lokomotiv" showed that they were not satisfied with the course of the match and played more actively and aggressively. Meanwhile, "Moskva" hoped to gain something from counterattacks.

In one of "Moskva's" counterattacks, the team's newcomer from Argentina P. Barrientos scored a great goal. "Lokomtiv" did not settle for defeat and aggressively attacked the opponents' goal, but faced an impenetrable "Moskva" defense and had to accept a 1-0 defeat.

In Sunday's matches, "Rostov" faced Tomsk's "Tom." The hosts earned a penalty kick early in the match, which their captain M. Osinov successfully converted.

After scoring the goal, there was more positional jockeying on the field with few chances to score, but towards the end of the first half, one of these chances allowed the visitors to equalize and the first half ended with a tie.

In the second half, both teams played more actively. P. Pogrebnyak stood out on the visitors' side, while the hosts increasingly tried to secure victory with long-range shots. One of these shots hit the target, and "Rostov" won 2-1 against "Tom."

In the last round match, Samara's "Krylja Sovetov" faced Yaroslavl's "Shinnik." Throughout most of the match, the hosts dominated, scoring two goals without a response and winning 2-0 against the absolute league outsiders.

22nd Round Statistics:

League table: