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Five matches on Sunday marked the end of the first round of the Russian championship. In the first matches of the season, the clubs "Zenit" and "Lokomotiv" stumbled while challenging last year's leaders, hoping for victories, while the main favorites "CSKA," "Spartak," and "Amkar" started with wins.
Many eyes were on St. Petersburg on Sunday, where the Eastern Europe team, "Zenit," with ambitions not only for the Russian championship gold but also for prizes in Europe, met with Ramenskoye's "Saturn" club.
However, the match was tough for the hosts, and in the 29th minute, Fernando Ricksen missed an 11-meter penalty shot in the first half.
Although in the second half, after playing three minutes, "Saturn" defender Gogita Gogua was sent off the field with a second yellow card, the guests took the lead in the 54th minute - this time, an 11-meter penalty was awarded to "Zenit," and Andrei Karyaka marked his return to the Russian championship with a goal.
"Zenit" threw all their efforts into attacking, but they could only save the game in the dying moments when Fatih Tekke sent the ball into the net after a pass from Andrei Arshavin - the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Another contender for the championship, Moscow's "Lokomotiv," had a rough start, unable to defeat Krasnodar's "Kuban" on their away match. The visitors from the capital had a real chance to score, but Dmitry Loskov missed an 11-meter penalty in the 22nd minute.
Taking advantage of their opponents' failures were the clubs "CSKA" and "Spartak," who finished first and second in the league in 2006. "The Army Men" with Deivid Shemba, after conceding a goal, rallied to win by scoring three, while "Spartak" in the Moscow derby, after a goal by Yegor Titov, defeated "Dynamo" ten minutes before the end of the match, with Zdrunas Karcemarskas and debutant Arunas Klimavicius playing in their ranks.
Meanwhile, the team "Amkar" from Perm, which fought for survival last season, won the duel against "Rostov" convincingly with a score of 3-1.
Statistics of Round 1 matches on Sunday
"CSKA" 3 - 1 "Rubin" 29' [0 - 1] Fernando Gabirel 45' [1 - 1] Evgeniy Aldonin 52' [2 - 1] Sergei Ignashevich (penalty) 63' [3 - 1] Jo D. Shemberas ("CSKA") played the entire match.
"Zenit" 1 - 1 "Saturn" 54' [0 - 1] Andriy Karyaka (penalty) 90' [1 - 1] Fatih Tekke Gogita Gogua ("Saturn") was sent off the field in the 48th minute. R. Dziukstas played from the 90th minute, E. Cesnauskis (both "Saturn") remained on the bench.
"Amkar" 3 - 1 "Rostov" 26' [1 - 0] Dmitry Belorukov 33' [2 - 0] Andrey Kobenko 70' [2 - 1] Mihajlo Pjanovic 74' [3 - 1] Tomislav Dujmovic
"Dynamo" 0 - 1 "Spartak" 80' [0 - 1] Yegor Titov Jovan Tanasijevic ("Dynamo") was sent off the field in the 83rd minute. Z. Karcemarskas and A. Klimavicius (both "Dynamo") played the entire match.
"Kuban" 0 - 0 "Lokomotiv"
