Temporary Break

Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted in two weeks, and so I thought I should explain. I will unfortunately have to take a break from writing FBTIC until November 1st due to my own commitments. I thank you for your patience.

2013-14 Matchweek 7 Recap: Zenit Top Table for First Time

In the last matchweek before both the transfer deadline and the international break, Zenit St. Petersburg have gone to the top of the table for the first time this season, however their victory over Lokomotiv was tarnished by poor refereeing.

CSKA 2-1 Amkar
CSKA completely dominated after going down in under a minute, and fought back to win 2-1 with goals from Seydou Doumbia and Ahmed Musa. The hosts probably could have won by more considering their dominance, however they were disadvantaged by an injury to Doumbia just 9 minutes after his goal.

Terek 1-1 Anzhi
Anzhi's terrible start to the season has continued with a 1-1 draw with Terek. Centre back Ewerton opened the scoring for Anzhi just after the half hour mark, before Terek threw everything they had at an equaliser. Their efforts were repaid in the 87th minute when Ailton converted from the penalty spot, however their dominance deserved a win.

Krasnodar 3-0 Volga
Wanderson and Joaozinho put on a clinic in Krasnodar's 3-0 victory over Volga, with each player involved in the scoring twice. Wanderson put the finish on two goals, while Joaozinho set up one and scored the side's final effort. However, it must be noted that the match was far more even than the scoreline suggests and it could easily have gone the other way with some better finishing from Volga.

Zenit 2-1 Lokomotiv
I don't really have much to say about this match other than that the referee was terrible. If you want to know more, you can read my match report here.

Ural 0-3 Rubin
Ural were outplayed by a fantastic Rubin side, in particular Salomon Rondon and Bibras Natkho. Rondon finally appears to be paying off his transfer fee after a year in the club and he was fantastic on Sunday, scoring all three of the match's goals, two of which were set up by Natkho.

Spartak 2-1 Tom
Spartak struggled to an unremarkable win against continually poor Tom Tomsk. The hosts conceded first through the excellent Vladimir Rykov, but came from behind to win 2-1 through goals from Yura Movsisyan and Pavel Yakovlev. The win, like CSKA's earlier in the weekend, could have been much more comfortable were it not for poor finishing.

Krylia 0-0 Kuban
Krylia and Kuban fought to a goalless draw, although this was less due to poor finishing and more due to fantastic defensive work from both sides.

Dynamo 1-1 Rostov
Neither side were able to fully capitalise on an open match and take the victory, as Hrvoje Milic and Aleksandr Kokorin scored early on in each half to send both supporters home with what should be seen as a satisfactory result.

Table:
1 - Zenit
2 - Spartak
3 - Rostov
4 - CSKA
5 - Lokomotiv
6 - Rubin
7 - Krasnodar
8 - Kuban
9 - Dynamo
10 - Amkar
11 - Krylia
12 - Volga
13 - Terek
14 - Anzhi
15 - Ural
16 - Tom

Zenit 2-1 Lokomotiv: Match Takes Back Seat to Poor Officiating

What promised to be a good match was ultimately ruined by poor officiating as referee Sergei Ivanov failed to contain tensions between the two teams and ultimately awarded each side an unnecessary penalty.

Both sides lined up basically as expected, Zenit in their typical 4-3-3, with a midfield consisting of Konstantin Zyryanov, Axel Witsel and Roman Shirokov. Aleksandr Kerzhakov was the only change in the front three, replacing Oleg Shatov, while Tomas Hubocan started at left back despite the presence of Nicolas Lombaerts in the starting XI. Lokomotiv too went with their preferred formation, a 4-2-3-1, and their standard back four all got starts. Meanwhile, Lassana Diarra got his first start for Lokomotiv and Felipe Caicedo was favoured up front to Dame N'Doye and Roman Pavlyuchenko, both of whom started on the bench.

Zenit opened the match well, with Axel Witsel coming close within 5 minutes, however Ilya Abaev was there to make a solid save. Minutes later, we saw a sign of what was to come, as the referee dished out unnecessary cards to Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Vedran Corluka. The match continued in this vein when, following a Mbark Boussoufa free kick that rattled the crossbar, Luis Neto and Renat Ranbaev were also booked, with Yanbaev being the first player to actually deserve a card. It was Zenit who had the next chance, as Andrei Arshavin cut into the box from the right and shot across the face of goal, before Boussoufa shook the woodwork again 15 minutes later with a shot from just inside the box. As the half wound to an end, Roman Shirokov and Lassana Diarra tripped over one another in the Lokomotiv box, and the referee deemed it a professional foul (which was the wrong call in my opinion), sending Diarra off and awarding Zenit a penalty, which Shirokov confidently converted.

Now down a man, Lokomotiv manager Leonid Kuchuk was forced to make a defensive change, with Felipe Caicedo being replaced by Jan Tigorev at half time. It appeared to work at first, as Lokomotiv gained possession for long spells and coming close through Maicon and Dmitri Tarasov in the opening 10 minutes of the half. Their efforts finally paid off when, in the 69th minute, the referee made another poor decision, deeming that Igor Smolnikov handled the ball in the box and handing Lokomotiv a chance to equalise from the spot. Boussoufa took the opportunity and put the teams back on level terms, although Zenit pushed harder and finally started to retake control of the match. Nonetheless, Lokomotiv defended valiantly and appeared to have held the hosts to a draw when they were punished in the 86th minute. Danny dribbled into the Lokomotiv box and cut the ball back to Konstantin Zyryanov (seriously, that guy is still playing?!), who shot past Abaev from the edge of the box, ending the match at 2-1 to Zenit.

Man of the Match: Mbark Boussoufa
Boussoufa was excellent on the ball, creating a number of chances with his excellent passing. He was unlucky not to score from open play, however he made up for it by scoring the penalty.

Honourable Mentions:
Nicolas Lombaerts - Solid at the back and confident on the ball, Lombaerts relieved pressure on his midfielders by taking up some of the playmaking burden.
Roman Shirokov - Shirokov had an unusually poor passing game, yet was fantastic with the ball at his feet and confidently converted from the spot to put the hosts in front.
Dmitri Tarasov - Tarasov didn't put a foot out of line all match, effectively creating play and breaking up Zenit attacks with apparent ease.