Tuesday, May 20, 2014

2013-14 Matchweek 30 Recap: CSKA secure title on last day

Hey everyone, this is (obviously) the final Matchweek Recap of the season, although over the next few days you'll be getting a season review and my team of the season selections. In footballing terms, what a cracking matchweek to end it on, with CSKA edging Lokomotiv to steal the title from under Zenit.

Tomsk 3-2 Rostov

Pavel Nekhaychik opened the scoring for Tomsk before Rostov were struck by injuries early on, losing Vitali Djakov and Arseni Logashov early in the first half. Kirill Panchenko grabbed a brace after half time, but Dmitri Poloz pulled one back with mere minutes to play. Despite a red card to Guelor Kanga Kaku, Florent Sinama-Pongolle was able to get a second for Rostov, but it wasn't enough to take a result.

Volga 1-2 Ural
Vladimir Koman scored a penalty on the stroke of half time and Aleksandr Sapeta made it two after the interval. Artur Sarkisov managed to score for the hosts with ten minutes remaining, but it proved to be only a consolation goal for the already-relegated Volga.

football formations Amkar 2-2 Krasnodar
Konstantin Vassiliev put the hosts in front with a good effort, but Mauricio Pereyra hit back with the equaliser immediately. Krasnodar carried this momentum to go ahead through the little-seen Sergei Petrov before Igor Picusceac got the last laugh and equalised for Amkar.

Anzhi 0-1 Krylia

In a dull affair, Artem Delkin got the only goal of the game just after half time, while substitute Serder Serderov was sent off in stoppage time for violent conduct.

Spartak 3-2 Dynamo

Dynamo went up by two goals thanks to strikes either side of half time by Gheorge Florescu and Aleksei Ionov before Spartak really got into the game. It wasn't long after Ionov's goal that Jose Jurado pulled one back, and Sergei Parshivlyuk got the equaliser a quarter of an hour after that. With the game coming to a close, Artur Yusupov gave away a penalty that Dmitri Kombarov scored to complete a memorable comeback and steal fifth place out from under Krasnodar's noses.

Rubin 1-1 Terek
This match was dull for the majority, aside from a few second half minutes in which both sides managed to score. It was Andrei Semenov who put Terek in front with his only goal of the season, before Rubin's substitute Kamil Mullin scored his own first goal of the season to equalise.

Kuban 1-4 Zenit
Despite an injury to Vyacheslav Malafeev, Zenit overran Kuban for much of the match, with all of Axel Witsel, Salomon Rondon and Oleg Shatov scoring before Lorenzo Melgarejo pulled one back for Kuban. His goal proved only to be a consolation when Hulk added a fourth in stoppage time.

CSKA 1-0 Lokomotiv

CSKA looked trumped by Lokomotiv for much of the match and couldn't score in the first half. Ultimately, the only goal came when Vedran Corluka made an awful backpass that allowed Zoran Tosic to score an impressive goal from range and take the title.


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

Thursday, May 15, 2014

CSKA 1-0 Lokomotiv: CSKA secure second consecutive RPL title

CSKA managed to clinch the title in an exhilarating decider with a 1-0 win over Lokomotiv at home.

CSKA lined up exactly as expected, however Lokomotiv played a somewhat bizarre set of players. Vedran Corluka was able to return from suspension in the centre of defence, however Renat Yanbaev continued to start over the much more consistent and impressive Roman Shishkin at right back. Also, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Aleksei Miranchuk and Sergei Tkachev started over Dame N'Doye, Mbark Boussoufa and Maicon respectively, the latter two choices seeming questionable at best.

CSKA needed a win to guarantee the title win, however neither side was able to get the upper hand early as Zenit went ahead after just 15 minutes through Axel Witsel to bump the St. Petersburg side into first place. It was Alan Dzagoev that had the best chance of the half for either team when he headed the ball just wide from a free kick, but it failed to trouble Guilherme. Another 10 minutes passed before anything changed in the title race, as Zenit extended their lead through a Salomon Rondon header. The lack of chances ensured that both Moscow sides went into the interval trailing Zenit in the title race, prompting Leonid Kuchuk to substitute Roman Shishkin on for Sergei Tkachev.

The title scene changed immediately after half time as CSKA were able to take the lead straight away. An abysmal back pass from Vedran Corluka was intercepted by Zoran Tosic, who finished low from outside the box to put CSKA into first place. The hosts then continued to build on this by attacking all out, and Dzagoev almost set up Pontus Wernbloom, but the Swede blazed the ball over the bar. Lokomotiv tried to change the game by introducing N'Doye and Boussoufa, but this failed to have a major impact as CSKA continued to push forward, threatening Guilherme's goal often. This was only to last a short while however, as the introduction of Ahmed Musa in place of Dzagoev compromised CSKA defensively, and Loko experienced a slight resurgence. Igor Akinfeev was forced to face several free kicks from dangerous positions, but was equal to all of the efforts. CSKA's defence got increasingly nervy as time went on, and a Vitali Denisov throw in with a minute of regular time left to play caused serious problems for the hosts, but it was eventually cleared and proved to be the final chance of the match. CSKA closed it out well and managed to take the title, despite Zenit's 4-1 win over Kuban in Krasnodar.

football formations Player of the Match: Georgi Schennikov
Schennikov bossed CSKA's left flank all game and shut down the in-form Aleksandr Samedov. An all around excellent performance from the 23-year-old.

Honourable Mentions:
Igor Akinfeev - Kept CSKA in the lead in the dying minutes of the match.
Zoran Tosic - Was largely invisible but did manage to get the title-clinching goal, so of course he gets a mention.

Notes:
- Lokomotiv came into this with almost no chance of securing the title, but they did themselves no favours and will now have to settle for third place. Disappointing way for them to end the season.
- I like Vedran Corluka, but good god that pass was awful. I will not be surprised at all if he receives death threats from Zenit fans in the coming weeks and months.
- These two teams have the best fullback pairings in the league, and CSKA certainly came out on top in that respect, although that can probably be attributed to Kuchuk's inexplicable dropping of Shishkin from the first XI.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

2013-14 Matchweek 29 Recap: Title race opens right up

Hey everyone! Because I'm absolutely awful (and I had exams), you haven't heard from me for more than a week. Never fear, I'm back just in time for the final matches of the season and a whole lot of post-season content that will blow you all away (not really, but you get the idea).

In footballing terms, this past matchweek saw the title race become a whole lot more interesting, as Zenit and Lokomotiv losses allowed CSKA to take the lead going into the final matchweek. As it stands, CSKA will take the title if they can beat Loko, while Zenit have to win and rely on Loko to get points at CSKA. The only way Loko can get the title themselves is if they beat CSKA and Zenit fail to beat Kuban.

football formations Ural 2-1 Kuban
Ural were impressive in attack against Kuban, yet despite their early dominance, they had to rely on a penalty to take the lead, when Gerson Acevedo converted in the 27th minute. It took only 9 minutes for the man who gave away the penalty, Vladislav Ignatiev, to redeem himself and equalise, but he was unable to make any further impact before he was substituted in the second half. Meanwhile, Ural continued to be the more impressive team and were rewarded for their persistence when substitute Denis Dorozhkin put away the winner with just 7 minutes remaining.

Krylia 0-4 Rubin
Despite the scoreline, Krylia actually played much better than Rubin, but their profligacy, combined with Rubin's excellent finishing, cost them the game. Mubarak Wakaso was the only player to convert in the first half, but Rubin opened the floodgates after the interval and poured in three more through Pavel Mogilevets, Sardar Azmoun and Marko Devic to score four goals with just four shots on target and take the three points.

Spartak 1-0 Amkar
Spartak were able to halt their three game losing streak thanks to an overly defensive lineup against Amkar. The hosts kept three central defenders for most of the match and played Dmitri Kombarov and Sergei Parshivlyuk as wing-backs. It was Yura Movsisyan who got the match's only goal just after the half hour mark, and it was enough for Spartak to hold on for the three points.

Terek 2-0 Volga

Terek soundly overwhelmed Volga, but Sergei Pareiko kept the visitors in it for far longer than he had any right to. It was the ever brilliant Oleg Ivanov who opened the scoring with only a quarter of an hour to play, and Denis Kolodin was sent off shortly afterwards. Substitute Jeremy Bokila added the finishing blow in stoppage time to give Terek the win.

Zenit 2-4 Dynamo

Oh boy, this game deserves a standalone article, but unfortunately I'm pressed for time, so this is all you'll get. Danny put the hosts ahead after just 6 minutes, but Dynamo managed to score four goals unanswered as Zenit struggled to do anything at all with the ball. Substitute Aleksandr Kerzhakov managed to pull one back, but seeing that the title was slipping out of their hands, Zenit's fans stormed the pitch, causing the match to be abandoned and the points awarded to Dynamo.

CSKA 2-0 Tomsk
CSKA were quite clearly the better side, but it still took a Renat Sabitov own goal after an hour for them to take the lead, and they were occasionally threatened by the visitors before Seydou Doumbia finished it off in stoppage time.

Krasnodar 1-0 Anzhi
Anzhi were impressively dominant, but were unable to overcome an early Andreas Granqvist goal despite Fyodor Smolov rattling the crossbar in the second half. This defeat means that their extremely disappointing season has definitely resulted in their relegation.

Rostov 2-0 Lokomotiv

Rostov had to cope with the absence of Loko loanee Arseni Logashov, but still managed to take the lead when Vitali Djakov put the ball in the back of the net. It was captain Timofey Kalachev who killed the game off in the 67th minute and almost certainly doomed Loko's title chase.


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

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Lokomotiv 1-1 Zenit: Exhilarating title clash ends in fair draw

A ridiculously entertaining match between the two main contenders for the RPL title has ended in a draw, maintaining Zenit's advantage in the title chase with only two matches left to play.

Lokomotiv lined up a little strangely, as Lassana Diarra and Maicon continued to miss out due to injuries, while Vedran Corluka was dropped thanks to his suspension. However, the more controversial lineup decision was the inclusion of Renat Yanbaev over regular left back Vitali Denisov. On a more positive note, Mbark Boussoufa and Dame N'Doye were able to return to the lineup, however in the latter case, this required dropping the in-form Roman Pavlyuchenko from the starting XI. Zenit, on the other hand, lined up mostly as expected.

Neither side was particularly dominant in the early stages, although Lokomotiv were perhaps the better of the sides, having two good chances early on. After just eight minutes, Aleksandr Samedov sent him a cross that N'doye headed at goal, but Yuri Lodygin was able to make the save easily. It was twelve minutes before either side really had another good chance, and it was Lokomotiv again when a Samedov free kick rattled the crossbar, but ultimately came to nothing when the rebound was put out by Sergei Tkachev. However, it proved to be the next major chance that broke the deadlock fifteen minutes later. Jan Durica's overhead clearance failed dramatically, falling straight to Salomon Rondon, who fired through Durica's legs and past Ilya Abaev to give Zenit the lead. Zenit then held the ball for much of the rest of the half, not really threatening Lokomotiv's goal again but also not really being threatened themselves.

football formationsHalftime saw no changes from either team and Zenit came out in much the same way they had finished the half, but that soon changed as Lokomotiv started circulating the ball more and forcing Zenit into defence. However, before they could put any chances at goal together, the stadium was filled with smoke as fans set off flairs and smoke bombs, temporarily preventing the game from continuing. When the game resumed, Lokomotiv continued to push, but were almost hit on the break by Hulk, but Abaev was equal to his strong effort. The game then developed into something of a comedy, as both the referee and one of the linesmen inadvertently interfered with play, and the referee was injured in the process, leading to him being replaced by the fourth official, which took up roughly five minutes. A few minutes after play restarted, Danny went through on goal and gave the ball to Oleg Shatov in front of an open goal, but Roman Shishkin was able to make a game saving tackle and force a corner which came to nothing. Lokomotiv went straight back up the other end and Lodygin fumbled a cross to Sergei Tkachev, who slotted away coolly. Suffering an equaliser forced Zenit into action, and they almost took the lead when Hulk played Aleksandr Anyukov through with an excellent pass, but the right back cross for nobody in particular.

Both sides had a few half-chances in regular time, but ultimately the referee (now fourth official) indicated that there was to be seven minutes of stoppage time. Substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko had a chance to score but got the ball caught up in his feet and was dispossessed, before Boussoufa created space with some excellent footwork and floated in a cross, but it was too high for Samedov and Pavlyuchenko. Witsel then created space down the other end and had a shot on goal, but it was blocked by Yanbaev and the game then ended in a draw.

Man of the Match: Axel Witsel
Witsel was excellent all game, dictating Zenit's play when they were in control, but also defending well when they were under pressure in the second half.

Honourable Mentions:
Nicolas Lombaerts - Defended solidly and distributed well from the back. A solid performance from the Belgian.
Sergei Tkachev - Scored the equaliser and was good cutting in off that left flank right until he was substituted.
Lassana Diarra - Came off the bench and really got Lokomotiv back into the game with some great all around play.

Notes:
- This game really had everything. Keeper mistakes, referee injuries, spectator interference and boots to the head (Nicolas Lombaerts on Roman Pavlyuchenko late on), as well as some fantastic and entertaining football.
- The inclusion of N'Doye and Yanbaev really can't be explained. Roman Pavlyuchenko looked much better than N'Doye once the switch was made, while Yanbaev did a poor job of stopping Hulk.
- The narrow play of Zenit caused real problems for Lokomotiv in the first half, but the hosts managed to counteract that after the break (especially after Diarra's introduction) and were outnumbered in midfield far less.
- Seriously, this game. Wow.