Tuesday, November 26, 2013

2013-14 Matchweek 17 Recap: Moscow derbies tighten title chase

Back to back Moscow derbies allowed Lokomotiv to close the gap between themselves and Zenit to goals scored, sitting level with the St Petersburg side on both points and goal difference. Meanwhile, CSKA's win over Spartak allowed them to pull level on points with their rivals, but remaining in fourth place due to their inferior goal difference.

football formationsZenit 0-2 Rostov
Zenit were stunned by two first half goals from Vitali Djakov and Timofei Kalachev, forcing them into action at the half as Luciano Spalletti made two subs in an effort to get back into the match. On the other hand, Miodrag Bozovic's side sat deep to hold their lead and was able to maintain it until the final whistle to take an incredible result away from home.

Tom 0-1 Rubin
An uninteresting first half was followed by an exciting and combative second period, in which Tom Tomsk's Pavel Golyshev was sent off and Rubin were issued six yellow cards. It was Sergei Kislyak who ultimately got the winner, however the visitors would likely have expected more goals given their utter dominance.

Amkar 3-1 Kuban
Kuban took the lead just before the half hour mark and then proceeded to sit back and park the bus for the remainder of the match. Initially, it appeared to work, however Amkar rallied in the final quarter of an hour, scoring three times to take the win and continue their excellent season.

CSKA 1-0 Spartak
Spartak controlled possession throughout the match while CSKA countered strongly, yet ultimately it was a joint error from Artem Rebrov and Evgenni Makeev that allowed Seydou Doumbia to score the winner in only the 7th minute.

Lokomotiv 1-0 Dynamo
On the other hand, the weekend's second Moscow derby was even throughout as the two teams battled for the three points. It was Dame N'Doye who gave Lokomotiv the lead halfway through the second half, but Dynamo looked likely to equalise for much of the rest of the match, with only Loko's excellent defence holding onto the win.

Ural 1-1 Krylia
Denis Tumasyan scored first for the hosts, but his efforts were undermined by Aleksandr Erokhin, who got sent off just after half time, allowing Krylia to completely dominate the match. However, their attempts came to nothing until very late on, when Luis Caballero's late equaliser salvaged a result for the visitors.

Anzhi 0-0 Volga
This match was very boring and very ugly. Anzhi are still terrible.

Krasnodar 3-2 Terek
Krasnodar took the spoils in a back and forth match that could very easily have gone Terek's way. The hosts first went ahead via a Marcin Komorowski own goal, before Oleg Ivanov equalised just over a minute later. It was Krasnodar's Pavel Mamaev who scored next, but again the visitors pegged back immediately via Ivanov, who scored less than a minute after Mamaev. However, the winner ultimately came from Krasnodar, when Wanderson scored just over 15 minutes from time to take the three points.

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

No comments:

Post a Comment