Tuesday, December 3, 2013

2013-14 Matchweek 18 Recap: Loko go top of table while Spartak score 6

I miscalculated the times of the matches this week, so there won't be a match report unfortunately. In actual news, Lokomotiv have finally moved to first place in the league, Spartak obliterated Volga and CSKA were held to a draw by Rostov.

Dynamo 3-0 Ural

Dynamo and Ural were mostly even in terms of possession, but the hosts were certainly the more attacking of the two sides. After a goalless half hour, Vladimir Granat put Dynamo in front off a corner, however this was the only goal of the half. It didn't take nearly as long after the break for Dynamo to score their second, as Kevin Kuranyi extended their lead after just 12 minutes. Just 9 minutes later, Ural gave away a penalty but Kokorin's effort was saved by replacement keeper Aleksei Solosin. Regardless, Kokorin made up for his error with a tricky finish 3 minutes later to close out the scoring.

Terek 1-1 Zenit
With a surprisingly weak effort going forward from Zenit in the first half, the game went into the interval scoreless, but it didn't remain that way for long after the break. Igor Lebedenko put Terek ahead in the 51st minute with a wonderful (and deflected) strike off a corner that fell to him at the edge of the box. Zenit struggled for an equaliser and it took Axel Witsel's excellent shot from the edge of the box 12 minutes from time to bring the scores level and salvage a point.

Krylia 1-0 Krasnodar
Although neither side was particularly limp in attack, this match remained scoreless for over an hour, due in part to both excellent goalkeeping and bad luck. With the clock running down, it was Krylia who struck via Stanislav Dragun, who slotted away coolly when Aleksandr Filtsov's attempt at a clearance fell to him. Krylia were then able to shut up shop and hold their lead to take what can only be seen as an impressive victory.

Spartak 6-1 Volga
This one progressed just as the scoreline suggests, with complete and total dominance from Spartak. Jose Jurado scored the first two goals, including opening the scoring within 3 minutes. Lucas Barrios followed up, scoring his first for Spartak just before half time, while Aras Ozbiliz was up next, scoring the fourth and putting the game well beyond doubt. Dmitri Bulykin missed a penalty, before Matija Dvornekovic finally pulled one back for the visitors. Nonetheless, Spartak continued scoring as Ozbiliz grabbed his second before Denis Kolodin finished the scoring with an own goal to give Spartak a fantastic five goal win.

Anzhi 0-2 Tom
Anzhi's hopeless run continued although they looked significantly better than they have thus far this season. After dominating the possession and chances for most of the first half, the hosts went behind as Kirill Panchenko finished well from the edge of the box. It was Mikhail Komkov who killed off the game just 2 minutes after being substituted on with a powerful low shot.

Rostov 0-0 CSKA
football formationsRostov were the better side for the majority of the match, controlling possession and having more chances, yet they were unable to find a way through. The most interesting feature of this match was actually the returns of Zhano Ananidze and Alan Dzagoev from injury.

Kuban 1-3 Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv had an excellent opening 30 minutes to go up by three goals. Maicon opened the scoring for Loko after just 4 minutes, finishing coolly, before Vedran Corluka extended the lead with a header 10 minutes later. Mbark Boussoufa finished off the scoring for the visitors after an excellent build up play, and Loko were more than happy to sit back and defend for the rest of the match. Djibril Cisse pulled one back in the final minutes, but it was far too little, far too late for the hosts.

Rubin 3-0 Amkar
Bibras Natkho opened the scoring just before half time for the hosts, but it was the substitutions that really made a difference for Rubin. Salomon Rondon and Oleg Kuzmin were introduced off the bench at different points in the second half, and they each scored less than 2 minutes after coming on to take a solid home win.

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

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