2014 FIFA World Cup - Russia Preview

Russia kicks off their World Cup campaign against South Korea in Tuesday's late game, and I'm here to give you a preview of how they should perform and what their squad looks like going into their first World Cup in 12 years.

Qualifying Campaign:
Russia were solid if uninspiring through their qualifying campaign, going toe to toe with the established force of Portugal, but also struggling with lesser sides like Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan. The highlights of the qualifying campaign were certainly the 1-0 defeat of Portugal and 4-0 demolitions of Israel and Luxembourg. On the other hand, Capello's side will be disappointed with falling to a defeat against Northern Ireland and a draw and narrow win over Azerbaijan.


The Squad:
Goalkeepers
Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Yuri Lodygin (Zenit St. Petersburg), Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan)

Defenders
Aleksei Kozlov (Dynamo Moscow), Georgi Schennikov (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Andrei Semyonov (Terek Grozny), Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), Vasili Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow), Andrei Yeshchenko (Anzhi Makhachkala), Dmitri Kombarov (Spartak Moscow)

Midfielders
Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Pavel Mogilevets (Zenit St. Petersburg/Rubin Kazan), Oleg Shatov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Yuri Zhirkov (Dynamo Moscow), Aleksandr Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Victor Faizulin (Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksei Ionov (Dynamo Moscow)

Forwards
Maksim Kanunnikov (Rubin Kazan), Aleksandr Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow), Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Zenit St. Petersburg)

Notable Absences
Russia's captain, Roman Shirokov misses out thanks to injury, allowing Pavel Mogilevets (a player with only 13 professional matches under his belt) the chance to play. Most of the other large absences were due entirely to Capello's bizarre squad selection. The second highest RPL goalscorer this season, Artem Dzyuba, was oddly left in the standby squad in place of Maksim Kanunnikov, who was sub-par over the past year. Similarly, Mogilevets and Faizulin getting the call over Oleg Ivanov and Dmitri Tarasov in central midfield can only be seen as absurd. Further odd call ups were made in defence, as the underperforming Andrei Semyonov and Andrei Yeshchenko were selected in central defence in place of Vladimir Rykov and Dmitri Belorukov. Meanwhile, Aleksei Kozlov was selected over Roman Shishkin, Arseni Logashov and Igor Smolnikov in a decision that, while less bizarre, is certainly still puzzling.


The Group Stage Opponents:
South Korea
South Korea and Russia actually met in a friendly last October, and an under strength Russia side still managed to take a 2-1 win. Expect Russia to improve on that result with a much better (although still below full strength) squad, as opposed to that of South Korea, which looks like one of the four or five worst in the tournament on paper.
Prediction: 4-0 Russia

Belgium
Belgium have been touted by many as dark horse contenders for the World Cup, and it's easy to see why. Despite lacking natural fullbacks, Belgium's defence is incredibly solid, with two outstanding keepers and a plethora of fantastic central defenders. The midfield is also incredibly strong, featuring players such as Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele and Axel Witsel. On top of that, the 'Red Devils' have two very physical strikers in Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke that are capable of bullying even the best defenders, and should make light work of the aging Ignashevich and Berezutskiy.
Prediction: 2-1 Belgium

Algeria
Despite clearing their qualifying group fairly comfortably, Algeria don't really look like threatening Belgium and Russia for the top two places. The African side is clearly strongest in midfield with the likes of Sofiane Feghouli, Nabil Bentaleb and Saphir Taider, but lack quality in most of the other areas of the squad, meaning that they will likely struggle to get a result against everyone except South Korea.
Prediction: 3-1 Russia


Possible Knockout Opponents:
Germany
The most likely option for Russia to play in the round of 16 is Germany, who sit as favourites for first place in Group G, and should thus play the second placed team in Group H. On top of this, Germany also sit as one of the favourites to take the tournament as a whole, and should overrun a weakened Russia in midfield, while a sturdy and capable defence will limit the chances that Russia has to score.
Prediction: 4-1 Germany

Portugal
Having already played Russia in qualifying, Portugal are something of a known commodity for the Russia squad. Capello will want to take advantage of the lessons learned in the matches that the two teams contested and will look for the team to make an early impact on the game should they meet Portugal in the knockout rounds. Despite this and the positive result that Russia got against Portugal in October 2012, it seems likely that the Iberians will take the win, although in a much closer fought match than would be seen against Germany.
Prediction: 2-1 Portugal in extra time


Overall Prediction:
This Russia squad looks like a lock for second place in Group H behind Belgium, but the poor squad selection will likely limit any progression further than the round of 16. While it is possible that the squad manages to take first place from Belgium, it is far more likely that they will be the runners up and will thus have to face the winner of Group G. Both of the most likely options look like fairly comfortable winners against Capello's men, and if Germany indeed faces Russia, a rout seems likely.
Group Stage: 2nd
Round of 16: Knocked out by Germany or Portugal

2013-14 Russian Premier League Season Review

Apologies all for the late Season Review. Schoolwork and personal business came up and prevented me from completing it earlier.

This season featured one of the closest title races in RPL history. Lokomotiv and Zenit traded the lead for much of the season, before CSKA moved into first place in the second last matchweek and held on to take their second consecutive title. At the other end of the table, the significantly weakened Anzhi went through the entire first half of the season without a win and were ultimately relegated after being touted as title contenders at the opening of the season.

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


The Surprises of the Season:

Anzhi Makhachkala
Anzhi started the season as title favourites, but financial issues with owner Suleyman Kerimov forced the club to sell most of their top earners. As a result, the team sank down the table and they were unable to get a win before the winter break. Their form took a turn for the better after returning from the break thanks to signing a number of players on loan, but it wasn't enough to even drag them away from top spot.

Lokomotiv Moscow
Lokomotiv were expected by many to finish in midtable thanks to their lack of significant transfer movement over the summer, but the consistency of the side helped them lead the table for much of the season. Their form started to tail off in the final few weeks, causing them to ultimately drop below Zenit, and then a loss to CSKA on the final day sealed their fate in third place.

Spartak Moscow
Spartak looked very much like title contenders at the beginning of the season, thanks to their deep strike force and capable midfield, but injuries in the centre of defence devastated the squad and led to a drop of form in the second half of the season. Manager Valeri Karpin lost his job after a poor run of results, however the side's form failed to take a turn for the better and they ultimately finished in fifth.

Rostov
Rostov started the season as a rag tag bunch of loanees, but managed to string together some fantastic form and pulled off some incredible upsets. Spartak loanee Artem Dzyuba was the second top scorer in the RPL and Arseni Logashov was one of the better defenders in the league.


Team of the Season:
My team of the season is based on the number of appearances of each player in the Team of the Week in my Matchweek Recaps and is as follows:

Starting XI
GK - Yuri Lodygin - 4 appearances in Team of the Week
Lodygin was a new signing at Zenit and went straight into the starting XI ahead of veteran keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev. Lodygin was prone to a few errors towards the end of the season, but was otherwise very solid and won the St Petersburg side points all on his own.

RB - Arseni Logashov - 5 appearances in Team of the Week
Logashov started the season under contract to Anzhi, but was sold to Lokomotiv who immediately sent on loan to Rostov, where he shone as one of the team's stars. He was first choice for the entire season and built a great partnership with Timofey Kalachev down the right flank, but somehow his form was not enough to warrant being called into the World Cup squad.

CB - Vedran Corluka - 5 appearances in Team of the Week
Corluka was solid as usual, and with him as an important cog, Lokomotiv's defence went on to be the best in the league. The Croatian did ultimately cost Zenit the title when he gave the ball away for CSKA to score in the final match, but errors like these were few and far between.

CB - Vladimir Rykov - 4 appearances in Team of the Week
Rykov went on loan to Tom Tomsk from Dynamo Moscow and was easily the side's best player for the entire season. Another undeserving snub from the Russian World Cup squad, and a player that should see interest from a lot of RPL clubs after the end of his Dynamo Moscow contract.

LB - Vitali Denisov - 7 appearances in Team of the Week
Another key cog in Lokomotiv's excellent defence, Vitali Denisov was dominant driving down the left flank or defending solidly under pressure.

CM - Axel Witsel - 3 appearances in Team of the Week
Witsel was Zenit's standout player for the second straight season, defending incredibly well while also being a great creative force. The Belgian was under some doubt about taking the full defensive load on his own, but performed the role well and kept other, more experienced, midfielders on the bench.

CM - Oleg Ivanov - 5 appearances in Team of the Week
The third undeserving snub from the Russia squad, Oleg Ivanov, proved to be the best box to box midfielder in the RPL this season. It was Ivanov's first season since 2009 in which he was definite first choice, and he took the opportunity well, scoring 4 times and providing 2 assists in addition to his solid defensive work.

RW - Zoran Tosic - 6 appearances in Team of the Week
Zoran Tosic could be heralded as the man who won CSKA the title after his match-winning goal on the final day, but this was only the icing on the cake for the Serbian winger, who excelled yet again this season. He combined well with Mario Fernandes down the right flank and stepped up to become one of CSKA's most important players after the departure of Keisuke Honda, scoring 11 times in 27 games.

AM - Alan Dzagoev - 6 appearances in Team of the Week
Dzagoev had something of a stop start season thanks to injuries and suspensions, but still managed to get on the scoresheet himself 3 times, and set up other players a further 4 times in just 18 games. In addition to this tally, he was played deeper than he traditionally has been, being molded into something of a deep-lying playmaker, and this looks to be his role in the squad going forward.

LW - Jose Manuel Jurado - 4 appearances in Team of the Week
Jurado started the season fantastically and, despite his form taking a turn for the worse along with the rest of Spartak in the second half of the season, the Spaniard still managed to score 8 times in 29 games.

ST - Seydou Doumbia - 5 appearances in Team of the Week
Doumbia continued his difficult return from injury after missing much of the 2012-13 season due to a back problem, and managed to play 22 of the 30 possible games this turn. In these games, the Ivorian scored 18 times and assisted 7 further goals in an impressive tally for any player, let alone one who had struggled with injuries for more than a year.


Bench
GK - Igor Akinfeev - 3 appearances in Team of the Week

RB - Mario Fernandes - 5 appearances in Team of the Week

CB - Xandao - 4 appearances in Team of the Week

CM - Christian Noboa - 3 appearances in Team of the Week

AM - Wanderson - 5 appearances in Team of the Week

RW - Hulk - 3 appearances in Team of the Week

ST - Artem Dzyuba - 4 appearances in Team of the Week


Thanks for reading everyone. Now that I have some free time, you should expect to see my preview for Russia in the upcoming World Cup before they kick off against South Korea on Tuesday.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Halftime 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.

2013-14 Matchweek 27 Recap: So many penalties

Matchweek 27 saw an inordinate number of penalties (seven awarded in eight games) and the continuation of Spartak's woeful form, which could very well see them falling out of the European qualification places.

Krylia 2-2 Amkar
Georgi Peev scored an early penalty for Amkar, before Sergei Kornilenko had one saved in the second half, but knocked in the rebound nonetheless. Artem Delkin gave the hosts the lead just six minutes later, before Peev's second of the game equalised with thirteen minutes to play. Both sides had chances in the final minutes, but neither was able to capitalise and get the win.

Ural 0-0 Tomsk
Ural could be considered the better side, but their profligacy prevented them from picking up the three points. Spartak Gogniev had a chance to score from the penalty spot in the second half, but his effort was saved by Ilie Cebanu.

Zenit 2-0 Volga
Zenit completely overran Volga and probably should have scored more, but the score was kept down by the excellent Sergei Pareiko. Axel Witsel opened the scoring mid way through the first half, which was followed up shortly before the interval by Danny missing a penalty, which was the single blemish in an otherwise fantastic performance from the Portuguese international. With the game winding down and Volga showing no sign of mounting a dangerous attack, Victor Faizulin killed the game off and secured the three points for the league leaders.

Krasnodar 1-3 Lokomotiv
Alexei Miranchuk gave Loko the lead after just six minutes, and the first half was a back and forth affair that ultimately spiraled out of control in the final minutes. Joaozinho scored an equaliser and Aleksandr Samedov missed a penalty immediately before the interval. The second half was much more muted, but it was Samedov who made up for his error earlier, scoring twice in stoppage time to take the win.

CSKA 2-1 Rubin

Alan Dzagoev scored just thirteen minutes into his return from suspension to give CSKA the lead throughout the majority of the first half. Aleksandr Prudnikov equalised just minutes after half time, before Seydou Doumbia scored a penalty (seriously, there were so many this weekend) to give CSKA the win and keep them in the title chase.

Rostov 1-1 Anzhi
Rostov went ahead through an Artem Dzyuba penalty, before the dismissal of Alexandru Gatcan put the hosts under significant pressure. This allowed substitute Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to equalise with ten minutes to play, but Anzhi were unable to get a second goal to steal the win.

Terek 1-0 Dynamo
Dynamo controlled possession, but were incredibly wasteful with their shooting and thus were unable to capitalise on their dominance. Terek's Mauricio scored the match's only goal shortly after half time, and the hosts were able to hold on to take a shocking win.

Spartak 0-2 Kuban
Similarly to Dynamo, Spartak maintained possession, but were unable to put the ball in the back of the net, thanks in part to the fine form of Aleksandr Belenov. It was Ivelin Popov who scored twice in the second half to steal a win and continue Spartak's abysmal run of form.


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

Rostov 1-1 Anzhi: Two very different halves lead to fair draw

Rostov were the better side in the first half, while Anzhi took advantage of Alexandru Gatcan's dismissal to overrun the hosts in the second half, leading to a fair 1-1 draw.

Rostov had to contend with Timofey Kalachev and Guelor Kanga Kaku's suspensions, and thus started Georgi Gabulov in Kaku's place behind Artem Dzyuba. To fill Kalachev's spot, Zhano Ananidze was shifted to the right, Hrvoje Milic was pushed up to the left wing and Timofey Margasov filled in at left back. Anzhi also had missing players, with Oleksandr Aliev and Karlen Mkrtchyan both injured, so Makhach Gadzhiev and Ilya Maksimov started for the visitors.

Neither side started particularly well, but Rostov were arguably the better side in the early minutes as Ananidze dictated play, and it was only the profligacy of Artem Dzyuba that prevented them from going up after just five minutes. Azim Fatullaev fired one wide from outside of the box about ten minutes later, but ultimately the next major chance was the one that gave Rostov the lead. Gabulov went down easily under pressure from Gadzhiev in the box and a penalty was awarded to the hosts. It was a soft call, and Dzyuba's resulting effort was similarly weak but enough to get the job done. Rostov then continued to have the better of the chances, but didn't really come close for the remainder of the half. Anzhi similarly had a few chances, but failed to threaten heavily and, as a result, Rostov went into the break ahead.

Anzhi came out after the interval with all guns blazing and dominated the first ten minutes of the second half. Rostov looked to get back into the game after that time, but all of the wind was taken out of their sails when Alexandru Gatcan was shown a second yellow and sent off. Anzhi almost capitalised on their man advantage just four minutes later, but had a goal disallowed in comical fashion. Vladimir Bystrov had a deflected shot dribbling across the line, but the offside Fyodor Smolov tapped it in from point blank range, leading to the goal being unnecessarily disallowed. The visitors had to wait another quarter of an hour for their actual equaliser, when a scramble in the Rostov box allowed substitute Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to fire home. Anzhi kept pressing, but Rostov were all over every attacking effort the visitors could launch and ultimately managed to hold on for a point at home.

Man of the Match: Arseni Logashov
Logashov bombed down Rostov's right flank to account for Ananidze's drifting inside, and was incredibly effective at controlling that side of the pitch for the first half. When required to defend after Gatcan's dismissal, he protected Rostov's goal as well as could possibly be expected.

Honourable Mentions:
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - Came off the bench and scored the equaliser, but was otherwise largely invisible.
Zhano Ananidze - Drifted inside off the right flank constantly and dictated all of Rostov's play in the first half, but didn't really have any impact defending in the second.

Notes:
- Ananidze and Logashov was a great pairing down Rostov's right side, as Ananidze drifted in and pulled markers inside to give Logashov more room for his huge runs.
- Both of Gatcan's yellows were completely fair and Rostov's fans can have no complaints about the dismissal.
- The disallowed Anzhi goal was absolutely hilarious. Bystrov was furious in the aftermath, and justifiably so. There was no need for Smolov to even go near it.

2013-14 Matchweek 26 Recap: 2-1 matches all around

First of all, my apologies for the very very late Matchweek Recap. It was meant to be posted on Tuesday or Wednesday, but circumstances prevented me from writing it until now (a matter of hours before Matchweek 27's first match starts). Secondly, Sunday saw several red cards as matches really got out of control.

Amkar 0-2 Ural
Amkar and Ural went toe to toe for most of the match, but when it came down to it, the hosts were far too profligate and the visitors were absolutely clinical. Edgar Manucharyan gave Ural the lead midway through the second half before Vladimir Khozin finished it off with seven minutes of regular time left to play.

Tomsk 2-0 Krylia
Tomsk were drastically better than Krylia, but relied on two goals in the space of three minutes in the first half (courtesy of Renat Sabitov and Jan Holenda) to go ahead, and then were happy to sit on their lead for the remaining hour of the match.

Lokomotiv 2-1 Terek
Ailton gave the visitors the lead after just half an hour, before the rarely-started Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a good brace in the space of nine minutes to give Lokomotiv a much tougher win than they expected.

Anzhi 1-2 Zenit
Zenit went ahead after nine minutes thanks to the in-form Salamon Rondon, but Fyodor Smolov pulled Anzhi level just before the half hour mark. However, it was Danny who got the last laugh, hitting home with thirty minutes left to play, although the result could have been far more comfortable for the league leaders.

Rubin 2-1 Spartak

Yura Movsisyan put Spartak ahead early in the second half, while Marko Devic pulled Rubin back onto level terms just eleven minutes later. Ultimately, it was Rubin's counter-attacking game that triumphed over Spartak's possession based system as Aleksandr Prudnikov scored in stoppage time to give Rubin the three points and continue Spartak's awful form.

Dynamo 1-2 Krasnodar
Dynamo took the lead through Aleksandr Kokorin, yet the dismissal of Aleksei Kozlov allowed Roman Shirokov and Ricardo Laborde to give Krasnodar a lead away from home. Laborde himself was dismissed in the final minute of regular time, but it was not enough for Dynamo to get the equaliser they desired.

Kuban 0-4 CSKA
CSKA went ahead through Steven Zuber late in the first half, before Kuban's Roman Bugaev got sent off in the last minute of the half and gave away a penalty, which Seydou Doumbia converted. Konstantin Bazelyuk, standing in for the suspended Alan Dzagoev, added the third in the second half, while Zoran Tosic finished the match off.

Volga 2-1 Rostov
Piotr Polczak scored for Volga within a minute and Artur Sarkisov added to Rostov's woes in the second half with a goal of his own. The visitors pushed hard to get back in the match, and Artem Dzyuba did eventually score, but it was too little too late.


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

2013-14 Matchweek 25 Recap: Predictable results all around

No results this weekend were particularly shocking, with the most notable being Lokomotiv's draw with Anzhi, which was basically to be expected given the recent form of both of these teams. Just a note on my selections for team of the week: it was ridiculously difficult to pick which central defenders to include. My shortlist ultimately included 9 names (Vedran Corluka, Ali Gadzhibekov, Saba Kvirkvelia, Xandao, Christopher Samba, Salvatore Bocchetti, Vladimir Rykov, Dmitri Belorukov and Thomas Phibel) in a week of great defensive performances.

Also, the formation editor is playing up yet again, so this week's team is Belenov; Fernandes, Xandao, Samba, Phibel, Granat; Sheshukov, Ivanov; Hulk, Ailton, Kasaev.

Spartak 1-0 Krylia
Yura Movsisyan scored for Spartak after just 14 minutes to give the hosts the lead, and a combination of their good play and Krylia's profligacy kept the visitors scoreless for the remainder of the match. Krylia had a good patch where they looked dangerous mid way through the second half, but nothing came of it.

Tomsk 0-0 Amkar
Tomsk and Amkar were even for most of their match, with both sides having a plethora of chances, but both defences were typically solid. As per usual, the best players on both of these teams were the centre backs.

CSKA 1-0 Ural
Similarly to the Spartak-Krylia match, it was an early goal that decided the outcome, with Ahmed Musa scoring the winner in the 17th minute. CSKA looked like much the better side, but also came close to conceding on a number of occasions to give them a much nervier win than they were expecting.

Terek 3-0 Rostov

This match was ridiculously chaotic, with three penalties given and two red cards dished out. Mauricio opened the scoring for Terek with the first penalty of the match, before Rostov saw Guelor Kanga Kaku dismissed and Ailton added a second for the hosts. Terek were brought down to ten men when Rizvan Utsiev was sent off for a second yellow, but Ailton was able to add a third with another penalty. Artem Dzyuba had a chance to pull one back late in the match with yet another penalty, but Yaroslav Godzyur saved his weak effort.

Zenit 4-1 Krasnodar

Hulk opened the scoring early, but Joaozinho was able to equalise right after half time. Hulk then restored Zenit's lead and ultimately scored a hat-trick after Salomon Rondon added Zenit's third. Realistically, Zenit could have scored even more, but were restricted by Andrei Sinitsyn.

Lokomotiv 0-0 Anzhi
Anzhi were the inferior team, but were kept in it by the excellent Mikhail Kerzhakov, and the match ended with a dull scoreline as a result of his fantastic performance.

Rubin 0-2 Kuban
Lorenzo Melgarejo and Gigel Bucur scored with two of the only chances that Kuban had, while Rubin ran riot but were kept out almost solely by the efforts of Aleksandr Belenov, who made 11 saves over the course of the match.

Volga 0-5 Dynamo
Volga held out until half time, but then got absolutely overran by Dynamo's excellent second half performance, inspired by Alan Kasaev and Vladimir Granat in particular.


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

Volga 0-5 Dynamo: Dynamo bounce back from Anzhi defeat by steamrolling Volga

Dynamo put on a magnificent second half performance to continue Volga's losing streak and bounce back from a disappointing defeat to Anzhi last weekend.

Neither side lined up particularly oddly, with the most interesting decision being the continued inclusion of Georgi Gabulov in Dynamo's goal over Anton Shunin and Roman Berezovskiy. Dynamo also continued to field Aleksei Ionov on the left to account for Yuri Zhirkov's injury.

Volga started incredibly well, controlling possession and pushing well up the pitch for the first seven minutes or so, before Dynamo finally fired themselves up and got into the game. The middle stretch of the half was dominated by the visitors, and Kuranyi had a decent penalty shout turned down in the 19th minute. Ionov came close with a low shot shortly after that, but Volga worked their way back into contention with the half winding down, managing to limit their opposition's time on the ball and forcing several errors in Dynamo's back four. Dynamo did get one final chance when the ball fell for Aleksei Kozlov on the edge of the Volga box, but he fired high and wide. It was the last major chance of the half and both sides went into the interval scoreless.

The second half started much the same way that the first had, with Volga playing well in the opening minutes, but the wind was taken out of their sails when Aleksandr Kokorin scored Dynamo's first in the 53rd minute. He played Balazs Dzsudzsak through, allowing the Hungarian to send a cross back in and Kokorin headed home from the edge of the six yard box. Volga did manage to hold on for a short while longer before Dynamo scored a flurry of late goals to turn a narrow win into an utter demolition. Artur Nigmatullin saved a Vladimir Granat free kick, but the ball fell to substitute Artur Yusupov, who fired home to double Dynamo's lead. Just two minutes later, Aleksei Ionov sent a cross in for Alan Kasaev, who finished coolly. Christopher Samba made it 4-0 with a clone of Yusupov's goal before Christian Noboa cut the ball back to Alan Kasaev for his second of the match. Ultimately the scoreline doesn't really represent how even the first 50 minutes of the game were, but Dynamo will be happy to have bounced back with such a result.

Man of the Match: Alan Kasaev
Kasaev came off the bench and scored Dynamo's third and fifth goals. That's really all that needs to be said about his performance.

Honourable Mentions:
Aleksandr Kokorin - The 22 year old was dangerous all match and kicked off the scoring with a solid header before being substituted.
Vladimir Granat - Both of the set piece goals came from Granat free kicks being deflected into the path of an onrushing player, so the left back was a crucial part in inflating the scoreline.

Notes:
- This game was pretty back and forth up until Kokorin's goal, and Volga even managed to keep in it for a while afterwards, but they were torn apart by Dynamo's second and third goals and it was pretty clear to see that they gave up after that.
- Aleksandr Kokorin seems to take a huge beating every single match. I can't really explain it.
- Artur Nigmatullin's handling really desperately needs some work. He was directly at fault for both set piece goals.

2013-14 Matchweek 24 Recap: Anzhi shock Dynamo while Zenit obliterate Rubin

This week in the RPL, Spartak continued their abysmal streak, Zenit overran Rubin and Anzhi shocked Dynamo with an incredible home performance, among other less surprising results.

Kuban 2-0 Tomsk
Kuban were predictably the better side, but struggled to get through Tomsk's surprisingly stern defence. Igor Armas put on a clinic, saving a certain goal early on before putting Kuban in front with 25 minutes to go. Ivelin Popov followed it up just a few minutes from full time to kill off the game.

Spartak 0-1 Ural
Vladimir Khozin scored the only goal in a shockingly open match, as both teams went end to end in search of goals. Spartak looked good with the ball over most of the pitch, but then seemed to lose all technical ability when coming anywhere near the goal. Yura Movsisyan was closest when he rattled the woodwork late on, but it wasn't enough to halt Spartak's run of 5 games without a win.

Amkar 0-1 Terek
Amkar and Terek were mostly level for the entire match, and it was only Oleg Ivanov's strike just before half time that settled it. In the second half, Amkar pushed for an equaliser but could never quite apply the necessary finish.

Krylia 1-3 CSKA
Zoran Tosic and Seydou Doumbia both scored in the opening 7 minutes to give CSKA a formidable lead that got even mightier when Tosic got his second after half time. Krylia didn't really look like scoring until CSKA had gotten complacent with their victory, allowing Alan Chochiev to score a consolation goal in the 88th minute.

Zenit 6-2 Rubin

Hulk scored two first half penalties and Sardar Azmoun pulled a goal back for Rubin before the match devolved into complete chaos late in the second half. Danny scored one, while substitute Salomon Rondon scored a hat-trick, and Roman Eremenko scored the third penalty of the game to end with the score at 6-2.

Anzhi 4-0 Dynamo
Dynamo dominated possession, but were brutalised on the counter-attack as Georgi Gabulov had possibly the worst game of his career. Aleksandr Bukharov and Fyodor Smolov each scored in the first half to give Anzhi a solid lead, while Serder Serderov and Makhach Gadzhiev scored late in the second half to complete the rout.

Krasnodar 0-2 Rostov
The first half was mostly even, despite Zhano Ananidze's tap-in on the verge of half time, but Krasnodar completely overran Rostov in the second half. Anton Amelchenko kept the visitors in the game, before Artem Dzyuba scored a penalty in stoppage time to confirm the three points.

Lokomotiv 3-0 Volga
Things started poorly for Volga as they had Piotr Polczak sent off after just 24 minutes. Things went from bad to worse just 8 minutes later when they gave away a penalty and Aleksandr Samedov converted it. Maicon scored just after half time while Dame N'Doye added the third later in the second period to give Loko an expected win.

Krylia 1-1 Terek
Krylia and Terek caught up their games in hand with an even and predictable draw. Neither side really looked like taking the upper hand and they both scored within four minutes of each other just before half time.

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

Krasnodar 0-2 Rostov: Hosts dominant but punished for carelessness

Krasnodar ran riot against Rostov, but counters and a penalty doomed the hosts to defeat. However, Rostov still don't look capable of catching and surpassing Krasnodar, with five points separating them with six games still to play.

Both sides were somewhat damaged by injuries, as Krasnodar had to play Evgeni Shipitsin in place of the injured Wanderson, while Rostov played Zhano Ananidze centrally and brought Dmitri Poloz in to play out left to cover for the suspended Guelor Kanga Kaku. Anton Amelchenko and Igor Khudobyak came in for Stipe Pletikosa and Alexandru Gatcan respectively, as they were both injured.

Almost nothing at all happened in the first period, and the sides were mostly even for much of the half. Ari had one of the few chances when he got a header on target from a Nikolai Markov cross, but Amelchenko made a solid save. Rostov went forward in the first and only minute of stoppage time, and Artem Dzyuba headed on target from close range after a Timofey Kalachev cross. Andrei Sinitsyn made the save, but Ananidze was there to tap it in and give Rostov the lead going into the break.

Krasnodar came out of the gates firing after the interval and forced the visitors onto the back foot immediately. Amelchenko had to make two saves to excellent strikes from Joaozinho within the first quarter of an hour, while substitute Yuri Gazinskiy also came close with 25 minutes left to play. Up the other end, Rostov were wasteful, with the few shots they had going wildly off target. They barely got into Krasnodar's box, while the hosts consistently found men in the Rostov box thanks to plenty of accurate crosses. Both Komlichenko and Joaozinho almost equalised just 10 minutes from time, but Amelchenko was equal to the first, while the Brazilian's effort was deflected narrowly wide for a corner. With 5 minutes left to go, Ananidze was withdrawn in favour of Igor Lolo as Rostov shut up shop to hold onto their minute lead. Ultimately, this plan proved to be more than successful as Rostov went up the other end on a counter and drew a penalty in the final seconds of stoppage time, allowing Artem Dzyuba to take the chance and finish off the game.

Man of the Match: Zhano Ananidze
Ananidze not only scored the first goal, but controlled possession for much of the first half from his preferred central role. Surprisingly competent in defence when called upon, his passing was also a joy to behold.

Honourable Mentions:
Anton Amelchenko - Kept Rostov in the game at times with a few excellent saves, but also tended to be a bit shaky.
Joaozinho - Looked like a constant threat to score throughout the game, and quite often it was only Amelchenko that denied him an equaliser for most of the second half.

Notes:
- The match was fairly even in the first half, but then Krasnodar just rolled over Rostov after the interval. One might point to the introduction of Yuri Gazinskiy, but he wasn't that great so I really can't explain Krasnodar's improvement.
- Zhano moving back central was incredible, and he was significantly better defensively than I remember.
- Amelchenko is a competent back-up for Pletikosa, but his handling could use some work. He was a bit shaky at times.

2013-14 Matchweek 23 Recap: Nervy matches all around for title contenders

Many of the top clubs in the RPL, including Zenit and Dynamo, saw serious scares against inferior opposition by conceding early and then having to fight back to win. Regardless, there were no major upsets in any of the matches.

Ural 2-1 Anzhi
Ural were by far the better side and went ahead through Spartak Gogniev and Aleksandr Erokhin, yet they let Alexandru Epureanu score a late consolation goal and had to endure a nervy finish.

Amkar 1-2 Zenit
Amkar scored first thanks to ex-Zenit forward Maksim Kannunikov before the visitors lost Oleg Shatov to injury. Zenit came out of the break swinging, equalising through Domenico Criscito almost instantly before Aleksandr Kerzhakov scored the winner just six minutes later.

Lokomotiv 0-0 Spartak
Lokomotiv and Spartak played out a relatively eventless Moscow derby as neither side really threatened the goal of the other at any point in the match.

Tomsk 1-3 Dynamo
Like Zenit, Dynamo suffered a scare when their opponents scored first, but Vladimir Rykov's goal was instantly cancelled out by Aleksandr Kokorin's. Kevin Kuranyi handed Dynamo the lead thirteen minutes later before Aleksei Ionov finished the game off minutes from full time.

Rubin 1-2 Rostov

Sardar Azmoun put Rubin in front after just three minutes thanks to some questionable Rostov defending, but Timofei Kalachev equalised on the break about half an hour later. It was Zhano Ananidze that got the winner for Rostov just before half time, with a deflected shot and all hopes of a Rubin equaliser were ended when the hosts had Sergei Ryzhikov sent off in stoppage time.

Kuban 1-3 Krasnodar
Surprisingly, it was Kuban who scored first in this edition of the Krasnodar derby, but the visitors recovered from Lorenzo Melgarejo's early strike to equalise through Roman Shirokov with the first half winding down. Ari gave Krasnodar the lead just after the break before Shirokov killed the game off with ten minutes to play by scoring his second goal of the match.

CSKA 3-0 Volga
Zoran Tosic and Alan Dzagoev both scored for CSKA in the opening seven minutes, however Dzagoev got himself sent off for a stamp half an hour later. Volga were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage and ultimately Pontus Wernbloom was able to shut the game down by scoring with twenty minutes left.

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

Ural 2-1 Anzhi: Hosts dominate but allow late chances

Ural dominated Anzhi for the majority of the 90 minutes and went two goals up, but allowed Anzhi several chances late on, one of which allowed the visitors a consolation goal from a corner.

Neither side lined up particularly strangely, with Ural using a very attacking 4-1-4-1 with Gerson Acevedo and Aleksandr Erokhin sitting just behind Spartak Gogniev. Meanwhile, Anzhi set up with their standard 4-2-3-1, playing Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Oleksandr Aliev on the wings, yet the two constantly interchanged to try to find a way through.

Ural started the match firmly in control of the ball and looked dominant early on, coming close through Chisamba Lungu in the opening four minutes. Unfortunately, the match was marred by an early injury, as Ural's Vladimir Koman went down early on and had to be replaced by Aleksandr Stavpets. Mere moments later, Ural went ahead as Acevedo played an excellent through ball which was seemingly destined for Erokhin, however he left it and drew Alexandru Epureanu out of position. The ball then found Gogniev who slotted coolly past Anzhi keeper Mikhail Kerzhakov. It was Lungu that had the next chance, but he sent the ball high and wide despite shooting from just outside of the six-yard box. Anzhi finally managed to get some possession after this chance and created one of their own seven minutes later as Fyodor Smolov was sent through on goal, but Ural's Nikolai Zabolotny was equal to his effort and sent the ball for a corner. The middle of the half slowed considerably, with Ilya Maksimov coming closest but never really threatening the goal, and it looked like Ural would go into the half with just a one goal lead. However, this was not to be the case as, five minutes from half time, Acevedo chipped a pass over Anzhi's defence and the onrushing Erokhin volleyed it past Kerzhakov to make it 2-0.

The second half was significantly less exciting as neither side really pushed forward much and, as a result, chances were few and far between. Khozin came close with a header from a free kick ten minutes after the interval, but Kerzhakov was able to make the save easily. It wasn't for another twenty minutes that a chance came around, when Erokhin headed wide from a Dantsev cross. The match looked set to wind down, but it turned out that the excitement would only ramp up, as Zabolotny was forced to save a Gadzhibekov header at full stretch. At the resulting corner, Serder Serderov connected with a header that hit the crossbar, falling to Agalarov who headed it back across goal before Epureanu connected with a third header just over Zabolotny to bring it back to 2-1. Ural had one chance to finish the game off after Anzhi's goal, but Aleksandr Novikov sent the ball high and wide, so the hosts had to settle for a somewhat nervy finish.

Man of the Match: Gerson Acevedo
Acevedo was excellent on the ball all match long, setting up both Ural goals with fantastic passes. He was a little weak defensively, as per usual, but given his role for the team it's somewhat understandable.

Honourable Mentions:
Aleksandr Erokhin - The most dangerous threat on either side for most of the match, Erokhin was very unlucky not to add a second to his tally.
Alexandru Epureanu - Got Anzhi's consolation goal and continued a good run of form.

Notes:
- Ural were by far the better side for most of this match. They rolled over Anzhi in the first half and even when they weren't creating chances, they maintained the majority of possession. Anzhi were only really let into the match in the final ten minutes.
- It's got to be a really tough decision over whether to pick Spartak Gogniev or Edgar Manucharyan to start at striker for Ural.
- I remember when both Zabolotny and Kerzhakov were seen as promising keepers and no one had ever heard of Yuri Lodygin. Those were dark days.

2013-14 Matchweek 22 Recap: Goals. Goals everywhere

Goals abounded this week as the chase for the European places tightened significantly, although there was really only one upset. Also, circumstances prevented me from writing a match report this week, but there should be one next week as per usual.

Rostov 3-3 Amkar
Rostov suffered early on, going 3-1 down within 50 minutes, but were handed a lifeline by the dismissal of Amkar's Jakub Wawrzyniak 20 minutes from full time. Rostov managed to capitalise, scoring two times in as many minutes to draw level and steal a point at home.

Volga 0-1 Tomsk
Volga and Tomsk were even for almost all of the match, with Tomsk probably edging it on quality of chances. It was Jan Holenda who got the winner for them in stoppage time to take three points and pull his side out of the relegation places.

Lokomotiv 3-0 Ural
Ural's Aleksandr Belozerov had a terrible time against Loko, scoring an own goal to provide the hosts' first before being sent off after Dame N'Doye and Sergei Tkachev had made it 3-0. Truth be told, Ural never even looked like getting into the match and this was a deserved result for Loko.

Krasnodar 4-0 Spartak
Spartak came into the match as favourites but were absolutely obliterated on the counter by Krasnodar, especially former Spartak player Ari. The visitors controlled possession, but lacked incision in the final third, while Krasnodar took their chances well, allowing Ari to score a hat-trick and Wanderson to finish Spartak off.

Dynamo 0-0 Rubin

Dynamo probably deserved to win this match, but Rubin had a solid defence and were able to limit the hosts to ineffective chances from outside the box. As a result, neither side could break the deadlock and Rubin will be satisfied with a point here.

Terek 2-1 Kuban
Terek were surprisingly dominant, even though it took an Ailton penalty to go ahead early on. Kuban looked utterly unable to equalise for much of the first half, and things went from bad to worse as Marcin Komorowski made it 2-0 just before the hour mark. Lorenzo Melgarejo managed to pull one back eight minutes later, but it was the only real chance Kuban had and Terek took a deserved win.

Anzhi 0-3 CSKA
Despite their recent resurgence, Anzhi never looked capable of dealing with CSKA as Seydou Doumbia ran riot, scoring the first two goals and setting up Ahmed Musa's finish for the third. CSKA actually looked like a well-oiled team rather than just a group of individuals for one of the first times this season.

Zenit 2-1 Krylia
Hulk opened the scoring with a penalty within 5 minutes before doubling Zenit's lead after 45 more, however Ibrahim Tsallagov pulled one back 2 minutes later. Krylia were given two penalties, but Yuri Lodygin managed to save both to hold Zenit's lead and give the hosts a win in Andre Villas-Boas' first match as manager.

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

2013-14 Matchweek 21 Recap: Draws galore

Half of this week's Russian Premier League matches ended up without winners as draws abounded, the most notable of which were Amkar's goalless draw with Loko and the fascinating 2-2 matchup between Spartak and Anzhi. Also, Arseni Logashov, Alexandru Epureanu and Alan Dzagoev make their second consecutive appearances in my team of the week.

Ural 2-1 Terek
Terek suffered an early red to Fyodor Kudryashov and looked to be on the back foot for most of the game, but Ural failed to take their chances. With the game closing down, it was substitute Edgar Manucharyan who put Ural up, but the hosts got overconfident and allowed Mauricio to equalise in stoppage time. With Terek looking like they had secured a point, Manucharyan scored his second to steal a win for Ural.

Krylia 0-2 Rostov
Krylia were surprisingly aggressive against the superior Rostov, but were hit twice against the run of play by Guelor Kanga Kaku and Vitali Djakov. The two goal Rostov victory really doesn't show how even this game was, and Krylia came close many times but were wasteful with their chances.

CSKA 1-0 Zenit
The managerless Zenit were completely dominant for most of the match, but were held off by the excellent CSKA defence, particularly Igor Akinfeev, who appears to have gotten over his blip against Dynamo last week. A goal by the oft-forgotten Georgi Milanov in the 32nd minute was enough to take the win and keep Leonid Slutskiy's job safe for now.

Kuban 1-1 Dynamo
Dynamo opened the scoring through Kevin Kuranyi just before half time and, given their recent form, probably expected to go on to win from there, but the fantastic Ivelin Popov equalised with 15 minutes to go and Kuban were able to keep the ball away from Dynamo for the remainder of the match to hold onto the win.

Amkar 0-0 Lokomotiv

Two of the league's best defences went head to head and neither side could get the advantage. Overall, a predictable goalless draw that featured some excellent defending.

Rubin 3-1 Volga
This match was very very even, but Rubin came out victorious due to their much better shooting, while Volga was wasteful with almost all of their chances. It took them until the 81st minute (when Rubin were already three goals up) to get their first shot on target, leading to an Artur Sarkisov consolation goal, but it was a case of too little too late as they suffered an expected defeat.

Tomsk 1-1 Krasnodar
Tomsk were absolutely dominated all over the pitch but were kept in the match by the excellent keeping of Petr Vasek. Krasnodar were ultimately hit on the counter by Kirill Panchenko and threw everything forward, salvaging a point in the final minutes thanks to a Wanderson goal.

Spartak 2-2 Anzhi
Spartak lined up a bit unusually but it appeared to pay off, giving the hosts a two goal lead after just 23 minutes. However, Anzhi experienced a late resurgence while Spartak collapsed, as Alexandru Epureanu pulled one back just after the break and substitute Serder Serderov equalised in stoppage time to secure a draw, a result which ultimately cost Valery Karpin his job at Spartak.

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

Amkar 0-0 Lokomotiv: Two of Russia's best defences draw predictably

Amkar and Lokomotiv played out something of a predictable draw given the high quality of their defences, yet Amkar should still be happy with holding the league leaders to a draw.

Both managers made somewhat baffling selections in this match. Amkar's manager, Stanislav Cherchesov, continued his bizarre selection of Alexei Nikitin over Thomas Phibel in the centre of defence, and I really can't justify him playing Jakub Wawrzyniak over Dzhamaldin Kodzhaniyazov at left back either. Meanwhile, Lokomotiv's Mbark Boussoufa was dropped in favour of Magomed Ozdoev, presumably because the latter scored a decent goal against Krylia last weekend.

As was expected due to the excellent defences of these two teams, the match started slowly with neither side giving up any major chances. It was Amkar who had the first opportunity of the night as Wawrzyniak cleverly flicked on a Georgi Peev free kick and hit the post, but it wasn't long before Dame N'Doye went up the other end, hitting a shot on goal that was deflected off Dmitri Belorukov and saved easily by Sergei Narubin. The half continued without many chances until the 36th minute, when N'Doye was dragged down in the box by Nikitin, yet inexplicably no penalty was given. Amkar did end up having the final chance of the half however, as Maksim Kannunikov gathered up a long ball in the box, but was put off by pressure from Jan Durica and skied his shot in the final seconds of stoppage time.

The interval saw no changes for either side, but Amkar certainly came out of the gates with a renewed vigour and looked more likely to score. In the opening minutes of the second period, Aleksandr Kolomeitsev put a shot low across the face of goal, before N'Doye also came close just moments later. However, Amkar soon slowed down and the match returned to one of few chances, primarily given away by set pieces. Substitute Boussoufa came close with one such set piece, a free kick, while Lass Diarra flicked on a corner late on, but was unable to get it on target. Both managers attempted to change the game with substitutes as Loko brought on Roman Pavlyuchenko and Sergei Tkachev late on, while Amkar introduced Martin Jakubko and Patrick Twumasi, yet none of the four were able to make an impact on the match. Lokomotiv had one final chance late on when Amkar captain Belorukov gave away a free kick on the edge of the box in the final seconds of stoppage time, but the resulting effort from Aleksandr Samedov was disappointing and the match finished at 0-0.

Man of the Match: Vedran Corluka
As per usual, Corluka was on fine form and kept the opposing forwards quiet. His distribution from the back was excellent and he was absolutely dominant in the air. Surprisingly, he also had a few good runs forward, including one that won a free kick that Boussoufa came close from.

Honourable Mentions:
Roman Shishkin - Despite getting quite fired up over the course of the match, Shishkin was fantastic defensively and very good going forward. A solid match from the Loko captain.
Dmitri Belorukov - The Amkar captain was fantastic in defence as always and, despite his late foul, was well composed all match.
Janusz Gol - Solid in defence all match and controlled the little possession that Amkar had. The Polish midfielder's form has been good since the winter break after a disappointing first half of the season.

Notes:
- I'm impressed with Amkar's ability to keep this match level, but Lokomotiv's attack was completely toothless today. Dame N'Doye is far too inconsistent to be a top class forward (yes, he's even worse than Roman Pavlyuchenko in that respect).
- I really can't justify the selection of Alexei Nikitin over Thomas Phibel. Nikitin should've been sent off for that challenge on N'Doye and constantly failed to deal with crosses.
- Another selection that I'm not sure was right was Leonid Kuchuk selecting Magomed Ozdoev over Mbark Boussoufa. Ozdoev may have scored last week, but he's a selection for matches in which Loko is going to face a possession battle and want to keep the ball away from their opponents. For matches such as this, in which Amkar were never going to try and control possession, Boussoufa's a much better choice thanks to his great final ball and creativity.
- Maksim Kannunikov did seem rather isolated up front, and this wasn't really helped by his reluctance to drop deep. Peev, Ogude and Kolomeitsev usually have better service, but they were all kept relatively quiet by Loko's back line.

2013-14 Matchweek 20 Recap: Russian Premier League resumes with action aplenty

The Russian Premier League season resumed this past weekend with a plethora of action. Lokomotiv took a clear lead in the title chase while CSKA appear to have fallen completely out of contention. At the other end of the ladder, Anzhi finally picked up their first win of the season as they make a bid to stay out of the relegation places. Finally, Luciano Spalletti was fired from Zenit after a disappointing home draw with Tom Tomsk.

The formation plotting website I use is also acting up again, so my team of the week is as follows:
Lodygin; Logashov, Epureanu, Dealbert, Kudryashov; Georgiev, Dragun; Ogude, Dzagoev, Zhirkov; Doumbia

Krasnodar 0-1 Ural
Ural went ahead thanks to Gerson Acevedo's effort in the 19th minute (their only shot on target all game) and played excellent defence for the remainder of the match, but were let off the hook by Krasnodar's hopeless finishing as Joaozinho, Ari and Wanderson struggled for form.

Terek 1-0 Spartak
Terek took the lead in only the first minute thanks to Mauricio, and were able to park the bus for the remaining 90 minutes. Spartak looked likely to score throughout, but struggled to put shots on target and ultimately fell to the relegation battlers.

Dynamo 4-2 CSKA
CSKA took an early two goal lead through the brilliant play of Alan Dzagoev and Seydou Doumbia, but a collapse prompted by the excellent Yuri Zhirkov and a plethora of defensive mistakes allowed Dynamo to turn around the game and take the win in front of their home fans.

Anzhi 1-0 Rubin
Anzhi were on the back foot for almost the entire match and looked set to continue their season-long winless streak, however loanee Aleksandr Bukharov managed to score the winner less than 10 minutes from full time. Rubin sustained pressure on the hosts late on, but it wasn't enough to equalise and Anzhi finally picked up their first win of the season.

Zenit 0-0 Tom

Tom Tomsk impressively went toe to toe with the much bigger Zenit and had several good chances to score, but couldn't force an upset. Regardless, Zenit were also unable to score, and the disappointing result saw manager Luciano Spalletti lose his job with the St. Petersburg club.

Amkar 5-1 Volga
Amkar opened the scoring through Fedor Ogude and things declined quickly for Volga, losing two players to injury before the half hour mark. They did manage to equalise minutes later thanks to Luton Shelton, but the situation went significantly downhill from there. Georgi Peev scored a penalty for the hosts before Ogude scored his second, Maksim Kannunikov piled on the misery and a Marcin Kowalczyk own goal completed the rout, all in the closing minutes.

Lokomotiv 2-1 Krylia
Lokomotiv showed a ridiculous amount of dominance over Krylia and went ahead via Dame N'Doye early on, before substitute Magomed Ozdoev doubled their lead 15 minutes from time. It was only on a rare venture forward that Krylia scored, pulling one back through Stanislav Dragun right before the end of regulation time.

Rostov 0-0 Kuban
Rostov had control over the match for much of the 90 minutes but failed to have any real chances thanks to Kuban's solid defence. Meanwhile, the visitors attempted to hit on the counter, but they too failed to make an impact. Ultimately, Kuban's Lorenzo Melgarejo was sent off in stoppage time, but his side was able to wind down the last few minutes without conceding.

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

Dynamo 4-2 CSKA: Embarrassing capitulation rules CSKA out of title defence

CSKA have given up a two goal lead to lose 4-2 to Dynamo in the latest Moscow derby of the 2013-14 RPL season.

Both sides set up with their first choice lineups (see diagram), so there isn't really much to say about surprise inclusions or players missing due to injury/suspension. The only thing of note is that Alexei Kozlov made his Dynamo debut after joining from Kuban Krasnodar over the winter break, but I'll get to him a little later.

The match was very back and forth in the opening ten minutes, with Dynamo having two good chances and CSKA only being stopped by a slightly over-hit Seydou Doumbia pass. It wasn't long before Doumbia made up for his minor error as, in only the 12th minute, he skinned three Dynamo players and fired home a rocket of a shot from the edge of the box to give the visitors an early lead. Dynamo appeared to have the wind taken out of their sails by this, and Georgi Gabulov had to endure a flurry of CSKA chances over the following quarter of an hour, denying Zoran Tosic twice. However, things got even worse for the hosts as their brand new signing, Alexei Kozlov, pulled up short after challenging Ahmed Musa for the ball and had to be replaced. CSKA continued their attack following Kozlov's injury and came close through Alan Dzagoev, but were denied yet again by Gabulov. Gabulov couldn't hold out forever though, and Doumbia managed to get his second in the 43rd minute. Dzagoev beat two Dynamo defenders in the box and then sent the ball to the Ivorian, who finished perfectly with the outside of his boot to double CSKA's lead.

Halftime saw no personnel changes for either side, but Dynamo came out after the break looking significantly less incompetent than they had before the interval and as a result, they pulled one back with the first major chance of the half. The hosts built up play down the left flank and Yuri Zhirkov sent in a cross, which Kevin Kuranyi managed to get to first and head home from the edge of the 6-yard box. It wasn't long before Kuranyi had another header on target, but this time Akinfeev was able to reach it at full stretch to deny the German. For a few brief moments, CSKA looked like they were back on top as Georgi Schennikov stormed into Dynamo's box, beating four opposition players before being stopped by an excellent Christopher Samba tackle. Samba then continued his great performance by getting up the end and scoring the equaliser from a Marko Lomic cross. However, he suffered a head clash with Aleksandr Kokorin in the process of scoring, forcing him to come off and be replaced by Leandro Fernandez. Already staring at an embarrassing result, CSKA decided that conceding two goals wasn't enough, so only four minutes later they conceded a third, this time through Zhirkov, who controlled a Balazs Dzsudzsak cross and slotted it home. However, the goal arguably shouldn't have stood as Kokorin kicked Mario Fernandes in the face as the cross came in; an act which should have been given as a foul. It was only another six minutes before CSKA conceded again, this time thanks to a huge Igor Akinfeev error. The CSKA captain tried to lob the ball to Fernandes, yet failed to get it over Zhirkov who, all too easily, took the ball over Akinfeev and finished coolly for his second of the night.

Neither side really had any major chances for the rest of the match and it ended at 4-2. Dynamo's comeback from two goals down is an absolutely excellent demonstration of their class and attitude, whereas CSKA's utter capitulation is one of the most embarrassing defeats that the club has suffered in years. The champions now face an uphill battle to retain their title, sitting 6 points back from joint leaders Zenit and Lokomotiv, who both have a game in hand.

Notes:
- I really have no words for CSKA's awful collapse. They were dominant for most of the first half, only to fall apart after the interval. A real game of two halves.
- This defeat is unfortunately going to overshadow the excellent performances of Seydou Doumbia and Alan Dzagoev, who ran everything for CSKA in the first half. In particular, their combination on the second goal was beautiful.
- On that note, Doumbia and Dzagoev really deserve better wingers than Tosic and Musa. Tosic is ridiculously inconsistent and Musa appears to have lost a touch of the pace he relies on so much.
- Luke Wilkshire and Leandro Fernandez did surprisingly well after coming in for the injured Alexei Kozlov and Christopher Samba respectively.
- A lot of people are going to disagree with me over this, but I think other than that big error, Igor Akinfeev was on superb form. He had no chance to stop any of the other three goals and made several superb saves earlier in the match.

Man of the Match: Yuri Zhirkov
Zhirkov was a dangerous threat down Dynamo's left all night and ultimately got the best of the out of form Mario Fernandes. Zhirkov scored the final two goals for Dynamo to win and kill off the game, but also provided an assist for Kuranyi's goal with an excellent cross. It was also his cross that produced Kuranyi's second chance that was saved by Akinfeev.

Honourable Mentions:
Seydou Doumbia - Scored two fantastic goals to put CSKA up and continued his performance with some excellent skill throughout the night. His passing was a little astray though, over-hitting several passes for Ahmed Musa.
Alan Dzagoev - Bossed Dynamo's midfield for much of the first half and had an excellent assist for Doumbia's second goal. Dzagoev dropped deeper than usual this game and controlled the tempo of play. On another night, this would've easily been a man of the match performance.
Christopher Samba - Worked hard in defence and did well to get up the other end and score the equaliser. His match was unfortunately ended by that head clash, but he certainly deserves recognition for the time he did spend on the pitch.

Russian Premier League First Half Review

So now that we've all had a few weeks to sit back and reflect on the events of the first half of the Russian Premier League season, I think it's due time to complete my review on the teams and players that shocked fans of Russian football, both in positive and negative ways.

The Overachievers:

Lokomotiv Moscow:

After a decidedly disappointing 2012-13 campaign, the Railwaymen have turned around into their best season in recent memory on the back of some excellent signings, sitting in first place as of the winter break. Loko profited greatly from the exodus at Anzhi, signing Lassana Diarra and Mbark Boussoufa from the Dagestani club, and the duo have combined to great effect thus far. However, the team's true strength has been their superb defence, to which no new members have been introduced. Their typical back four of Roman Shishkin, Vedran Corluka, Jan Durica and Vitali Denisov has proven to be the best in the league and has given the team a solid foundation to build on top of in their push for the title.

Amkar Perm:

Amkar too have built their success this season on a solid defence, shooting up to an unprecedented 7th place, with Thomas Phibel and Dmitri Belorukov forming a dominant partnership in central defence. Amkar have struggled some up the other end however, scoring just 22 goals in 19 matches, the lowest of any team in the top half, with their reliance on Georgi Peev to score becoming startling at times. Regardless, it has been an impressive campaign for the side, and it will take a severe drop off in form to fall out of the top half.

Rostov:

Rostov have had something of a rollercoaster campaign, dishing out upsets to established teams before going on a ten game winless streak, but ultimately reaching the half way mark in a respectable 10th. Their success thus far has been based around a group of excellent loan signings from both Spartak and Lokomotiv, in particular Artem Dzyuba, who leads the league scoring charts with 12 goals. Meanwhile, Zhano Ananidze and Arseni Logashov have also upgraded the team for the time being and have shown great development in their time at Rostov, something that will undoubtedly please their parent clubs. Although they lack quality depth in many areas, Rostov can still put up a very good fight to finish in the top half provided they can become more consistent in the second half of the season.

Krylia Sovetov Samara:

Krylia are yet another team that have relied on good defence to reach their league position, sitting in 11th but on equal points with the three teams above them. Krylia's back four has certainly performed well above expectations considering the lack of midfield protection in front of them, while their disappointing forward line has not done much to help the club's league position either. Regardless, Krylia have the potential to build and could push Rubin, Kuban and Rostov for a top half spot, given a few choice signings in midfield and on the wings.

The Underachievers:

Anzhi Makhachkala:

The withdrawal of funding from Anzhi by their owner, Suleyman Kerimov, has led to an exodus the likes of which have never seen before in modern football and has ultimately led to the complete collapse of the club's first team. With no wins in 19 games, Anzhi has looked completely and utterly incapable of staying in the league, and it looks like it will get even worse for them with the departure of Lacina Traore, by far their best player, to Monaco. I can't see anything for them but relegation this year.

Terek Grozny:

After an impressive 2012-13 campaign in which Terek managed a top half finish, many thought that they might be able to push on and challenge for a European place, but the team has regressed and now finds itself languishing down in 14th place. Normally solid contributors like Igor Lebedenko and Maciej Rybus have struggled to make an impact, while the fact that Zaur Sadaev is actually playing tells the whole story about Terek's lack of quality at striker. This lack of quality up front will continue to cause them problems if it goes unsolved, and I imagine that they won't manage to pull out of the relegation playoff places.

Rubin Kazan:

Rubin have, like Lokomotiv and Amkar, tried to base their team around a solid defence, doing well in that respect but struggling in the goalscoring department. Their aging defence has conceded the least goals in the league, helped considerably by the incredibly defensive midfield pairing of Bibras Natkho and Yann M'Vila, but the lack of fitness of Salomon Rondon has forced the team to field inferior strikers. Providing their defence can remain solid and Rondon can find some semblance of fitness, they could challenge for a European spot, but mid-table seems more likely at this stage.

CSKA Moscow:

Just half a season removed from winning the title, CSKA look like a shadow of their former selves and sit in 5th, 6 points off the top. The departure of Vagner Love hit the team hard, especially due to Seydou Doumbia's injury struggles, while other injuries to Mario Fernandes and Alan Dzagoev have seriously damaged the team's title hopes, as shown by the excellent performances of these players when fit. Certain players, such as Igor Akinfeev, Georgi Schennikov, Pontus Wernbloom and Zoran Tosic, have managed to keep some fantastic form, but they are unable to carry the team on its own and the return to fitness of other key players is vital to their ever-slimming title chances.

The Players:

Artem Dzyuba:

Artem Dzyuba has stunned RPL fans this season, notching up an excellent 12 goals and 2 assists for Rostov, on loan from Spartak. For many a year, Dzyuba was shoehorned into a withdrawn striker role that limited his effectiveness at Spartak, and he fell behind players like Welliton and Emmanuel Emenike in the pecking order. His loan to Rostov has been something of a rebirth however, as he's been allowed to play as a lone striker, using his strength and good hold up play to bring others into the attack and become arguably the best striker in the RPL right now.

Hulk:

After something of a lacklustre first season in which he struggled with personal issues, Hulk has finally found his footing at Zenit, notching up an impressive 9 goals and 4 assists in 14 matches. After playing in his natural right wing role for all of his first season and much of this one, Zenit manager Luciano Spalletti experimented with Hulk as a lone striker, which paid off as he made the position his own in Aleksandr Kerzhakov's absence due to injury and abysmal form. If Hulk can keep up this pace and versatility, I see very few reasons why he can't lead Zenit to the title.

Vitali Denisov:

One of the things that could potentially stand in Hulk's march to the title is Lokomotiv's Uzbek left back, Vitali Denisov. Since joining Loko on a free in January, Denisov has done nothing but impress, with his fantastic pace and crossing ability providing an effective attacking outlet down the left flank in addition to a strong defensive presence. Denisov has most certainly been the best left back in the league this season, outperforming better known names like Georgi Schennikov, Domenico Criscito, Christian Ansaldi and Dmitri Kombarov. If Lokomotiv are to maintain their title ambitions, Denisov will need to keep fit and performing well.

Jose Manuel Jurado:

After being competent, if not brilliant, on loan at Spartak from Schalke last season, Jose Manuel Jurado was brought in permanently by the Moscow club and has repaid them well for their faith. Jurado has been an essential link in Spartak's attack this season, providing an essential supply line to Yura Movsisyan, which has been a large reason why the Armenian has succeeded this season. In addition to his creative tendencies, Jurado put in one of the best individual performances of the season, scoring a hat-trick and providing an assist in the 4-1 win over Dynamo, a performance only challenged by Alan Dzagoev in CSKA's 1-0 win over Kuban and Zhano Ananidze in Rostov's 4-0 demolition of Volga the following day.

Thomas Phibel:

Key to Amkar's impressive defence this season, Thomas Phibel has found his feet immediately following his transfer from Polish club Widzew Lodz. The 27 year old Frenchman has been a rock at the heart of Amkar's ambitious and dangerous high line and has done his job to perfection, leading the league in clearances and offsides won, as well as being an impressive distributor from the back. After impressing greatly at Amkar, it would not be surprising in the least if Phibel is snapped up this summer by a bigger RPL team in need of a centre back, such as CSKA or Zenit.

Team of the Half Season:

Yuri Lodygin - Zenit St. Petersburg:
19 matches, 6 clean sheets.

Arseni Logashov - Rostov (on loan from Lokomotiv Moscow):
13 matches, 1 goal, 0 assists.

Vedran Corluka - Lokomotiv Moscow:
18 matches, 1 goal, 1 assist.

Thomas Phibel - Amkar Perm:
11 matches, 1 goal, 0 assists.

Vitali Denisov - Lokomotiv Moscow:
13 matches, 1 goal, 4 assists.

Dmitri Tarasov - Lokomotiv Moscow:

17 matches, 4 goals, 1 assist.
Christian Noboa - Dynamo Moscow:

19 matches, 5 goals, 3 assists.
Hulk - Zenit St. Petersburg:

14 matches, 9 goals, 4 assists.
Jose Manuel Jurado - Spartak Moscow:

18 matches, 6 goals, 1 assist.
Danny - Zenit St. Petersburg:

15 matches, 10 goals, 7 assists.
Artem Dzyuba - Rostov (on loan from Spartak Moscow):
17 matches, 12 goals, 2 assists.



I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who made it this far. Check back here in a few weeks time for my preview of the second half of the season and after that for the return of my regular weekly content.