Wednesday, April 30, 2014

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.
football formations

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

Sunday, April 27, 2014

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.

football formationsRostov 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.

Friday, April 25, 2014

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.

football formationsAnzhi 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

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

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

Monday, April 14, 2014

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.

football formationsVolga 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.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

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.

football formationsKuban 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

Sunday, April 6, 2014

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


football formationsKrasnodar 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.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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.

football formationsLokomotiv 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