Temporary Break

Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted in two weeks, and so I thought I should explain. I will unfortunately have to take a break from writing FBTIC until November 1st due to my own commitments. I thank you for your patience.

2013-14 Matchweek 7 Recap: Zenit Top Table for First Time

In the last matchweek before both the transfer deadline and the international break, Zenit St. Petersburg have gone to the top of the table for the first time this season, however their victory over Lokomotiv was tarnished by poor refereeing.

CSKA 2-1 Amkar
CSKA completely dominated after going down in under a minute, and fought back to win 2-1 with goals from Seydou Doumbia and Ahmed Musa. The hosts probably could have won by more considering their dominance, however they were disadvantaged by an injury to Doumbia just 9 minutes after his goal.

Terek 1-1 Anzhi
Anzhi's terrible start to the season has continued with a 1-1 draw with Terek. Centre back Ewerton opened the scoring for Anzhi just after the half hour mark, before Terek threw everything they had at an equaliser. Their efforts were repaid in the 87th minute when Ailton converted from the penalty spot, however their dominance deserved a win.

Krasnodar 3-0 Volga
Wanderson and Joaozinho put on a clinic in Krasnodar's 3-0 victory over Volga, with each player involved in the scoring twice. Wanderson put the finish on two goals, while Joaozinho set up one and scored the side's final effort. However, it must be noted that the match was far more even than the scoreline suggests and it could easily have gone the other way with some better finishing from Volga.

Zenit 2-1 Lokomotiv
I don't really have much to say about this match other than that the referee was terrible. If you want to know more, you can read my match report here.

Ural 0-3 Rubin
Ural were outplayed by a fantastic Rubin side, in particular Salomon Rondon and Bibras Natkho. Rondon finally appears to be paying off his transfer fee after a year in the club and he was fantastic on Sunday, scoring all three of the match's goals, two of which were set up by Natkho.

Spartak 2-1 Tom
Spartak struggled to an unremarkable win against continually poor Tom Tomsk. The hosts conceded first through the excellent Vladimir Rykov, but came from behind to win 2-1 through goals from Yura Movsisyan and Pavel Yakovlev. The win, like CSKA's earlier in the weekend, could have been much more comfortable were it not for poor finishing.

Krylia 0-0 Kuban
Krylia and Kuban fought to a goalless draw, although this was less due to poor finishing and more due to fantastic defensive work from both sides.

Dynamo 1-1 Rostov
Neither side were able to fully capitalise on an open match and take the victory, as Hrvoje Milic and Aleksandr Kokorin scored early on in each half to send both supporters home with what should be seen as a satisfactory result.

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

Zenit 2-1 Lokomotiv: Match Takes Back Seat to Poor Officiating

What promised to be a good match was ultimately ruined by poor officiating as referee Sergei Ivanov failed to contain tensions between the two teams and ultimately awarded each side an unnecessary penalty.

Both sides lined up basically as expected, Zenit in their typical 4-3-3, with a midfield consisting of Konstantin Zyryanov, Axel Witsel and Roman Shirokov. Aleksandr Kerzhakov was the only change in the front three, replacing Oleg Shatov, while Tomas Hubocan started at left back despite the presence of Nicolas Lombaerts in the starting XI. Lokomotiv too went with their preferred formation, a 4-2-3-1, and their standard back four all got starts. Meanwhile, Lassana Diarra got his first start for Lokomotiv and Felipe Caicedo was favoured up front to Dame N'Doye and Roman Pavlyuchenko, both of whom started on the bench.

Zenit opened the match well, with Axel Witsel coming close within 5 minutes, however Ilya Abaev was there to make a solid save. Minutes later, we saw a sign of what was to come, as the referee dished out unnecessary cards to Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Vedran Corluka. The match continued in this vein when, following a Mbark Boussoufa free kick that rattled the crossbar, Luis Neto and Renat Ranbaev were also booked, with Yanbaev being the first player to actually deserve a card. It was Zenit who had the next chance, as Andrei Arshavin cut into the box from the right and shot across the face of goal, before Boussoufa shook the woodwork again 15 minutes later with a shot from just inside the box. As the half wound to an end, Roman Shirokov and Lassana Diarra tripped over one another in the Lokomotiv box, and the referee deemed it a professional foul (which was the wrong call in my opinion), sending Diarra off and awarding Zenit a penalty, which Shirokov confidently converted.

Now down a man, Lokomotiv manager Leonid Kuchuk was forced to make a defensive change, with Felipe Caicedo being replaced by Jan Tigorev at half time. It appeared to work at first, as Lokomotiv gained possession for long spells and coming close through Maicon and Dmitri Tarasov in the opening 10 minutes of the half. Their efforts finally paid off when, in the 69th minute, the referee made another poor decision, deeming that Igor Smolnikov handled the ball in the box and handing Lokomotiv a chance to equalise from the spot. Boussoufa took the opportunity and put the teams back on level terms, although Zenit pushed harder and finally started to retake control of the match. Nonetheless, Lokomotiv defended valiantly and appeared to have held the hosts to a draw when they were punished in the 86th minute. Danny dribbled into the Lokomotiv box and cut the ball back to Konstantin Zyryanov (seriously, that guy is still playing?!), who shot past Abaev from the edge of the box, ending the match at 2-1 to Zenit.

Man of the Match: Mbark Boussoufa
Boussoufa was excellent on the ball, creating a number of chances with his excellent passing. He was unlucky not to score from open play, however he made up for it by scoring the penalty.

Honourable Mentions:
Nicolas Lombaerts - Solid at the back and confident on the ball, Lombaerts relieved pressure on his midfielders by taking up some of the playmaking burden.
Roman Shirokov - Shirokov had an unusually poor passing game, yet was fantastic with the ball at his feet and confidently converted from the spot to put the hosts in front.
Dmitri Tarasov - Tarasov didn't put a foot out of line all match, effectively creating play and breaking up Zenit attacks with apparent ease.

Rumour Roundup: August 28th, 2013

Hello everyone. We're finally getting into the business end of the transfer window, with 9 days to go before it slams shut, meaning this is your second last Rumour Roundup of the year. I will, however, feature a general transfer window roundup the day on the Monday following the end of the window, so look forward to that.

Done Deals:
Chelsea has confirmed that it has agreed terms with Anzhi for the transfer of Willian, subject to a work permit hearing. The winger had reportedly completed a medical with Tottenham Hotspur, when Chelsea became involved and offered more in both transfer fee and wages, with the reported fee believed to be around €37 million.

Spartak has completed the transfer of Anzhi central defender Joao Carlos for an undisclosed fee. Carlos made his Spartak debut alongside Salvatore Bocchetti in the club's 2-1 loss to Amkar on Sunday.

Looking Likely:
According to the Daily Mail, Samuel Eto'o will follow Willian to Chelsea as part of the deal for the Brazilian. Jose Mourinho managed Eto'o at Inter Milan and is not believed to rate Chelsea's current forwards, having played a strikerless formation against Manchester United on Monday.

Spartak midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov could make a move to Rubin in a bid to gain playing time, via Russian Football News. Bilyaletdinov joined Spartak from Everton in January 2012, yet has only played 24 league matches in that time, scoring 4 goals.

CSKA is on the verge of signing Botafogo striker Vitinho for a fee of €10 million, as reported by the Ledger Enquirer.

50/50:
If voetbalnieuws.be is to be believed, Alan Dzagoev could be set for a move to Tottenham. The London based club are reportedly interested in Dzagoev as a partial replacement for the departing Gareth Bale, with Roma's Erik Lamela also believed to be coming in. No price has been quoted, however my estimate is around €25 million, however this could decrease if reported CSKA target Emmanuel Adebayor is included in the deal.

Low Chance:
Zenit has declared that forward Hulk is not for sale, amidst interest from Tottenham. The English club was reported to be interested for around €35 million, well short of Zenit's €46 million asking price. Hulk is believed to be eager to put his spell in Russia behind him and link back up with his manager at Porto, Andre Villas-Boas.

Spartak's move for Toby Alderweireld appears to have failed after the club signed Joao Carlos. Alderweireld is believed to be interested in a move to the English Premier League, and has been linked with North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal in recent weeks.

2013-14 Matchweek 6 Recap: Rostov suffer first loss as Lokomotiv turn up the pressure

Hey everyone. It's six matchweeks in and Rostov has finally lost its first match of the season due to two red cards, while there were a couple of surprising results elsewhere.

Dynamo 1-1 Zenit
Dynamo controlled this match from almost start to finish, going ahead through a Balazs Dzsudzsak deflection in the 64th minute, yet were absolutely robbed by an Aleksandr Kerzhakov header with the absolute last touch of the match.

Tom 1-2 CSKA
Igor Portnyagin sent Tom ahead on the half hour mark, but CSKA battled back and dominated the game, taking goals from Seydou Doumbia and Ahmed Musa in the space of 9 minutes to put the visitors ahead and take the win to go top of the table.

Volga 1-0 Terek
Terek played better overall, controlling possession and taking charge of the game, but Volga's counterattacking game prevailed as Anton Putsila scored in the 75th minute to take the match for the hosts.

Anzhi 1-2 Krasnodar
Anzhi continued a dismal start to the season with a disappointing loss to Krasnodar. Krasnodar controlled the match and, despite conceding to Anzhi's Odil Ahmedov on the stroke of half time, managed to pull 2 back via Mauricio Pereyra and Wanderson to take the win.

Rubin 1-1 Krylia
In a surprisingly even match, veteran Gokdeniz Karadeniz scored the opener just 10 minutes in, before Ibrahim Tsallagov scored in first half stoppage time to equalise. Neither side were able to truly impose themselves on the match and the second half played out without note.

Kuban 3-2 Ural
Both sides got a penalty and converted in what was a back and forth match that either team could have won. Ultimately it was Kuban, and Djibril Cisse in particular, that took the 3-2 victory, however it was not as convincing as it could have been.

Amkar 2-1 Spartak
Despite Spartak's more attacking game, it was Amkar who scored first on an excellent counter, while Pavel Yakovlev equalised just after half time. Martin Jakubko's winner should arguably have been denied due to Makhach Gadzhiev's foul on Sergei Parshivlyuk in the build up, however the referee saw nothing wrong with it and Amkar took the victory.

Lokomotiv 5-0 Rostov
Firstly, this scoreline doesn't reflect the true nature of this match. Rostov were actually playing quite well in the first half, and were unlucky to go into the interval trailing by a goal. However, they suffered the misfortune of two red cards (one to each starting fullback) and Lokomotiv took full advantage, as their crossing game led to three second half goals from open play.

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

Dynamo 1-1 Zenit: Visitors take undeserved point

Dynamo thoroughly outplayed Zenit today, but were robbed by Aleksandr Kerzhakov's header with the last touch of the game.

Dynamo put out an entirely unsurprising 4-2-3-1, with Luke Wilkshire replacing Nikita Chicherin as Dan Petrescu's only change from the side that drew with Krasnodar last week. Meanwhile, Luciano Spalletti put out a somewhat surprising lineup, with a front three composed of debutant Oleg Shatov and two left wingers in Danny and Andrei Arshavin. The two alternated throughout the first half, yet Arshavin was arguably the more central of the two.

Neither side opened the match particularly well, but Dynamo had the first chance of the match as Fyodor Smolov headed a perfectly weighted Balazs Dzsudzsak cross wide of the far post in just the 5th minute. Six minutes later, it was Zenit with a chance as Christian Ansaldi sent a low cross for Roman Shirokov, who was fresh off a hat-trick in Portugal on Wednesday, however Dynamo keeper Roman Berezovski got to the ball first and prevented a scoring opportunity. Next up was Dzsudzsak, who unleashed a long range shot that Yuri Lodygin only barely held, before Denisov unleashed another minutes later that also challenged the keeper. There was only one more chance for either side before the break, as Lodygin was called into action yet again, saving well at the feet of Alan Kasaev while Nicolas Lombaerts blocked Artur Yusupov's following effort.

Only one change was made at the interval, as Spalletti shifted to a more conventional approach, replacing the ineffective Arshavin with Aleksandr Kerzhakov, a decision that would eventually prove to be the right one. Dynamo came out of the blocks on fire, and before long Dzsudzsak had put them in front from a good shot that took a deflection off the back of Lombaerts. The hosts then became content to hold onto possession and sit deep, launching the occasional attack forward, but coming to nothing for the most part. Finally, substitute Vladimir Dyadyun had a good chance, but once again Lodygin made an excellent save. Zenit immediately sent the ball up the other end and the ball fell loose in Dynamo's box, however no one was able to apply a finish. Dzsudzsak went head to head again with Lodygin in the first minute of stoppage time, but the keeper came out on top once more, and his efforts were repaid up the other end when Shirokov flicked the ball onto Kerzhakov, who finished coolly with an excellent diving header. Dynamo were punished despite being the better team for the majority, as Zenit pulled a draw out of their hats with literally the final touch of the game.

Man of the Match: Yuri Lodygin
Lodygin was on spectacular form as he went one on one with Dynamo's forwards and came out on top time after time. He was unlucky to concede off a deflection, but performed admirably considering his defenders left him to do much of their work.

Honourable Mentions:
Balazs Dzsudzsak - For most of the match, he was Dynamo's only forward offering anything going forward. His goal was somewhat lucky, but he would have scored had it not been for Lodygin's fantastic performance.
Roman Berezovski - Played well, yet was overshadowed by Lodygin's performance at the other end.

Rumour Roundup: August 21st, 2013

So everybody, for the second week running, Anzhi's transfers dominate the news, although there are some other interesting rumours going around as well.

Done Deals:
Igor Denisov, Aleksandr Kokorin and Yuri Zhirkov all transferred to Dynamo from Anzhi. You can read all about it here.

Two further Anzhi departures are Mbark Boussoufa and Lassana Diarra, who have joined Lokomotiv for around €25 million. Diarra most likely signed to cover for the recent departure of Denis Glushakov to Spartak, while Boussoufa will strengthen Lokomotiv's currently weak wings and attacking midfield.

Looking Likely:
According to a plethora of sources throughout England and Russia, Willian looks set to complete a €35 million move to Tottenham Hotspur after reportedly turning down a move to Liverpool. Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has been interested in the Brazilian since he was at Shakhtar, and Willian described Villas-Boas as a "friend" in November last year.

50/50:
If the Guardian is to be believed, Everton will continue their interest in Spartak winger Aiden McGeady. McGeady has long been a target of both Everton as a club and their new manager, Roberto Martinez, who tried to bring McGeady to England as manager of Wigan.

Low Chance:
According to Tribal Football, Luis Neto's agent has stated that his client is not interested in a move from Zenit to Inter Milan, having only joined the St. Petersburg club from Sienna in January.