Meetings between Spartak and Zenit always occupy the front pages of sports publications. An increased degree of emotions, a long history of confrontations and, of course, cool football – all this certainly accompanies the derby of the two capitals. Yes, a lot of good matches were played. But among them there are real pearls, about which fans will poison tales for many decades to come.

One of these meetings was the game in May 2012 – in the very transitional season, when the hateful “spring-autumn” was replaced by the newfangled “autumn-spring”. In the 43rd round, Zenit should have been officially awarded gold medals for winning the championship ahead of schedule. But Spartak had its own tasks.

The “Red-Whites” showed character after a blatant dismissal and pulled out a victory in the very end!

“Zenith” light

On May 6, 2012, the Petrovsky stadium was packed to capacity. By that time, Zenit had been the champion for two weeks, but on that day the official awards ceremony was to take place. Largely due to this, the audience had reason to hope that Luciano Spalletti’s team would not engage in nonsense on the field. Petersburg was waiting for a big celebration – and the victory over Spartak would become the main dish on the festive table.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Danichev

The Red-Whites approached the most important match of the season in not the best condition. In the previous three meetings, Valery Karpin’s gang scored only one point and was in fourth place. Such an alignment could not suit Muscovites who wanted to break into the Champions League. They only needed to play to win.

Alas, the match for the Spartacists began rather unpleasantly. Zenit had the initiative, and already in the 22nd minute the hosts turned the advantage into a goal. Alexander Kerzhakov responded to Domenico Criscito’s cross and once again acted as a classic tip. After that, the guests moved better and managed to establish control of the ball. However, pretty soon the game began to break into episodes. The players did not hesitate to go into hard joints, and the referee Vladimir Kazmenko gave them yellow cards without hesitation.

So it came to a break, and in the second half Spartak suddenly went ahead. Dmitry Kombarov, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and, of course, Emmanuel Emenike were very active. It was they who, in the end, built the return ball, in which Artyom Dziuba also participated. But still, Bilyaletdinov deserved special praise. Having received the ball in the penalty area, he expertly paused and put it in the bottom corner with his right foot. In the 70th minute, Spartak finally equalized.

Nevertheless, it was clear that the game is still easier for Zenit. Apparently, the notorious class affected. In addition, nothing pressured the Petersburgers – they could afford to play for their own pleasure. But the Spartacists were let down by nerves. Ten minutes after the return goal flew into the gates of Vyacheslav Malafeev, Kombarov demolished Viktor Fayzulin in his penalty area. The situation was completely harmless, but the Spartak defender for some reason decided to pull the opponent by the T-shirt. Sergei Semak confidently converted the penalty – 2:1.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Danichev

“Spartak” started

After a penalty kick, a small skirmish broke out in Spartak’s penalty area. Artyom Rebrov pointedly threw the ball towards the center of the field, and Alexander Kerzhakov did not like it. Kazmenko did not regret either the Spartak keeper or the Zenit striker: there were enough yellow cards for everyone.

It seems that the hot situation brought the “red-whites”. They immediately rushed to the attack and leveled the score! A cross from Kirill Kombarov led to a rebound in favor of Emenike – and he shot Malafeev from his left foot. The Nigerian celebrated the goal by slapping his right hand against his left. At that moment, no one understood what this gesture meant, but for some reason the judge regarded it as offensive. Quite unexpectedly for everyone, Emenike received a direct red card and was forced to leave the field immediately after his triumph. It is interesting that at that time the Spartak forward was already “sitting” on conditional disqualification until the end of the season for an indecent gesture towards the Dynamo fans who subjected him to racism. However, Emmanuel was carried away – the FTC eventually decided not to punish him.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, I will use this gesture, since there is nothing offensive in it. It only means gratitude to my parents for the blood that flows in my veins. That red card in St. Petersburg is a complete nonsense. The referee made an obvious mistake,” the striker later said to the club’s press service.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Danichev

The removal of Emenike infuriated the Spartacists, but it seems even played into their hands. The Red-Whites continued to attack and carried out another scoring attack, which began with a swift interception in the center of the field. Then Dmitry Kombarov passed to the center to Dziuba, who connected Rafael Carioca, who had come running from the depths, and the Brazilian did not leave Malafeev a chance. Zenit fans were in shock, and the joy of the guests knew no bounds.

Spartak spoiled the long-awaited holiday for the Petersburgers – the victory in the longest season in the history of Russia. Yes, Zenit received its medals, but it was not the same. And the “red-white” victory gave impetus to the last round – Karpin’s team confidently beat Lokomotiv (2: 0), securing a place in the Champions League. The Spartacists were doubly pleased because another principal rival, CSKA, was left behind in the championship.