With rivals from Nizhny Novgorod, Spartak had a difficult relationship. Muscovites, oddly enough, have never won against the Volgaians since they received a residence permit in the Premier League. Last season, Nizhny Novgorod won a sensational victory at the Otkritie Arena (2:1), and then they frayed the nerves of the Red-White already in their field (1:1), gaining 4 points out of 6 possible in this two-match duel. At the same time, the nominal gap in the class of the two teams was colossal: Spartak occupied the 3rd place in the championship in terms of the cost of the composition, and PARI NN was the last, 16th.

The Red-Whites got the opportunity to close the gestalt in the 11th round of the new season, and this time a lot spoke in their favor. Spartak had already found its game under Guillermo Abascal, and a few days earlier achieved the long-awaited success, devastatingly beating Zenit (3: 0). However, this time the match with PARI NN did not turn into an easy walk for the Muscovites.

Promes pulled out a strong-willed victory for Spartak!

“PARI NN” squeezed out the maximum

The Red-Whites really came to Nizhny Novgorod energized for the result. The Muscovites immediately dug in in the opponent’s half of the pitch, nipping in the bud their opponents’ attempts to impose any kind of counterplay. After the first 15 minutes, the guests had possession of the ball 75% of the time and did not allow the opponent to come out of defense. One of Spartak’s attacks lingered inside someone else’s penalty area for an amazingly long time: the ball went endlessly from one player to another, but the players failed to get into a striking position or catch the moment. Ultimately, Umyarov had to complete this sortie: the player did not have the patience, and he shot far above the gate from an uncomfortable point.

Much of the first half went in the same vein. Spartak put continuous pressure on the hosts, and most of all the sharpness came from Anton Zinkovsky. The rookie made a few aimed crosses from the right flank, but Nicholson missed every opportunity to break through. Then the former Wings player tried to move to the left and turned into the far corner himself, but this attempt was blocked.

The ratio of shots by that moment was already 9:1 in favor of the guests, and it seemed that they would only continue to gain momentum … But one half-moment was enough for PARI NN to turn the game around. In the 34th minute, Suleimanov caught on the ball after a long shot and managed to earn the team’s first corner, forcing Selikhov to intercept the cross into the penalty area.

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Nizhny Novgorod quickly moved closer to the Spartak goal – and squeezed the maximum out of the next segment. An unexpected pass by Mamadou Maiga simply took the capital’s defenders by surprise: the Malian effortlessly dealt with them and sent the ball exactly into the near corner – 1:0. After that, PARI NN again rolled back to the defense and calmly waited for the break, for which the team left with an ideal implementation: one shot on target – one goal.

Promes pulled Spartak

During the pause, Abaskal made one permutation, replacing Umyarov with Litvinov, but at the beginning of the second half, she did not help Spartak add. On the contrary, PARI NN could increase the advantage: Milson almost made another solo miracle, but hit the crossbar exactly.

Fortunately for the capital’s fans, this episode brought the guests to their senses. The same Zinkovsky, who became the main source of creativity in attack for Spartak, helped equalize the score for the “red-whites”. Anton found Promes in the penalty area, making a canopy from the half-flank, and Quincy effectively dropped the ball to Shamar. And this time, Nicholson, being right in front of the gate, did not disappoint: the Jamaican shot tightly in the jump, as if clicking, and left the goalkeeper no chance – 1:1.

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After the long-awaited goal, Spartak got a taste, and PARI NN began to crumble under pressure from Muscovites. After another corner mistake, Momo Yansane made a mistake, who entered the field just a minute earlier: the Guinean hit the ball with his hand, covering Miha Mevlya, and the video assistants pointed out this moment to the chief referee. The Red-Whites entrusted the execution of the penalty to Promes, and he did not disappoint. The Dutchman humiliated Nikita Goylo, not being afraid at such a crucial moment to break through with a “lady”.

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In stoppage time, the Nizhny Novgorod team tried with all their might to turn the tide of the match, but Spartak did not miss theirs – and closed the long-standing gestalt (2: 1). With a goal and an assist, Promes moved into clear first place in the scorer rankings with 9 goals, while his team temporarily returned to 4th place in the table, reducing the gap to Zenit to 7 points.