The main derby of the country between CSKA and Spartak (2:2) turned out to be the hottest in many years – not only due to the abundance of goals and nerves on the field, but also the emotions of the head coaches. The discussions were caused by the most controversial episode of the match, when the midfielder of the “red-whites” Roman Zobnin expected fair play from his opponents, but did not wait.

Both during the break and after the game, this episode became the basis for the conflict between the teams’ coaches. The CSKA coach mentioned his colleague from Spartak in the middle gender!

Leonid Fedun’s wife also said her word!

Ambiguous fair play

One of the most emotional moments of the match was the episode in the first half, when Spartak midfielder Roman Zobnin allegedly saw an army player lying on the lawn and, instead of kicking the ball, decided to call the opponent to fair play. CSKA defender Milan Gajic, apparently, did not understand Roman’s request, picked up the ball and dispersed the first scoring attack.

Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

Immediately after the end of the first half, the head coach of the Red-Whites, Guillermo Abascal, attacked Vladimir Fedotov, his counterpart from CSKA, trying to remind him of the existence of this very fair play. The Russian specialist, on the other hand, ignored the emotions of his colleague, but at the post-match conference he nevertheless appreciated this episode. So much so that he organized a new scandal.

– Abascal rushed at me during the break? Didn’t rush – you’re exaggerating. So, something jumped nearby. I didn’t understand what he was talking about,” Fedotov said.

The mention of the head coach of Spartak in the middle gender caused an outcry not only from the fans, but also a certain philosophical thought about what happened from Zarema Salikhova, the wife of the former owner of the Moscow club Leonid Fedun. According to Salikhova, Fedotov’s move from Sochi to the capital did not affect the coach’s manners.

In CSKA ridiculously stood up for a mentor

It is difficult to see in Fedotov’s phrase anything other than an attempt to offend a colleague from Spartak. However, in the army club, after the comment of Zarema Salikhova, they tried to explain that Vladimir Valentinovich did not want to offend the Spanish specialist:

– Now some are trying to interpret the words of our head coach about Abaskal in a disrespectful way. If you look at the footage from the press conference, you can see that Vladimir Valentinovich was confused and, on the contrary, decided to lower the degree, stating that there was no throw from the head coach of the opponent, but there were some gestures nearby, but no more. When taken out of context, the wording is not very good, but Fedotov did not want to offend Abaskal. What is the disrespect? – said the “Championship” director of communications CSKA Kirill Breido.

The explanation of Fedotov’s phrase from Kirill Breido turned out to be rather ridiculous. Trying to defend your coach after such an obvious derogatory phrase looks strange. If CSKA doesn’t want to apologize, then it probably should have at least just remained silent.

The emotions of coaches can be understood, few manage to maintain restraint after such heated matches and controversial episodes. Each of the mentors defends the interests of his team, sometimes crossing the line. It is unlikely that Vladimir Fedotov would have released such a phrase the day after the derby. However, despite different views on this situation, one thing is for sure: finally, the main derby of the country brought so many emotions: both on the field and beyond.

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