The victory over Torpedo was a fundamental task for Spartak for three reasons at once. Firstly, the “red-whites” could not allow CSKA to catch up in the standings, losing a clear second place, and at the same time, the hope of closing the gap with Zenit. Secondly, the fans were expecting a bright “farewell” show from the players – the meeting with the car manufacturers was supposed to be the last home game for the team before the winter break. Thirdly, the duel between the two metropolitan clubs still had the status of a derby, albeit not the loudest.

It is not surprising that Guillermo Abascal eventually put up the strongest squad for the game with the last RPL team. The hosts from the first minutes began to put pressure on the opponent, but it was not easy to cope with Talalaev’s impudent and stubborn Torpedo.

Promes had to save the “red-whites” once again.

Unlucky Spartak

Torpedo’s action plan for the match with Spartak became clear in the first minutes. Despite the fact that Andrey Talalaev headed the car factory quite recently, his coaching style is already noticeable in the team’s game. The Russian specialist countered the bright and intense attacking tactics of Abaskal with branded counterpressing. “Torpedo” abandoned the positional initiative, relying on a viscous struggle and vertical attacks.

True, this approach did not bring much benefit to the guests in the first half of the meeting. Throughout the half, Spartak pressed the opponent, and with every minute the scoring threat became more and more material. If at first the matter was limited only to dangerous approaches, then over time the “red-whites” began to attack more specifically. In order to open an account, the hosts lacked completion several times: somewhere the attackers were let down by the last pass, somewhere – an unsuccessful rebound.

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Only Shamar Nicholson fell out of the general picture, whose place at the heart of Spartak has recently raised many questions. The Jamaican constantly acted out of place, either late with the transfer, or rushing ahead of time to the gate, falling into an offside trap.

In the second half of the half, goalkeeper Alexander Dovbnya became the most notable player of Torpedo, chalking up as many as 5 saves. True, the merit of the goalkeeper in these rescues should not be overestimated – it’s just that the ball at Spartak frankly did not go into the goal. Quincy Promes was seriously annoyed by this bad luck: in the 35th minute, the Dutchman could not restrain his emotions and earned a stupid foul after another unsuccessful attack by the “red-whites”. The striker simply hit the ball in a volleyball way with his hand when Dovbnya tried to put it into play, for which he received a yellow card.

And again Promes!

From the break, Promes came out with the same zeal – and finally got his way. Already at the very beginning of the half, the most effective bunch of RPL worked. Alexander Sobolev, in a quick attack, gave the pass to the Dutch striker, who found a corridor between the defenders of Torpedo and left both of them out of work with one movement, and then outplayed the team’s goalkeeper, sending the ball into an empty net.

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Spartak was not going to let go after the goal, so Talalaev had no choice in the last third of the match – the team had to open up. The coach refreshed the line-up by making three substitutions at once, and soon the car factory hit their first shot on target – and even improved their possession indicators, increasing their percentage from 30 to 40.

However, Torpedo did not create any really sharp moments until the very end of the meeting. The situation on the field is perfectly reflected by the xG indicator: the hosts scored more than three goals in total, while the guests did not scrape together even half a goal. Avtozavodtsy began to act boldly and brazenly, but at the same time they gave their rivals even more freedom, which Spartak did not use only thanks to Dovbny’s confident play.

Having fought off the desperate assault of Torpedo in the last minutes, the Red-Whites finally brought the matter to victory, increasing their unbeaten streak in all tournaments to 9 matches. At the same time, Promes temporarily moved to first place in the list of top scorers in the RPL, and Spartak strengthened its position in pursuit of silver medals. Torpedo remains at the bottom of the standings, however, Talalaev’s reforms leave the fans hope for the best – the new coach can still save the team.