The teams put on a good match. Compared to last week, Spartak has greatly improved. The hosts both halves looked good. If in the first half there was an equal fight, then in the second half the “red-whites” had the initiative. The result of the match as a whole is natural, but questions remain.

Referee errors

There are certain claims to the judges, especially to the second goal of Spartak. Ignatov flunked the opponent. Football is not a fight, you can’t wave your arms like that. He acted in violation of the rules. Tiknizyan did not touch the Spartak player at all. It is no coincidence that Ivanov was invited to the monitor to consider this episode, but he counted the goal.

It is not clear what the referee was guided by when appointing the second 11-meter kick for handball. How could he put a penalty in this situation? The player just rolled on the lawn, and the hand rested on the field.

Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

Spartak will definitely compete for the Cup

The appearance of Promes in the starting lineup once again proved that he is a backbone player for Spartak. Quincy justified the trust of the coaching staff. The Dutch footballer looked good from the first to the last minute.

In general, the small number of changes in the starting lineup suggests that Abascal has already decided on a bunch of players who will start in the Premier League spring matches.

The game of the attack is especially impressive, but there are enough defenders in defense to solve serious problems. Now “Spartak” can easily rotate the composition, not really worrying about the subsidence of the quality of football. With such a game, they will definitely compete for the Cup, and they can aim for the first place in the championship.

Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

Lokomotiv’s defense is disappointing

Lokomotiv looked good in attack. In many ways, this was facilitated by a powerful midfield. Dziuba can also add more, but he needs to be properly integrated into the game schemes. The attacking tactics chosen by Galaktionov for this game will definitely help the “railroad workers” in the championship. The functional preparation of the team is also quite good.

The only concern is the poor defensive play. Smolnikov had to be changed at the end of the match. Leaving Igor alone with Promes was too risky. In the end, this led to the fact that the Lokomotiv defender did not have time to play the ball and knocked down an opponent in the penalty area.

Conti is an experienced defender. Herman made his debut in official matches, but he did not add reliability to the defense game. In general, the back row players acted very badly. They brought three of the four heads. This is a lot.

The moment with the first missed goal is indicative. There were a lot of defending players in Lokomotiv’s penalty area. But they could not play closely with Promes and Ignatov, allowing them to calmly complete the attack with a goal. The central defenders simply stood in front of the goalkeeper and did not hold anyone.

Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

In the episode with Martins’ goal, the defenders also acted badly. At first they let Promes calmly break through, and then they did not help Lantratov to save the gate. Ilya has no questions. Tiknizyan had to play to the end, and he stood and looked at the episode like a fan.

The defense definitely needs to be played, perhaps it is worth considering the option with three central ones. There is still time before the start of the championship, and these problems must be solved.

Watch live broadcasts of the Russian Cup matches and the draw on the Match TV federal channel and the thematic channels of the holding, as well as on matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.

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