Spartak played below its level in the match of the 18th round of the WORLD RPL with Ural, football expert Valery Nepomnyashchy told Euro-Futbol.Ru.

On Saturday, Spartak played a draw with Ural 2:2 in the home match of the 18th round of the WORLD RPL.

Is the intrigue in the championship race dead?

– Almost. Initially, it seemed to me that there was no chance, but now 8 points is a big gap.

– The main event of the tour is Artem Dzyuba’s hat-trick, or is it something else for you?

— There were a lot of interesting things, but Artyom, as always, surpassed everything. And so, vividly manifests itself “Zenith”. Even brighter than I thought. It can be seen that this is an absolutely manageable team, although doubts could arise. Still, there are many Brazilians, they are not very motivated, but in fact everything is in order there. This is surprise with a plus sign.

– How do you assess the misfire of CSKA? What is the main problem of this team now?

– The army team disappointed Sochi with their loss. But I connect this not only with the fact that the southerners were headed by Berdyev, who, as expected, is building it up. Still, the problems with the army team will not improve in any way. Especially in defense. In the last match, only one central defender played. Nevertheless, I still expected that CSKA would continue to compete with Zenit.

– And who surprised with a plus sign?

— Khimki. The team has lost almost a hundred percent of the composition, new people have come, and, as it turns out, there are guys playing there. Everything can be expected from them. “Torpedo” and “Khimki” – these are two victims from which everyone expects them to collapse, and “Avtozavodtsy” also surprised. They didn’t lose to Krasnodar. Moreover, they could win. Therefore, no matter what anyone says, I like the Russian championship because there is a fight on all floors, with the exception of Zenit. For the beginning of March, playing at the level our clubs played at is great. It hasn’t been like this for a long time.

– Did Spartak play enough to win the match with Ural or is a draw logical?

— We have to come to terms with the fact that another combat unit has appeared — this is Ural, which plays good, high-quality football. The guys have gained confidence in their abilities. When the team is on such courage, it is difficult to cope with it. Spartak played below their level. He felt bewildered when it seems that they are the favorites, and why then “Ural” does not give in? Especially in Moscow. This is also a good lesson for the Red-Whites. They need to understand that there are no clubs in the RPL with which you can play in full legs. You have to try hard in every game.

After 18 rounds of the WORLD RPL, Zenit is in first place (45 points), Spartak is second (37). Next are Rostov (35), Dynamo (32), CSKA, Akhmat (29 each).

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