At the beginning of the championship, the team of Guillermo Abascal impressed with an attacking game. Experts began to seriously discuss the prospects of Spartak in the championship race, but two failures in a row forced them to seriously adjust their forecasts. The home game with Akhmat seemed like an excellent test of character.

Selikhov returned

After the defeat from Zenit, Abascal was criticized for being too fond of experiments with tactics and composition. The Spanish coach again made changes, returning to the usual 4-3-3 formation.

At the gate instead of Ilya Svinov, who conceded ten goals in three games, Alexander Selikhov appeared for the first time this season. From the first minutes, Theo Bongonda also entered the field, replacing Jesús Medina at the start. It is also worth noting the appearance in the center of the field of Nail Umyarov, with the help of which Abaskal expected to strengthen the support zone.

At the same time, Ruslan Litvinov, who, by the decision of the coach, missed the game with Zenit, again remained on the bench. The team’s newcomer Srdjan Babić, who signed a contract with Spartak this week, also started the game there.

Sleepy Spartak and angry Akhmat

From the first minutes it became obvious that Akhmat was not going to sit on the defensive. The appointment of Miroslav Romashchenko had a powerful effect on the team: this was evident from the previous game against Orenburg (4:0). In Moscow, the Grozny people were also maximally charged. Spartak was not ready for such an evil and powerful resistance.

Behind the guests blocked all areas, depriving Quincy Promes and Bongond of their main advantage – speed. They also received no help from the middle line. “Akhmat” at the first opportunity climbed forward and was much more specific than the opponent in the final stage. At the beginning of the match, Ilyin could open the score, beating from an excellent position with his head. Selikhov and Spartak were saved by the post.

Open video

This episode was supposed to wake up the inert hosts, but nothing of the sort happened. “Akhmat” still coped with all the attacking actions of the “red-whites”. The tactic of a small foul also helped in this: the Grozny team did not hesitate to beat their opponents in the legs, while the chief referee of the meeting, Rafael Shafeev, was in no hurry to get yellow cards out of his pocket.

Only closer to the break, Spartak began to create sharpness in someone else’s penalty area. Tired residents of Grozny did not always have time to cover the hosts. In the end, Promes could open the scoring, but his shot was blocked by a defender at the last moment. Later Christopher Martins made a dangerous header.

Whistle in the stands

Spartak came out of the locker room with a completely different mood. Only in the first minutes of the half, the hosts could remove all questions about the winner. Abascal’s team has noticeably improved in the speed of movement and decision-making. During the shock five-minute period, the Spartacists created several critical moments. The best was at Bongond, whose shot at point-blank range was repelled by Giorgi Shelia. Following good chances were Promes and Martins.

However, there was no continuation. Akhmat, realizing all the risks, chose to finally switch to the game as number two. True, the guests still did not forget about counterattacks. Thanks to these sorties, Ivan Oleinikov could well have provoked the removal of Umyarov, but Shafeev regretted that. Within a few minutes, the midfielder twice roughly knocked down an opponent, but received a yellow card only in the first episode. After that, Abascal removed Umyarov from the field out of sin, releasing Litvinov instead. Also early, the Spaniard decided to replace Alexander Sobolev with Mikhail Ignatov, leaving the team without a clean forward.

Akhmat, after the confusion at the beginning of the half, no longer allowed the owners of liberties at their own gates. Sometimes Spartak simply did not know what to do with the ball, and played it for a long time in their own half. At that moment, an irritable whistle of the fans was heard in the stands of the stadium, which had not been heard for a long time.

At the very end, the teams exchanged good moments. First, Medina, who came on as a substitute, tried to punch Shelia with a kick from outside the penalty area, but the goalkeeper was on the spot. In a retaliatory attack, Camilo could bring victory to Akhmat, from a lethal position he loaded directly into Selikhov. At the last added minute, Anton Zinkovsky almost became the hero of the match, but he also failed to outplay the goalkeeper of the guests.

Such a difficult game “Spartak” could pull out only on the character. It cannot be said that the Abascal team did not try, but they did not manage to break the uncomfortable opponent. After three starting victories in the championship in the next three matches, the Spartacists managed to score only one point. Already next week, the “red-whites” are waiting for two more difficult tests: the home cup game with “Dynamo” and the trip to visit “Krasnodar” in the championship.