Shavlo admitted that he was surprised by Sobolev’s absence from Spartak’s starting lineup for the match with Rostov.

Former general director of Spartak Sergei Shavlo admitted that he was surprised by the absence of striker Alexander Sobolev in the starting lineup of the “red-whites” for the match of the 15th round of the MIR RPL with “Rostov”.

The meeting took place on Sunday in Moscow and ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of Spartak. Sobolev came on as a substitute in the 86th minute.

— In the first half, Spartak played well, the ball moved quickly and they scored beautiful goals. The Red and Whites played well and dominated. In the second half we got hooked, even thought of a penalty and then things got scary.

— What do Spartak need to improve on?

— In everything, because in Spartak it has never been the case that the team scored less than it conceded. We need to improve in attack, and the defense seems to have stabilized, but the right side is lame. As soon as Denisov came out, crossfire began from his flank. Prutsev and Litvinov played well. The composition needs to stabilize.

— Sobolev did not start. What do you think of Abascal’s decision?

“I’m also surprised that he wasn’t in the starting lineup in two matches. I don’t know what happened there. He played well in the match against Krasnodar. He seems ready, but the coach knows why he didn’t come out. Bongonda also did not come out, and Sobolev and Theo are two players who decide the moments ahead. The game got tight in the first half, but a pure striker still has to play. As long as Quincy plays in this position, it means Abascal gives preference to attacking midfielders,” RB Sport quotes Shavlo.

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