Lokomotiv beat the champions, Krasnodar was once again first.
Doorman
Arthur Nigmatullin (“Paris NN”) – exited tour
Nigmatullin played brighter than his colleagues. Arthur took a difficult shot into the bottom corner and managed a long-range shot under the crossbar. The goalkeeper has four saves in total. “Ural” tried to force the action and Nigmatullin enjoyed himself in the last seconds by going to the penalty area line. But the goalkeeper emerged victorious from the duel and sealed Paris NN’s difficult victory.
Defenders
Glenn Bale (“Wings of the Soviet”) – cover of the week
The Dutchman first cleared the ball from the goal line when Sochi’s Melkadze tried to upset the Samara team with a shot behind the goalkeeper. And then Bale came in handy in attack. The right lateral went to the baseline and hung the ball over Yezhov’s head. A perfect serve from the Dutchman and an extraordinary header: this is how Krylya Sovetov scored the winning goal against an outsider.
Kirill Gotsuk (“Paris NN”) – the king of the air
In the mounted battle, Gotsuk became king. The Paris NN captain has won 11 duels. He was also good low down, competently guided the defensive line and gave advice to Kakkoev in the center of the pitch. It was Nikita who scored the winning goal against Ural in extra time, but Gotsuk did everything so that a goal could bring three points to the home team.
Willian Rocha (CSKA) – tour highlights
Forced wild snow CSKA and “Rostov” are played primitively. It was difficult to bet on technical decisions, but the Brazilian defender calmly cleared the ball away from the goal. Willian also fought well. It is impossible to read someone else’s football in such conditions, but Rocha remained in the background. Moises also played well, but let’s highlight his notable colleague in defense.
Dmitry Skopintsev (Dynamo) – selections of the week
Without Skopintsev’s winning attack, Dinamo could have lost points against the strong Rubin, who had not conceded a goal in six rounds before leaving for Moscow RPL to contract. At the end of the match Dynamo had many chances, but only the goals counted. Skopintsev played great, stealing balls from his opponents six times, and worked not only on the wing, especially after Laxalt’s injury.
Midfielders
Mario Mitai (Lokomotiv) – cleaner
Claudinho and Wendel hid from Mitai, switching positions, but a heat map of the Albanian’s movements shows the 20-year-old all-rounder played through the entire Lokomotiv defence. He successfully replaced Barinov and did without Karpukas, who came off at the start of the second half. Zenit did not conquer the center of the pitch in the Moscow match and Mitai demonstrated his usefulness.
Alexander Chernikov (Krasnodar) – interceptions of the week
The Citizens beat Orenburg at home thanks to Akhmetov’s wildcard, but prepared a springboard when they did not fail in the center of the field, although they allowed Safonov’s approach to the goal. Chernikov made four interceptions out of the team’s six, reliably played in the background and calmly worked with the ball, rarely losing it after passes. Great destruction game.
Nair Tiknizyan (Lokomotiv) – choice of tour location
While Zenit ran the ball, Nair was part of Lokomotiv’s low pressure. But even in conditions where he rarely got the ball, out of nine team attempts he made three shots towards Kerzhakov’s goal. It was Nair who saved the Muscovites from the nervous end of the match against Zenit, who scored the third goal from a pass from Dziuba, who found the path of the shot perfectly. Tiknizyan’s scoring instinct sets him apart.
Forward
Maxim Glushenkov (“Lokomotiv”) – the lucky one of the tour
The Lokomotiv striker successfully passed the ball from the corner of the field, the ball bounced off goalkeeper Kerzhakov and ended up in the net. And in the second half Maxim scored the winning goal against Zenit, one of the striker’s favorite rivals. Glushenkov skillfully raised his head after Miranchuk’s cross from a free kick, two free kicks became Lokomotiv’s ticket to the second victory over the champions in a season.
Konstantin Tyukavin (“Dynamo”) – tour series
In five rounds in a row before Tyukavin, the last time a Dynamo player scored was twenty-three years ago, it was Rolan Gusev. Against the stubborn Rubin Konstantin not only had the ball, but also the 25th goal RPL, making him the fifth youngest player of the new century with such a record. Of the Dynamo players, only Tyukavin is on the list. Although he was tired and had received a painful blow to the neck, he managed to score the winning goal first.
Fedor Chalov (CSKA) – efficiency of the week
Chalov scored 12 penalties RPL below, the last time he missed was almost four years ago. Fedor clearly implemented the decision at the beginning of a difficult snowy match against Rostov, and then competently helped Faizullaev to create dangerous moments in the opponent’s goal. In the second half it was Chalov who scored the pass for Mendez. CSKA achieved a comfortable victory on a difficult pitch in a freak snowfall.
Head coach
Mikhail Galaktionov (“Lokomotiv”) – literacy of the week
Beat Zenit twice during the season. Fedotov organized this tour with Karpin. Romashchenko won over Abaskal, but it was more difficult for Galaktionov. The young coach guided Lokomotiv from afar, but correctly gave orders via an assistant from the stands. A distinctive feature of the Muscovites’ victory over Semak was that they played confidently, pressed brilliantly and played competently as number two.
Events of the tour. Krasnodar is first again and Zenit loses
Nothing is more important than fighting for the championship RPL not now. In the last match of the tour, Dynamo came within four points of the leader. Joker Akhmetov’s goal brought Krasnodar three points in a difficult home match against Orenburg. But Zenit suffered in Moscow at the weekend. Although the field of the Lokomotiv stadium was prepared noticeably better than the arena surface CSKA in the match of the same day the Brazilian coaches of Semak lost against Galaktionov’s teammates. The second victory of the railway over Zenit this season became the main event of the scandalous tour.
