Abascal went crazy. Pushed the opponent and set up Spartak

With two previous victories in the championship matches, Spartak again gave hope to its fans. The team is very close to the top three, and with successful results in the remaining games this year, it could further improve its tournament position.

The unpredictability in the game and the mood of the Spartak players showed up on the negative side in the match against Akhmat, which the head coach of Spartak watched on TV.

Abaskal dropped Berisha

Guillermo Abascal again did not deviate from his rule of making adjustments to the starting lineup even after victorious matches. Alexander Sobolev, who scored an assist in the previous championship game with Baltika, returned to the bench. This time the attacking trio consisted of Ignatov, Zinkovsky and Promes. In addition, this time Selikhov appeared in goal instead of Maksimenko, and Zobnin took Medina’s place in the middle of the field.

The game in Grozny accelerated gradually. At first, there was no sign of any drive on the field: Spartak calmly rolled the ball, and the hosts tried to find their chance in quick attacks. Traditionally, the most active player in Akhmat was Bernard Berisha, who strained the right flank of the Spartak defense. It was more difficult to single out anyone among the guests. Except that Prutsev in the middle of the field attracted attention with his solid and judicious play.

For a long time the game went on without any chances at all, but then it got so hot that everyone became hot. Berisha performed a small masterpiece that gave rise to several events at once. The midfielder spun the ball perfectly with the outside of his foot, bringing Agalarov one on one with Selikhov: the top scorer of the 2021/22 season needed one touch to beat the goalkeeper.

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The episode didn’t end there. Berisha rushed to the stands to share his joy with them, but did it as aggressively as possible right in front of the Spartak bench. The player jumped right in front of the visiting coach, and only then addressed the fans with gestures.

Abascal did not like this behavior; in a fit of anger, he put the football player to the ground with a wrestling move. The assistant to the chief referee told Evgeniy Kukulyak in detail about what he had seen, and he assessed what happened using cards: yellow went to Berisha, red to Abaskal. The Spartak coach did not want to leave his place for a long time, trying to prove something to the referees, but in the end he was forced to come to terms with the decision.

The absence of the Spanish coach did not prevent the guests from realizing their first real chance. Already at the very end, Prutsev dragged the ball into someone else’s penalty area and rolled it to Zinkovsky, who clearly dealt with Shelia.

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As a result, the draw was a fair reflection of the first half, in which the teams were able to demonstrate 100% execution.

Weak-willed “Spartak”

Spartak left the locker room without proper concentration, for which he was immediately punished with another goal. Todorovic caught Ryabchuk on the flank, beat Babic in someone else’s penalty area, and as a result of the confusion the ball bounced right onto Svetoslav Kovachev’s foot.

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Spartak’s plan in attack clearly did not work the best, as evidenced by the lack of scoring chances. The situation should have been corrected by Sobolev, who came on as a substitute, but he too quickly disappeared on the field. Promes just couldn’t find his chance; Zinkovsky was active on the left flank, but he didn’t have any opportunities to score. Moses and Bongonda, who appeared closer to the end, didn’t really help their team.

Akhmat, having taken the lead, quite logically chose to focus on defending its own goal. In the end, Spartak failed to organize the final assault. A couple of crosses, several not-so-dangerous passes into the penalty area—that’s the most that the guests managed at the end of the game. By and large, Akhmat didn’t even have to fight back to confidently take three points.

Spartak should end 2023 with a home match against Krylya Sovetov next weekend, unless the game is postponed due to low temperatures. In this meeting, Abascal will definitely not be on the Spartak bench. The length of his disqualification will have to be determined by the RFU CDC in the coming week.