After the crushing victory over Krasnodar, Spartak fans experienced ecstasy. Bright game, many goals, leaders in shape – what else do you need for joy? Yes, of course, the number of shots and pressure performed by the Red-Whites are impressive, but there are still problems in the defense. Adding to the anxiety was the fact that Georgy Jikia missed the meeting with Orenburg.

However, the hosts managed without their captain. “Orenburg” is not a formidable opponent for Muscovites, but often it is with the teams of the second echelon that “Spartak” is at its peak. Today, everything has turned out in favor of Guillermo Abascal, and it seems that the people’s team is seriously claiming leadership in the RPL.

The second crushing victory in a row! And the first domestic triumph for Abaskal.

Quincy Promes / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Filippov

Defeat in the first half

Of course, the hosts were considered favorites, but no one would have thought that Spartak would score in the second minute. For this, the “red-whites” can thank the goalkeeper of “Orenburg”: Evgeny Goshev made a mistake at the exit – as a result, Martins Pereira, who turned out to be alone, opened the scoring.

Already ten minutes later, Spartak doubled the lead, and it seemed that the Luxembourg national team player scored again. Pereira jumped for the ball along with Sobolev, but it was Alexander who scored the ball on his own account. Spartak was unstoppable in the first 15 minutes, and the visiting players did not know which of the opponents to cover in the penalty area.

At half an hour of the game, the stadium froze – the referee appointed a penalty kick against Spartak. Any decision of the referee not in favor of the team is perceived by fans from Moscow very negatively today, and what was their surprise when, after watching VAR, the penalty was canceled. “Orenburg” began to snap, act more cheerfully, but “Spartak” was too strong in the first half and scored more: Quincy Promes reached for the transfer of Daniil Khlusevich and brought the score to devastating. Horror for the guests, euphoria for the hosts. It turns out that the defeat of Krasnodar was not an accident?

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Spartak has problems in defense

It seemed that Marcel Lichka would make serious changes during the break, but only one replacement was made: instead of the hero of the last round, Vladimir Sychevy, the loaned player of Spartak Stepan Oganesyan entered the field. This was enough to not look like a punching bag, as in the first half, and make Alexander Selikhov scream at teammates. Ivan Bašić struck great into the bottom corner and soaked the score a bit in the 55th minute. The “Red-Whites” began to rejoice early.

The time has come to answer Abaskal. The Spaniard decided on a triple substitution: Denisov, Prutsev and Nicholson, beloved by the fans, came out – he got the loudest applause. In one of the attacks near the end of the meeting, Shamar received even more applause, but VAR canceled his goal. But the end was nevertheless set – in stoppage time the score was 4:1 by Promes. Quincy didn’t score from the penalty spot, but was first on the rebound. The crushing victory of Spartak in the second round and the first home triumph for Abaskal!

Spartak avoided big problems in defense even without their leader Jikia: the attack of the guests was weaker than the defense of the hosts, although it does not shine with bright names and is experiencing problems. Several times Ruslan Litvinov almost brought a penalty, and in general, when the ball darted around the Muscovites’ penalty area, it seemed that he was about to fly into Selikhov’s possession. Spartak still needs an adequate replacement for Samuel Gigot.

Yes, Abascal is going very confidently, Spartak is in the lead of the championship along with CSKA and Zenit. But it is too early to sing praises.

RPL world. 3rd round

Spartak (Moscow) — Orenburg (Orenburg) — 4:1 (3:0)

Goals: Martins, 2 (VIDEO). Sobolev, 12 (VIDEO). Promes, 38 (VIDEO), 90 (VIDEO). — Bašić, 55 (VIDEO).

Missed penalty: Promes, 90.