The match between Zenit and CSKA was to largely determine the championship race in the Russian championship. The reigning champion, who did not start the season too well, met with the league leader and was going to change his not very pleasant position in the table.

The meeting turned out to be incredibly tense, and it was not clear until the very end how it would end. The decisive word was said by the Brazilian newcomer of “Zenith” Gustavo Mantuan, who scored a crazy goal.

But it seemed that the army team will endure!

“Zenith” loaded

From the very beginning, it became obvious: Zenit is as motivated as possible. This is understandable: the current champions lost too many points at the start, and the meeting with the leader of the RPL was supposed to provide answers to all questions. From the first minutes, the Petersburgers took the initiative and tirelessly attacked the gates of Igor Akinfeev.

However, it did not come to real scoring chances. Often, the Zenit troops lacked a decisive blow. First, Malcom did not have time for Dejan Lovren’s discount after drawing the standard, and then the same Brazilian did not hit the ball after a great combination. Akinfeev had to really enter the game at the end of half an hour of the meeting. Ivan Sergeev shot from outside the penalty area into the near corner, and the CSKA goalkeeper reacted brilliantly.

The closer the break got, the more the Zenit pressure grew. Malcolm earned a free kick in the immediate vicinity of the gates of the army and he himself loaded into the top nine, but Akinfeev again bailed out. Alas, this could not go on forever, and already in stoppage time the hosts brought the matter to a victorious end. Andrei Mostovoy, who shortly before that had vented his anger on a billboard, rolled out under attack to Malcolm, and this time the Brazilian did not forgive. A filigree kick with a cheek from the penalty line – and even the captain of CSKA is unable to help his team. Akinfeev could only yell at the defenders, who allowed the Brazilian to break through without resistance.

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The situation in the match at the end of the first half was perfectly reflected by the statistics: 69:31 in possession and 13:2 in shots. CSKA was just crushed. It remained to be hoped that Vladimir Fedotov would come up with something in the second half.

Penalty out of nothing

Fedotov, of course, reacted. Newcomer Victor Mendez is replaced by Jorge Carrascal. The Colombian was not completely ready, so he was forced to play the role of a joker.

However, with the release of the main star of the army team, their game did not improve much. Is that the ball of the guests began to hold a little better, but it did not play a critical role. Zenit was still sharper and more confident, and Claudinho’s absence was not even felt.

Everything changed in the 60th minute. Moises competed with Alexei Sutormin on the flank and emerged victorious, although the Russian actively grabbed the Brazilian by his underpants. Then the defender of CSKA broke into the Zenit penalty area and made a pass to Fedor Chalov. He correctly placed the body and did not allow the defender Rodrigo to play the ball. As a result, the Zenit player cut down Chalov and “brought” a penalty to his team. CSKA got a chance for a goal almost out of nothing.

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The players pushed around for a while, and then Chalov himself approached the ball. Ftdor seemed unfazed by the tense atmosphere in the stadium. He calmly sent the ball to one corner, and Mikhail Kerzhakov to the other. It’s been a long time since a soldier scored so often!

Problems “Zenith”

Semak immediately made a triple substitution. Arsen Adamov and Danil Krugovoi came to the edge of the defense, and Mateo Cassierra went on the attack. But it was not possible to organize the same pressure as in the first half. And here, already in the minds of Zenit fans, regrets that Claudinho was unavailable probably swept through.

The owners clearly lacked creativity. If in the first half there was enough bare spirit to suppress the army team, then in the last half hour the forces began to leave the Petersburgers. In this scenario, a technical football player who can make a non-standard decision would be very useful. It was not without reason that the broadcast operator grabbed the Brazilian sitting on the podium in the 74th minute. Claudinho was looking at the screen of his smartphone and did not seem to be very interested in the game.

15 minutes before the end, Semak decided to try the newcomer Mantua. The midfielder came out instead of Mostovoy, who did a huge amount of work. However, Andrei was not satisfied with the decision of the coaching staff. Sitting on a bench, he said something with a displeased face.

And then CSKA carried out a devastating counterattack. Carrascal beat two, but failed to break through Kerzhakov. Then the Colombian passed to Nikita Ermakov – and he sent the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. The young football player ran to celebrate, but the referee Pavel Kukuyan dispelled the hopes of the army team: it seems that at the very beginning of the attack, Carrascal went offside.

Mantua decides

Zenith’s response was immediate. Apparently, the uncounted ball became a kind of cold shower for the hosts. They remembered that they definitely need to win, it’s a matter of status.

The same Mantuan received the ball on the flank, moved to the center and charged with all his strength from outside the penalty area. The blow turned out to be so brilliant that Akinfeev could only shrug. Zenit has once again shown that it can squeeze any opponent in Russia, even if the game is not going well and there are serious problems with creativity. And Mantua can be congratulated on a chic debut. They know how to find Brazilians at Zenith!

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The ending turned out to be nervous, and the judges even seriously considered the possibility of assigning a penalty kick to the Zenit goal. However, everything worked out for the Petersburgers. They are back in the game and the championship race.

RPL world. 5th round

Zenit (St. Petersburg) – CSKA (Moscow) – 2: 1 (1:0)

Goals: Malcom, 45 (VIDEO). Mantuan, 85 (VIDEO). – Chalov, 63 (from the penalty spot) (VIDEO).