Espert Sportbox.ru – about the central match of the 5th round of the RPL.
The first half was completely left to Zenit. It is enough to look at least at the ball possession statistics – about 70 to 30. The hosts had many chances that they did not convert. Hammer them all their chances, the score in the first 45 minutes could be devastating.
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CSKA’s plan, apparently, was to close in and play tight from behind. However, this was not possible. Zenit moved the ball quickly, they constantly covered the opponents with pressure. However, after the break, the situation changed radically – largely due to the release of Jorge Carrascal. CSKA gained control, and Zenit lost speed, which made it easier for the army defense to rebuild.
CSKA naturally leveled the score. Both Sutormin and Rodrigo made a mistake in the penalty episode. After that, the army team added more and could even come out ahead, if not for a microscopic offside position. In the episode with the canceled goal, Carrascal showed himself in all his glory. How he beat the defenders of “Zenith”!
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Semak, trying to return the initiative to his team, changed almost the entire line of attack. And coaching intuition here worked one hundred percent. Mantua, who replaced him, in his very first match for Zenit scored a chic goal – Akinfeev could not do anything about it. Then the Brazilian had another chance to score, but he was too late with the shot and allowed the defense to cover him.
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After the first half, it seemed that it would not be difficult for Zenit to bring the match to victory. It seemed that it would be like with Lokomotiv. But CSKA is not Lokomotiv, and as a result, Zenit literally snatched the victory. The decisive factor was again the internal resource. Although in the second half the “blue-white-blues” did not create a single chance, the goal came to them due to the individual skill of a single player, who was so lucky to be in the reserve.
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).
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.
