Final week of Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia

The Russian Football season concluded with the big match of the day being Zenit Saint Petersburg dominating Spartak Moscow 3-1 and securing the final spot for European competition (report here). Elsewhere champions Rubin Kazan concluded their brilliant season with their third consecutive loss going down to Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 with Russian international Diniyar Bilyaletdinov scoring in the last strike of the season, collecting a long volley and shuttling the ball past Sergei Ryzhikov. With only pride on the line Dynamo Moscow defeated Tom' Tomsk 2-0 with the theme of Russian internationals shining as Aleksandr Kerzhakov scored twice. Relegation condemned Shinnik Yaroslav upset CSKA Moscow 1-0 with Koni players definitely looking ahead to European competition, including winning a spot in next years Champions League. Amkar Perm' knew going into the final weekend that they had secured a European spot but put out a great showing in defeating Khimki 3-1. Although they year ends in defeat for Khimki, the story line of their avoidance of relegation through the stunning work of the legendary Yegor Titov and Armenian international Roman Berezovsky in the nets.Samara Kryliya Sovetov hopes were small in the final week and although they missed out on the top five they overcame Terek Grozny 4-3, with all seven strikes coming after the break including two from veteran Jan Koller. FC Moscow completed a fine season with a 3-0 victory over relegated Luch-Energiya Vladivostok with all three goals coming late, starting with ex-River Plate man Maxi López penalty strike with twelve minutes remaining. Finally Spartak Nalchik and Saturn Moscow Oblast fought to a 1-1 draw with young gun Vladimir Yurchenko scoring with ten minutes remaining for the Aliens to earn the draw.

	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD	P
Rubin Kazan	30	18	6	6	44	26	18	60
CSKA Moscow	30	16	8	6	53	24	29	56
Dynamo Moscow	30	15	9	6	41	29	12	54
Amkar Perm'	30	14	9	7	31	22	9	51
Zenit St Petersburg	30	12	12	6	59	37	22	48
Samara Kryliya Sovetov	30	12	12	6	46	28	18	48
Lokomotiv Moscow	30	13	8	9	37	32	5	47
Spartak Moscow	30	11	11	8	43	39	4	44
FC Moscow	30	9	11	10	34	36	-2	38
Terek Grozny	30	9	8	13	28	42	-14	35
Saturn Moscow Oblast	30	7	12	11	26	30	-4	33
Spartak Nalchik	30	8	8	14	30	39	-9	32
Tom' Tomsk	30	7	8	15	23	39	-16	29
Khimki	30	6	9	15	34	54	-20	27
Shinnik Yaroslav	30	5	7	18	25	48	-23	22
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok	30	3	12	15	24	53	-29	21

Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia gets more complicated

The mid-week catch-up matches in Russia made the race for UEFA Cup spots quite a bit more complicated.

Without fail, Lokomotiv Moscow defeated Shinnik Yaroslav 3-0 on the strength of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's brace. However it wasn't easy for Lokomotiv as Shinnik fought hard and it wasn't till twenty minutes remained that the Russian capped attacker opened the scoring. With Shinnik pouring forward to equalize Peter Odemwingie doubled the score with three minutes remaining only for Diniyar to add the third two minutes later.







However the big surprise of the day was once again Zenit Saint Petersburg's lack of conviction. In front of a disappointed crowd at Petrovski, Zenit played Saturn Moscow Oblast meekly to a 2-2 draw and put their UEFA Cup bid in serious jeopardy. Viktor Faitzulin got the home squad off right only eight minutes after the start but veteran Andrei Karyaka leveled the match two minutes later. Incredibly Saturn Moscow took the lead five minutes before the half with Marko Topić netting the lead goal. Fatih Tekke came to the rescue for Zenit to salvage a point with eight minutes remaining but it is anything but clearly sailing for the defending champions and they are locked in a tie with surging Spartak Moscow in the final spot for the UEFA Cup. To add to the suspense, these two giants face each other at Luzhniki on November 22.










With four weeks remaining on the books the title is Kurban Berdyev's Rubin Kazan and the race for the European spots are as follows:

Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts
Rubin Kazan	26	17	6	3	40	16	57
CSKA Moscow	26	14	8	4	45	21	50
Dynamo Moscow	26	12	8	6	35	28	44
Amkar Perm'	26	11	8	7	25	20	41
Zenit St Petersburg	26	10	10	6	53	34	40
Spartak Moscow	26	10	10	6	39	33	40
Lokomotiv Moscow	26	10	8	8	31	28	38
Samara Kryliya Sovetov	26	9	11	6	36	25	38

mid-week match-ups in Russia could have a big impact

Two very important match-ups could decide the UEFA Cup selections in the Russia today. Playing catchup with the schedule, relegation condemned Shinnik Yaroslav visit Lokomotiv Moscow while Saturn Moscow Oblast comes to Petrovski to face Zenit St Petersburg. Both Lokomotiv and Zenit are heavily favoured but after each played to a draw their European efforts are in jeopardy.

I will report on the matches as they conclude as well as update the table.

Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia - week 24

Week twenty-four of the Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia completed with few surprises. The story of the weekend is surely Rubin Kazan's march towards the title seems to be a mere formality and Zenit Saint Petersburg's stunning 8-1 devastation of Luch-Energiya Vladivostok in front of their loyal followers at Petrovski Stadium

Rubin Kazan - 3
Spartak Nalchik - 0
The party has begun as Rubin Kazan is on the verge of clinching the tight. Pressing early Aleksandr Bukharov gave them the lead two minutes into the match before Serbian football legend Savo Milošević netted the first of his two goals fourteen minutes later. Spartak Nalchik was not able to mount a successful attack and nine minutes after the break Savo Milošević added his second of the match.

Dynamo Moscow - 2
Saturn Moscow - 1
The match got off with a fiery start with two penalties awarded in the first twenty minutes. Luke Wilkshire was denied by Antonin Kinsky with a brilliant start but five minutes later Saturn Moscow's Andrei Karyaka converted on a penalty to give them the lead. Dynamo, strapped with enormous injury problems had only twelve field players problems for the match, pressed seventeen year-old Aleksandr Kokorin into action. Entering the match at the break, he consistently poised problems for the Oblast defenders and with eighteen minutes left he broke free on a through ball and struck a powerful right foot shot into the net. Taking his cue with chants of "Dynamo" urging them on, Aleksandr Kerzhakov found the winner with seven minutes left.







































































































































































































































Tom' Tomsk - 0
Lokomotiv Moscow - 1
Tomsk kept a very tight reign on this match and with it looking like it was heading to a scoreless draw, Lokomotiv' Dmitri Sychev was the hero of the day, scoring with twelve minutes remaining. The victory keeps Lokomotiv's European efforts alive as they push for a UEFA Cup spot.

Spartak Moscow - 0
Samara Kryliya Sovetov - 1
In an extremely tight midfield dominated match Oleg Ivanov scored with sixteen minutes left. Meat continued to press but efforts were thwarted as Vladimir Bystrov was red-carded four minutes later. While pressing for the equalizer, Mozart was given a red card on a dubious call with two minutes remaining and the nine-man Spartak went down to defeat.

FC Moscow - 2
Shinnik Yaroslav - 1











Buoyed with confidence the Citizens defeated Shinnik with a tactically superb plan and rarely exposed themselves to an attack. Twenty two minutes into the match, Alexander Samedov gave them the lead with Hector Bracamonte doubling the margin fifteen minutes after the break. Dmitri Kudriashov scored a consolation goal for Shinnik as time ran out but it was FC Moscow's day as they were victorious 2-1.

Amkar Perm'- 0
Terek Grozny - 0
Terek Grozny reveled in the opportunity to play the "spoiler" as they held the Red-blacks to a scoreless draw. Romanian internationals Florentin Petre and Andrei Mărgăritescu led Grozny in a tactically brilliant team effort to control Amkar Perm's efforts. The draw is extremely costly to them as they tumble three points behind Dynamo at fourth.

CSKA Moscow - 2
Khimki - 1
Valery Gazzaev has Koni in perfect form as they easily handled Khimki. Russian international Aleksei Berezutski gave CSKA the lead two minutes past the half hour with the highly promising twenty year-old midfielder Pavel Mamayev doubling the score at the sixty-seven minute mark. Igor Akinfeev clean sheet was eliminated on a own goal as time expired but otherwise it was a perfect played match for CSKA Moscow.












And finally while not the "match of the weekend" this certainly raised a number of eyebrows:

Zenit St Petersburg - 8
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok - 1











Clearly this match was a "message" by Dick Advocaat and company as scorelines of this magnitude are done for a reason. Whilst Zenit's hopes for the Championship and the Russian Cup have faded and they certainly have their backs to the wall in the Champions League, they will not go quietly through this season. Ultimate leader Anatoliy Tymoschuk rose to the occasion as Fatih Tekke added three goals, Danni had two and Alejandro Dominguez,Roman Shirokov and Andrei Arshavin each added their name to the score-sheet with Vitaliy Bulyga netting the lone goal for Vladivostok in this absolute blow-out.

Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	Pts
Rubin Kazan	24	15	6	3	35	16	51
CSKA Moscow	24	12	8	4	38	19	44
Dynamo Moscow	24	12	7	5	34	25	43
Amkar Perm'	24	11	7	6	24	16	40
Zenit St Petersburg	23	10	7	6	48	29	37
Kryliya Sovetov Samara	24	9	10	5	35	21	37
Spartak Moscow	24	9	9	6	36	32	36
Lokomotiv Moscow	23	9	7	7	28	26	34
FC Moscow	24	8	8	8	26	27	32
Spartak Nalchik	24	8	5	11	24	29	29
Terek Grozny	24	8	5	11	20	33	29
Tom' Tomsk	24	7	4	13	20	33	25
Saturn Moscow	23	6	7	10	21	25	25
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok	24	3	10	11	21	42	19
Khimki	24	3	8	13	25	47	17
Shinnik Yaroslav	23	3	6	14	22	37	15

Spartak Moscow v Shinnik Yaroslav match preview

After a solid performance in losing to Rubin Kazan 1-0 last week, Michael Laudrup will be looking to get the club back in the winning column and there is likely not better squad then relegation-threatened Shinnik Yaroslav.

Recent Form
Spartak Moscow - combined (1 W, 2 D, 2 L)(5 GS, 6 GA)
Aug 17 Amkar Perm' 1 - 1 Spartak Moscow
Aug 23 Spartak Moscow 1 - 1 Dynamo Moscow
Aug 31 Spartak Moscow 2 - 1 Spartak Nalchik
Sep 13 FC Moscow 2 - 1 Spartak Moscow
Sep 21 Spartak Moscow 0 - 1 Rubin Kazan

Spartak Moscow - away (1 W, 2 D, 2 L)(6 GS, 8 GA)
Jul 6 Terek Grozny 3 - 1 Spartak Moscow
Jul 19 Lokomotiv Moscow 2 - 2 Spartak Moscow
Aug 2 Tom' Tomsk 0 - 1 Spartak Moscow 16,000
Aug 17 Amkar Perm' 1 - 1 Spartak Moscow
Sep 13 FC Moscow 2 - 1 Spartak Moscow

Shinnik Yaroslav - combined (W, 1 D, 4 L)(4 GS, 6 GA)
Aug 17 Zenit St Petersburg 1 - 3 Shinnik Yaroslav
Aug 23 Shinnik Yaroslav 0 - 1 Tom' Tomsk
Aug 29 Khimki 0 - 0 Shinnik Yaroslav
Sep 14 Shinnik Yaroslav 1 - 2 Amkar Perm'
Sep 20 Dynamo Moscow 2 - 0 Shinnik Yaroslav

Shinnik Yaroslav - home (W, 2 D, 3 L)(3 GS, 6 GA)
Jul 12 Shinnik Yaroslav 0 - 0 PFK Samara Kryliya Sovetov
Jul 27 Shinnik Yaroslav 1 - 1 Terek Grozny
Aug 9 Shinnik Yaroslav 1 - 2 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
Aug 23 Shinnik Yaroslav 0 - 1 Tom' Tomsk
Sep 14 Shinnik Yaroslav 1 - 2 Amkar Perm'

Shinnik are capable of pulling off an upset, as anyone who witnessed their 3-1 destruction of Zenit can attest to and are fighting to avoid relegation, so this will be a tough battle. A draw for Spartak would be a major problem given the log-jam at the top of the table for European bids.

I will report on this match with with my weekly round-up of the Russian Premier League.