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

Yegor Titov continues to lead Khimki to safety

Of the many great stories that this season will be remembered for one is the leadership of veteran Russian international Yegor Titov at Khimki. Since joining the club after twenty-five years as a part of Spartak Moscow, he has spearheaded Khimki's tough climb up the table. In following this move, prior to joining the club they produced a meager thirteen points in eighteen matches but in the ten matches since arriving, they have earned eleven points and have eased out the relegation zone. Whilst the battle is far from over with Luch-Energiya Vladivostok only four points behind, today they grabbed an important 1-1 draw against Tom' Tomsk as veteran Nastja Čeh leveled the match with six minutes remaining.

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

Tom' Tomsk @ CSKA Moscow match preview

Koni is on rampage after devastating Zenit Saint Petersburg last week 3-1 and looks to be the favourite to emerge in the tough Champions League race. The CSKA Moscow attack has been led by Vágner Love eighteen year-old wonder-striker Alan Dzagoev but the real story is their back-line of Vasili Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Deividas Semberas, Chidi Odiah and twenty-two year-old Anton Grigoriev. Tom' Tomsk is capable of capable of pulling off an upset as Terek Grozny but this looks to be Koni's day

Recent Form
CSKA Moscow - combined (4 W, 1 D, 0 L)(11 GS, 2 GA)
Aug 17 CSKA Moscow 2 - 0 Terek Grozny
Aug 24 Spartak Nalchik 0 - 0 CSKA Moscow
Aug 30 Lokomotiv Moscow 0 - 2 CSKA Moscow
Sep 14 CSKA Moscow 4 - 1 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
Sep 21 Zenit St Petersburg 1 - 3 CSKA Moscow

CSKA Moscow - home (2 W, 2 D, 1 L)(6 GS, 3 GA)
Jul 20 CSKA Moscow 0 - 2 FC Moscow
Jul 30 CSKA Moscow 0 - 0 Zenit St Petersburg
Aug 3 CSKA Moscow 0 - 0 PFK Samara Kryliya Sovetov
Aug 17 CSKA Moscow 2 - 0 Terek Grozny
Sep 14 CSKA Moscow 4 - 1 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok

Tom' Tomsk - combined (2 W, D, 3 L)(4 GS, 8 GA)
Aug 15 Tom' Tomsk 1 - 2 Rubin Kazan
Aug 23 Shinnik Yaroslav 0 - 1 Tom' Tomsk
Sep 31 Tom' Tomsk 0 - 4 PFK Samara Kryliya Sovetov
Sep 13 Saturn Moscow Oblast 2 - 0 Tom' Tomsk
Sep 21 Tom' Tomsk 2 - 0 Terek Grozny

Tom' Tomsk - away (W, D, L)(GS, GA)
Aug 6 Zenit St Petersburg 5 - 1 FK Tom' Tomsk
Aug 26 Amkar Perm' 0 - 0 FK Tom' Tomsk
Aug 9 FC Moscow 2 - 1 FK Tom' Tomsk
Aug 23 Shinnik Yaroslav 0 - 1 Tom' Tomsk
Sep 13 Saturn Moscow Oblast 2 - 0 Tom' Tomsk

I will report on the match with my weekly wrap-up.