week 19 review

By: j | August 25th, 2008

The best title race in Football just got a little better this weekend with a series of surprises. With both Dynamo Moscow and Spartak Moscow held to draw’s, Rubin Kazan pushed the pedal down and opened up their lead. Yet the weekend belonged to Dick Advocaat Zenit Saint Petersburg which firmly noted it is not done this season with a 3-0 demolition of Samara Kryliya Sovetov on a Pavel Pogrebniak brace and a brilliant goal by Konstatin Zurianov.

Saturday
Rubin Kazan 2 Khimki 0 – Never in-doubt, top of the table Rubin Kazan kept pressure on the rest of the table with a very efficient victory. They now face a tough schedule with Amkar Perm’, Dynamo Moscow and Spartak Moscow in successive matches.

Spartak Moscow 1 Dynamo Moscow 1 – The always dangerous Aleksandr Kerzhakov netted the first goal of the match mid the first half and with Dynamo looking to be headed to a close one-goal victory, substitute mid-fielder Artyom Dzyuba drew the match level. A stunning draw that cost Dynamo dearly in their race to the title.

Tom’ Tomsk 1 Shinnik Yaroslav 0
Terek Grozny 2 Lokomotiv Moscow 1 – As noted in the match preview Romanian International Florentin Petre took control of the match and sunk Lokomotiv with a brace. Since the addition of the Romanian trio, Terek Grozny has emerged as a force and making a serious run at a European spot

Sunday
Zenit St Petersburg 3 Samara Kryliya Sovetov 0 – the Zenit machine is back and they look ready to make a run at a Champions League spot as well as next Friday’s UEFA Super Cup. Sebastien Puygrenier did an extraordinary job at marking Jan Koller, shutting down the tough striker. Dick Advocaat fueled speculation by keeping Andrei Arshavin out of the lineup and stating – “I gave him some time for rest and to think over his future. I am sure, then when he is back in his good form, he will play very good. Here or somewhere else.”

Spartak Nalchik 0 CSKA Moscow 0 – this was a tough match for Koni as their five Russian Internationals Igor Akinfeev, Aleksei Berezutskiy, Vasili Berezutskiy, Sergey Ignashevich and Yuri Zhirkov were noticeably without fresh legs and Spartak Nalchik tactically played an intelligent match by pushing the pitch and making the run. The human wall, referred to as Igor Akinfeev continued to deny any attacks but it was obvious CSKA didn’t

Saturn Moscow 2 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok 1
Amkar Perm’ 1 FC Moscow 0