Zenith Petersburg on Sunday beat Moscow «Spartak» (3:2) in the 26th round of the Russian Premier League (RPL) and for the tenth time, taking into account the Soviet period, became the champion of the country.
Zenit scored 64 points and became inaccessible to competitors. The second-placed CSKA is 13 points behind the St. Petersburg team four rounds before the end of the championship.
«Zenith» from the very beginning of the match pressed and pressed «Spartak», and in the 13th minute the goalkeeper of the «red-white» Alexander Selikhov made a gross mistake. The goalkeeper tried to knock the ball out of the penalty area, but hit Claudinho, who opened the scoring. By the middle of the half, “Spartak” was able to recoup – Keita Balde equalized with the transfer of Quincy Promes. A few minutes later Andrey Mostovoy brought Zenit forward again. Spartak's players tried to shout to the referee about two violations before the goal attack, but the chief referee Pavel Kukuyan pointed to the center of the field.
Russian Premier League (RPL)07 May 2023 • Start at 18:00End
ZenitRussia3 : 2
Spartak MoscowRussia
13' • Claudinho40' • Andrey Mostovoy (Claudinho)
90' • Ivan Sergeev (Gustavo Mantou) en)
33' • Balde Keita (Quincy Promes)
85' • Quincy Promes (P)
See all goals
There were no removals in this game. In the 76th minute, Spartak defender Alexis Duarte received a red card for a foul against Malcolm. However, the «red-whites» showed their will and equalized the score — Quincy Promes converted a penalty, becoming with 86 goals the best legionnaire scorer in the history of the RPL. In stoppage time, substitute Ivan Sergeev brought Zenit victory and a fifth championship in a row.
Summer amplificationBefore the start of the season, Zenit continued the Latin American course in the transfer market and strengthened by two players from Sochi. Colombian striker Mateo Cassierra and Brazilian defender Rodrigao moved to St. Petersburg. The loudest transfer of the summer for Zenit was the transition of the ex-football player of Spartak Zelimkhan Bakaev, who left the capital's club as a free agent.
With such a powerful gain, “Zenith” has again become the main contender for the championship. Moreover, the tenth championship and the second star on the T-shirt were the main goals of the team. The match for the Russian Super Cup confirmed this conviction — the team of Sergei Semak left no chance to «Spartak» — 4:0. Surprise was the entry into the field of 19-year-old goalkeeper Daniil Odoevsky, who, with his game, announced his intention to become the first number of Zenit for a long time.
A few days later, Semak extended the contract with the club until 2025. Thus, the management thanked the specialist for another trophy and demonstrated faith in the coach's ability to bring the tenth championship to the club. However, the country's champion began the new RPL season not too confidently, drawing with Khimki near Moscow (1: 1), but Sergey Semak called this result fair.
“We started well, scored a beautiful goal, but then switched to second gear, if not first,” said Zenit CEO Alexander Medvedev.
In the future, the St. Petersburg club will face downshifting more than once in similar matches.
Leadership in the championshipAfter the match in Khimki «Zenith» extended contracts with the main players. First, Wendel signed the new agreement until 2027, and the next day Malcolm and Claudinho joined him. Perhaps these events influenced the team, which consistently defeated the Samara “Wings of the Soviets” (3:0) and the Moscow “Locomotive” (5:0) at home. If at home the St. Petersburg club showed its strength, then on the road «Zenith» in the minority lost points in the match with «Akhmat» (0:0). Daniil Odoevsky's red card and subsequent injury made Mikhail Kerzhakov number one for the Blue-White-Blues until the end of the season.
In mid-August, Zenit consistently beat CSKA (2:1) and Torpedo (2:0) at home and became the leader of the Russian championship, not losing the first line until the end of the season. Then the St. Petersburg club was able to win the first victory on the road, defeating the Yekaterinburg «Ural» (4:0). In early September, Zenit beat Spartak in Moscow (2: 1), which by that time was called the main competitor of the blue-white-blues in the RPL. The victory in the ninth round over «Orenburg» was the largest for «Zenith» in the championships of Russia (8:0).
Contracts of football playersAt the same time, there were first talks about obtaining Russian citizenship by Malcolm and Claudinho. According to Sergei Semak, this step is aimed at helping the club with the limit of foreign players.
«It's a co-factor along with all the benefits of getting a passport. There are also taxes, for example. People love living in Russia. What's wrong with them wanting our passport?» — said the specialist.
In early October, the general director of «Zenith» Alexander Medvedev said that the club is in talks to extend the contract with Daler Kuzyaev, but until the end of the season the results of these negotiations will not.
Suspension of ChistyakovAfter confident victories over Dynamo (2:0) and Rostov (3:1), Zenit could not beat Fakel (1:1). In the next two games, the team of Sergei Semak easily defeated Nizhny Novgorod (3:0) and Sochi (7:0), but the match with Krasnodar (1:0) showed that the team could switch to second gear again . And so it happened — in the next round, Zenit lost at home to Akhmat (1: 2), having suffered their first defeat of the season in the RPL. After the end of the game, Medvedev blamed defender Dmitry Chistyakov for one of the missed goals and hinted that the player could be sold to the Grozny club. Later, Medvedev said that the defender was withdrawn from the main team.
“A very serious, principled, masculine conversation took place. Dmitry Chistyakov was removed from the main team,” Medvedev said.
After Chistyakov was supported by teammates, the parties discussed everything, and the defender returned to the squad.
Fight in the Cup of Russia In the final match of 2022 in the RPL, Zenit beat Torpedo (2: 0) and left the leader for the winter break, but before a full vacation, it remained to play a home match with Spartak in the Russian Cup. This meeting was remembered by the audience primarily not by the result, but by the mass brawl that broke out on the field with the participation of almost all the players and personnel of both teams. As a result of the brawl, the referee removed three players from each team. «Zenith» beat «Spartak» in the penalty shootout (4:2), but took third place in the group and advanced to the playoffs of the Russian Cup regions. A few days later, the FTC disqualified the most active participants in the fight.
January began for «Zenith» with losses — captain Dejan Lovren moved to the French «Lyon», so the management had to look for a replacement for the Croat. According to head coach Sergei Semak, the club did not expect the player to leave.
«Of course, it's not the most pleasant news for us. We hoped that Dejan would play with us at least until the end of the season,» said the coach.
Replacement Lovren found quickly – “Zenith” agreed with “Corinthians” on the transition of defender Robert Renan. Striker Yuri Alberto and goalkeeper Ivan left for the Brazilian club.
Brazilians and passportsBy mid-February, the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for Malcom and Claudinho came to an end . By decree of the President of Russia, both players received passports.
“I am sincerely happy with all my heart for Malcolm and Claudinho. Obtaining a passport is the trust of the country. Read, envy,” said Alexei Miller, Chairman of the Board of Gazprom.
After receiving Russian passports, they began to discuss the potential possibility of the Brazilians playing for the Russian national team, but the players made it clear that they first want to try to realize themselves in the Brazilian national team. For this, many condemned Malcolm and Claudinho, believing that after receiving passports, they had no other choice but to play for Russia.
Semak and DziubaIf the beginning of March turned out to be successful for Zenit – victory over Nizhny Novgorod (3:0) and Khimki (3:2) – then things went from bad to worse. First, the club flew out of the Russian Cup, losing to Dynamo in a penalty shootout, and four days later followed by the first defeat from CSKA in the RPL since 2018 (0:1).
April was better for Zenith. Ural (2:0) and Lokomotiv (2:1) were successively beaten. The match with the Muscovites became a landmark for the Petersburgers — Mateo Cassierra scored the first goal for the «blue-white-blue» in the championship of Russia, and striker Artem Dziuba, who previously played for Zenit, entered the field as part of the capital's team. After the match, the striker did not shake hands with Sergei Semak, saying that he simply did not notice the coach, which caused heated discussions, but the specialist did not attach any importance to this episode.
“What did you think? Nothing. This is his absolute desire. My attitude towards everyone is good, and everyone has their own attitude towards me,” Semak said.
Gold medals Despite the fact that Spartak was the main pursuer of Zenit all season, by April this role was tried on by Rostov. A draw in full-time match (0:0) finally made it clear that the competitors in the “Zenith” is gone. By this time, the most attentive fans thought that the fifth consecutive championship, «Zenith» could issue already in the match with «Spartacus». Victories over Dynamo (3:1) and Krylya Sovetov (5:1) made this scenario more realistic, and the defeat of Rostov in the match with Fakel (0:2) on May 6 predetermined the fate of the championship. Semak's team had only one step to go to gold medals. On the eve of Victory Day, for the tenth time in history, Zenit made fans happy at the end of the season by beating a principled rival at home.
This season has shown that the “Zenith” may lose leaders, but still remain the most stable team and the main contender for the championship. Next season, the club will certainly have the task of catching up with Spartak in terms of the number of victories in Russian history — Zenit now has nine titles against ten from Muscovites.