Wp-content/uploads/2023/05/0810e74743f60c1d1d43da6fb1684f04.jpg blue» over competitors in the RPL in the long run. Sergei Semak's team could lose at home to Akhmat or concede in Moscow to CSKA, could fly out of the Russian Cup, losing in a penalty shootout to Dynamo Moscow. Lose the title, which made it possible to add a second star to the club emblem, the St. Petersburg team could only under some fantastic circumstances.
It's not even about the budget, which Zenit has the highest in the league, and not about the skill of the team leaders, whom Artem Dzyuba ironically called Zenit players from Rio de Janeiro, and not about competent management, which over the past years did not give the slightest reason not only for scandals, but simply for criticism. The point is the combination of all these factors.
The timid hopes of Spartak's fans that in the spring part of the championship the «red-whites» would be able to impose a fight for the «gold», based on the impression of the test matches at the training camp, were quickly dispelled. It has long been noted that champions in friendly matches usually do not shine in official ones. Many veterans of “Zenith”, with whom I had a chance to talk on the eve of Sunday's game, did not show the slightest doubt that the St. Petersburg team would become the champion. They expressed the hope that this could be done in a home meeting with Spartak. Karpinsky «Rostov» made every effort to make this happen.
Russian Premier League (RPL)07 May 2023 • Start at 18:00Finished
Spartak MoscowRussia
13' • Claudinho40' • Andrey Mostovoy (Claudinho)
90 ' • Ivan Sergeev (Gustavo Mantua)
33' • Balde Keita (Quincy Promes)
85' • Quincy Promes (P)
See all goals
A record audience gathered at the Gazprom Arena after the introduction of the fan card, 48,893 spectators. All that was missing was the fan turn, which stubbornly ignores RPL matches, being content with the second league and even matches of women's teams. The seats that were previously occupied by the most respected people in the fan community are now occupied by an organized group of drummers, an organized group chanting approved chants, and other officials. For the entourage of the pre-match performance of the Tatu group, everything is great. The question of whether this is good for Russian football, we leave for discussion.
Not only the fan turn has changed, but also other stands. For the first time this spring, the seats next to the press box were full. Only the audience on them is different than before. Shows no emotion. Someone devoured popcorn with rapture, someone looked at the phone, a pretty girl looked at the guy, and not at the players, as if she expected that after the third goal of Zenit, the young man would take out the ring and make her an offer. Only instead of the third goal of «Zenith» there was a penalty, realized by Quincy Promes.
Semak's team, taking into account the compensation, had about ten minutes left to secure the championship in the match with the most principled opponent. By this time, Spartak were playing in the minority, and for some reason the match of 2012 was remembered. «Zenith» under the leadership of Luciano Spalletti then secured the championship and wanted to celebrate it just after the match with the «red-whites», which was then coached by Karpin. In that game, there was also the removal of Spartak Emenike, and the winning goal, scored in the minority, by Carioca. The holiday was slightly spoiled.
However, the last championship in St. Petersburg is perceived surprisingly calmly. It was in 2007 that Petrovsky, filled with fans, was waiting for its favorites with the championship cup won in Ramenskoye. Moreover, at the stadium near Moscow, the fan landing from St. Petersburg was noticeably superior to Saturn's. Then everything was decided in the last round, and Dick Advocaat's team needed only a victory to get ahead of Spartak. The matches started at the same time, and during the break, with a slippery score of 1:0 in favor of Zenit, they managed to overhear the telephone conversation of the then President of the RFU Vitaly Mutko with one of his subordinates: «Bring the cup here!» After that, the miraculous rescue of Alejandro Dominguez did not seem like a miracle.
So now, “Spartacus” failed to spoil Peter's holiday. Already in stoppage time, who came on as a substitute with a draw, Ivan Sergeev issued the championship of Zenit, in which no one doubted. apostles. For St. Petersburg, victories in the RPL are as common as white nights. Immediately after the final whistle, journalists in the press center were given a program to celebrate the victory, including «the joy of the team on the field», a DJ performance on the music platform near the fountain, raising an updated flag with two championship stars on the flagpole, turning on the golden illumination of the «Lakhta Center» , congratulations on the championship in the metro and the lighting of the Rostral columns. Moreover, from 8 pm, when the final whistle had just sounded.