Russian League
2009-11-29 - Zenit St. Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow
A Sports Betting Pick by Pantocrator
Football: Russian Premier League 2009/2010
Sunday,29th November 2009. Kickoff 12:00
Zenit(3rd) HOME 9-4-1 22-9
Zenit need only a win against Spartak in order to stay in the third position and thus qualify for the Champions League 2010/11. Injured trio is permanent with the likes of Portuguese due Meira and Danny, and Korean left back Jin. The fixture is spiced up by the transfer of Vladimir Bystrov from Spartak in August.
Surprisingly for some, but actually the outcome of this fixture will determine Zenit’s future manager. Should they qualify for the Champions League – most likely Luciano Spalletti will step in at St. Petersburg. The Italian specialist should closely monitor the situation on Sunday.
Meanwhile colleague Anatoly Davydov has totally killed all illusions about his professional suitability. The manager is stubbornly preferring Huszti to more creative Alessandro Rosina, and puts faith in hard drinker Mateja Kezman who is steadily becoming degraded.
Tactic/Mood/Confidence
Being in a must-win situation leaves Zenit with no other option but to go forward. The problem is that offensively the team has been extremely poor recently. Zenit should use intense pressing throughout the pitch and keep the defensive line far from own penalty area.
Zenit is like an airless balloon at the moment. Perhaps the rivalry and the atmosphere of the game can wake them up.
Last match analysis Rubin-Zenit 0-0
Two high-profile teams played a very physical game in Kazan in front of a full capacity house. Hosts looked better throughout the match and more concrete about how they intend to achieve the necessary result. A lot was at stake for both sides and this lead to many rough challenges throughout the pitch and a total of 7 yellow cards showed by the referee.
Despite a tiresome season, Rubin managed to apply more pressure in the second half and created a handful of scoring chances with Pyotr Bystrov hitting the post from a free-kick. Zenit, on the other hand, was very limited and predictable at going forward. As a result only one goal-scoring opportunity throughout 90 minutes.
Anatoly Davydov made some questionable inclusions in the starting line up. Keeping Alessandro Rosina at the bench – was one of them. Despite seeing Zenit suffer to find any idea in attack Russian specialist preferred to keep the Italian as an unused sub. All in all Zenit were very fortunate not to lose and should also thank the referee for not dismissing Vyachelsav Malafeev for his last-hope fould on Alexandr Bukharov.
Spartak (2nd) AWAY 7-2-5 23-18
Spartak has nothing to play for but the pride. Red-Whites have earned silver medals for the 5th time in last 8 years. Anyway the fundamental rivalry between the two sides means Spartak will take the match as seriously as they can.
Soslan Dzhanaev lost the match against CSKA for Spartak due to his last minute virtual own goal. This adds to the earlier upset suffered vs. Krylia Sovetov. However in this meaningless match, from the competitive point of view, I think Valery Karpin will once again support the 22 year old goalkeeper and grant him the place between the sticks.
Sabitov could be chosen over Ibson due to Russian’s superior ability to fight in highly physical games. Left back Fedor Kudryashov was unable to stop Milos Krasic on his wing and it would be logical to see Evgeniy Makeev step up from the bench to resist another pacy winger- Vladimir Bystrov.
Tactic/Mood/Confidence
Spartak will battle for the ball and try to move it around as fast as possible in order to beat Zenit’s massive pressing. Some experimental decisions can occur from Valery Karpin.
The latter claimed half of his players were crying in the dressing room after the bitter loss to CSKA. Don’t think there will be any tears in their eyes at the Petrovsky stadium. High possibility the motivation will suffer as a result of the guaranteed second place finish.
Last match analysis Spartak-CSKA 2-3
The match had serious resemblance with the derby played earlier in the season, when CSKA took the lead and then had to succumb to a bitter but logical 1-2 defeat. This time it was Spartak who enjoyed the brighter start and were awarded a penalty on the 7th minute of the match, which Alex coolly converted. Hosts continued bullying CSKA around, but the goal came from the other end when Krasic’ cross found Dzagoev unmarked and the Russian international made no mistake from close range.
The tie was completely turned around when Tomas Necid gave CSKA the lead early in the second half. Spartak started to wear out physically, but created a goal out of nothing – Welliton netted his 21st of the season. Real drama struck 3 minutes from full time when Necid’s long range effort was turned into his own net by Soslan Dzhanaev.
Spartak had a match of two different halves. If the first 45 minutes were totally dominated by the hosts and they were worthy of the overall victory, then the pathetic display after the half time break left nothing of the earlier impression. Fedor Kudryashov failed to neutralize Milos Krasic on the wing, while the offensive line could not combine well enough to keep the pressure on nominal visitors.
Betting advice
I can't completely understand the lines for this match.
Even though Spartak has nothing to fight for - any match against Zenit serves as a great motovation.
Moreover Red-Whites already have 2 consecutive losses behind their backs. 4000 supporters have travelled from Moscow to celebrate the finish of the season. So my call here would be against the public opinion and the bookies.
