The Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia returns on Sunday with four exciting matches, including a Moscow Derby as Dynamo visits Lokomotiv and Spartak's visit of a much-improved Tom Tomsk.
Tom Tomsk - Spartak Moscow
The action gets started on Sunday as Tom Tomsk welcomes Spartak Moscow to Siberia.
Building upon their hard fought victory over Lokomotiv, Spartak manager Valeriy Karpin demonstrated not only a level of coaching maturity but also the ability to vary tactics. After establishing an early lead against Yuriy Semin's Railywaymen, Spartak locked down the affair with a stubborn defending resolve. Interestingly enough, the young tactician may be forced into similar choices as Tomsk has considerable attacking weapons.
Valeriy Nepomnyaschy's Tomsk line-up is not short of quality and the return of Belarusian international Sergey Kornilenko offers them the finishing they desperately needed. Along with former Torpedo Moscow-man Đorđe Jokić as well as Denis Kiselyov and Kyrylo Kovalchuk on the flanks, Tomsk is a very capable of upsetting the best. Though he is excluded from the match, Alexandr Prudnikov arrival on-loan from Spartak, will fit in well and the help push the club forward. Last week, without Sergey Kornilenko due to injury, after giving up two quick own-goals to Krylya Sovetov, they charged back to a 3-2 victory. Tomsk should have their sharpshooter Sergey Kornilenko available as well as welcoming Georgiy Dzhioev and Valeriy Klimov back from suspension, although they will be without the services of Kim Nam-Il, who was red-carded late against the Samaran's.
For Spartak, this match represents an interesting series of tactical choices. New additions Marek Suchý and Ari have shone brightly but as they press against sides outside of the top six, they must show the focus and discipline to finish without failure. Ultimately, this match and the like will prove to be the ultimate decider if they are to stand on the victor’s podium at years end.
Terek Grozny - Krylya Sovetov
In a tale of two sides at opposite ends of the spectrum, troubled Krylya Sovetov travels to the Chechen region to face Terek Grozny on Sunday afternoon.
The Samaran's severe financial problems have constricted their efforts to attract talent and three weeks into new campaign, it is painfully evident on the pitch. Manager Yuriy Gazzaev deserves of the highest accolades given the situation but after three consecutive losses, in which they only have two own-goals by the opposition to note, the Samaran's are in deep trouble. Oddly, the line-up does that some very fine talent but it will take strong leadership, likely coming from the likes of veteran Ruslan Adzhindzhal, to demonstrate greater confidence.
On the opposite side of the equation is Terek Grozny. Undefeated after three weeks, the Chechen side played defending champion Rubin Kazan to a draw and in-fact, came close to earning the win. The flourishing attack of Blagoy Georgiev, Hector Bracamonte and Shamil Asildarov is in the early stages of learning each other’s traits but in time will become a potent offence. Their voracious supporters will be out in full force as Grozny looks to unleash its full potential against troubled Krylya Sovetov.
Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast – Rubin Kazan
After faltering against Terek Grozny, defending champions Rubin Kazan look to the find their winning ways as they travel to face Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast in Ramenskoe on Sunday afternoon.
Andrey Gordeev’s side have had a very difficult start to the new campaign with the attack sputtering with the absences of Dmitriy Loskov and Marko Topić. Though last week at Rostov, Dmitriy Loskov returned late, Saturn's attack has been inconsistent and well-below their pedigree. Against Rubin Kazan, they face a daunting task as the defending champions have yet to surrender a goal this year.
Despite being undefeated, Rubin Kazan is decidedly under-performing from the high standards they set in the previous two years. Fortunate to defeat nine-man Tom Tomsk the previous Monday, Terek Grozny held them to a scoreless draw. Along with the loss of Alejandro Domínguez to Valencia, Rubin has been plagued with injuries that includes the extended absence of Sergey Semak as well as Vitaliy Kaleshin, Roman Sharonov, Rafał Murawski and will be without Gökdeniz Karadeniz for at least two weeks. On the positive side, Fatih Tekke has fit in quickly and Rubin is ready for a break out. The question is now whether Saturn can rise to the occasion or see their slow start continue.
Lokomotiv Moscow – Dynamo Moscow
In the final match of week four of the Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia, Lokomotiv welcomes Dynamo in a Moscow Derby as both sides are coming off hard fought losses.
Lokomotiv has maintained its unbeaten run at home since the return of Yuriy Semin last May but will face a tough challenge to keep that record intact against Dynamo. Last week against Spartak, after falling behind by two goals early they diligently worked their way back and came with a fraction of levelling as Oleksandr Aliyev’s free kick rasped off the cross bar as time ran out. However, the absence of Wágner is weighing heavy on the Railwaymen attack and strikers Peter Odemwingie and Dramane Traoré have had problems finishing.
Scheduling has pushed Dynamo to the limit, with an opening run that includes two Moscow Derby's and last week battle against Zenit Saint Petersburg. However, in each test Andrey Kobelev’s line-up that features new additions Igor Semshov, Aleksandr Samedov and Andriy Voronin has impressed with teen Alexandr Kokorin a constant threat with flanking assaults.
This edition of the Moscow Derby is the perfect conclusion to the weekend and has all the makings of the one of the top matches of the young season and a tactical gem.
Prepared by John Davies
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