This is Sparta!
Spartak supporters. Photo: Spartak.com. |
The
referee seemed to book players more for their dissent than for
fouling, and gave a yellow to goal-scorer Carioca for demanding that
Luke Wilkshire be booked. The latter was given a yellow for what the
referee thought was a dangerous slide, and a free kick was award to
Spartak. To say the guests performed jaw-dropping set pieces would be
an overstatement. Nicolas Pareja shot the ball over the Dynamo wall,
sending it to the left side of the net. The shot wasn't fast as the
ball took its time to make it in, but Dynamo keeper Shunin just stood
there and watched as the ball entered the net, giving Spartak a
two-goal lead. A series of confusing moments occurred near Dynamo's
net as Bilyaletdinov put the ball in the box for Welliton. Dynamo's
defenders were able to get the ball away in time to their keeper, who
cleared it. Noboa and Nyakhaychyk came on for Sapeta and Misimovic,
but did little to influence the score in Dynamo's favor. Nyakhaychyk
got the ball on the left flank after a free kick, but Semshov made no
use of the moment. Spartak's Aiden McGeady, who was hardly visible on
the pitch in today's game, was subbed off for Jano Ananidze. A Dynamo
counter soon followed, with Kuranyi running on the left flank. His
shot ricocheted off a defender, and Kevin got a yellow for rightfully
demanding a corner. Bilyaletdinov, who took a cross from Ananidze,
passed the ball to the right instead of taking a shot himself, and
the ball narrowly missed the open net. Spartak subbed in Dzyuba for
Ari, and Dynamo brought on the rookie Panyukov for Yusupov. Spartak
retained possession, netting in their third goal on the 75th
minute. Dzyuba took the cross on the right flank, dribbled the ball
past the Dynamo defense, and passed the ball to Ananidze, whose shot
safely landed in the far corner. Christian Noboa's second yellow
meant that Dynamo were down to 10 men for the last 13 minutes of the
match. Spartak used their last sub – Emenike came on for Welliton.
Meanwhile, Dikan saved Nyakhaychyk's shot on goal, one of Dynamo's
few attempts at storming the Spartak net. Panyukov wandered offside;
his shots were too high, but as a rookie, it's to be expected. In a
surprising twist, Spartak were down to 10 men as well, after former
Valencia manager Unai Emery literally took Kombarov off the pitch.
Spartak were not done bombarding the Dynamo net, however. Another
lucky escape for Dynamo came on the 89th minute when the
guests missed their opportunity, and the home team's defenders
relieved Jano and Dzyuba of their goals. Dzyuba took the ball in the
middle of the 18-yard box, but took to long to shoot. Emenike's shot
went wide, and Spartak had one last chance to seal the deal. Dzyuba's
pass from the left flank to Carioca resulted in a shot to the left of
the net and a fourth goal for Spartak in extra time.
It's
not just the three consecutive losses this season that are
disappointing and call for a change of manager. It's the continuing
losing streak from last season that makes the legendary team look
less than average. Today, the Dynamo looked unmotivated and lacked a
playing style. As the commentator said, “there are different ways
to lose”.
In
other news, Dynamo's reserve team recently defeated Spartak's
reserves 2:0. Now's a good time as ever to remind Dynamo fans that
the reserve team is coached by former assistant to the main team,
Dmitri Khokhlov.
Dynamo
is the only team that hasn't scored a single goal and hasn't earned
any points thus far, while Spartak won three consecutive games in a
row and continue to dominate the leader board.
It's
difficult to imagine how the Dynamo will play their second leg of the
UEFA Europa League qualifiers against Dundee United, despite having a
home field advantage and being the technically-superior team. As
Sergei Kuprin points out, CSKA Sofia was considered the inferior team
when they faced Dynamo three years ago in the Europa League, and
things did not end well for the Muscovites.
Russian
Premier League, 3rd Game Week
Stadium: Arena Khimki
FC Dynamo Moscow vs. FC Spartak Moscow: 0-4
Goals:
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov ('23)
Nicolas Pareja ('49)
Jano Ananidze ('75)
Rafael Carioca ('90+3)
Stadium: Arena Khimki
FC Dynamo Moscow vs. FC Spartak Moscow: 0-4
Goals:
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov ('23)
Nicolas Pareja ('49)
Jano Ananidze ('75)
Rafael Carioca ('90+3)
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