Without waiting for the end of the 24th round of the championship of Russia, Sportbox.ru ahead of schedule singles out one of the main characters of the weekend.
The most burning topic Friday and Saturday was the work of arbitrators. The appointed penalties and canceled goals in the home games of Zenit (3: 1) and Spartak (0: 0) made a fuss. Did the Krylia Sovetov defender Artem Timofeev play with his hand in his own penalty area, and Maxim Glushenkov, the Samara team forward, in a stranger? Were both goals of Alexander Sobolev at the end of the game with Ufa correct? Pavel Kukuyan appointed two 11 meters in St. Petersburg and canceled three goals with the help of VAR. Vyacheslav Bezborodov also resorted to viewing the replays and, according to the owner of Spartak Leonid Fedun, deprived his club of two points. VAR, summed Fedun, only “exacerbated the problems of refereeing.”
Spartak – Ufa – 0: 0. Highlights
But over the months without Russian football, we missed mainly not on scandals, but on a vibrant game. Moreover, the above-mentioned episodes still do not draw on the definition of scandalous. It is more about a hot emotional discussion on high tones than about obvious mistakes that would be recognized by all adequate observers regardless of club likes.
It’s not difficult to single out the main character before the end of the completed game. From a gaming point of view, this is undoubtedly Alexei Miranchuk. Since the confrontation between Lokomotiv and Juventus in the Champions League last fall, the name of the 59 number of railway workers was mentioned, as a rule, in the context of transfer rumors of varying degrees of reliability, sometimes frankly fantastic. Against the background of Lokomotiv’s weak completion of the first part of the season — that in Russia, that in Europe — and then the winter break and spring quarantine (in March Alexey had only one goal assist in three matches), transfer reports about the interest of the conditional “Barcelona” aroused best grin.
However, with the resumption of the RPL, Alexei Miranchuk proved to be one of the most striking football players of the championship. It was he who replenished the piggy bank of Lokomotiv, which was rebuilding right at the finish, with six points. All three goals in meetings with “Orenburg” and “Ruby” – him. There could have been more, don’t call Eder a week ago to shoot a penalty kick in the compensated time and realize Aleksey himself the second half in Kazan. But what is in the asset is impressive: confident spectacular left punches from different distances at the right time.
Locomotive – Orenburg. 1-0. Alexey Miranchuk
In the match of the 24th round against Rubin, Alex was clearly the best on the field, having done an excellent job. A soft productive shot from outside the penalty area, executed without a chance for a goalkeeper from the penalty spot, 4 key passes, 86 percent of the total accuracy of the transmissions (47 of 57 on the opposite side of the field), 2 fouls by an opponent, one selection and interception, 50 percent of martial arts won. The latter components are particularly noteworthy: before Miranchuk, they often reproached the conduct of the struggle.
Of course, the outsiders Orenburg and Rubin are, with all due respect, not the rivals by which one can measure a player’s readiness for European accomplishments. However, Miranchuk’s form cannot but inspire optimism. Previously, Alexei was tirelessly waiting for a leading role in Lokomotiv. Not episodic vivid segments, individual aesthetic fragments and selective performance, but the stable role of the leader, on which the result primarily depends.
Rubin – Lokomotiv – 0: 2. Goals and Highlights
In the championship season, this role was mainly played by Jefferson Farfan, then Grzegosz Krychowiak, who remains the club’s top scorer in the current RPL and the most productive championship defender (9 goals, Alexei now has 8). But in June Miranchuk soloed, and not fragmentarily, but thoroughly, as a leader, as an adult. Perhaps this is the beginning of the most important segment in his career. An additional significance to his leadership is given by the fact that he took it upon himself in a difficult time for Lokomotiv. On the one hand, the team is confidently following the second, on the other, it is only getting used to the requirements of Marco Nikolic, and against the backdrop of radical fan sentiment towards the club’s leadership.
To reach a new psychological level in such conditions would be especially valuable. While Lokomotiv is trying to solve the problem of direct access to the Champions League, Miranchuk simultaneously passes the maturity test. And the willingness to try yourself in Europe.
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