Anzhi Makhachkala v Spartak Moscow 2-1
Russian Premier League
Sunday 17th April 2011
Anzhi Makhachkala maintained their good start to the season and increased the pressure on Spartak boss Valery Karpin. Spartak have only one win in five in the league and although Karpin has the support of the fans the boardroom’s patience is beginning to wear thin.
After crashing out of the Europa League to FC Porto (10-3 on aggregate) in the week, Spartak badly needed to get a good result to get their season going. An early goal from midfielder Dmitri Kombarov appeared to have settled any nerves but the frailties exposed against FC Porto appeared again as goals from Czech forward Jan Holenda and Cameroon defender Benoit Angbwa won the game for the in-form Anzhi.
Having an owner who Forbes magazine listed as the world’s 136th richest person is proving to be very beneficial for Anzhi who are now attempting to compete with the traditional Russian powerhouses from Moscow and, in recent years, Kazan. 15 new players brought in over the winter has sent out a statement of intent from billionaire Suleyman Kerimov. His federation has donated over £60 million to charitable causes but Anzhi is not considered one of those. He wants a return on his investment and the sooner the better.
Spartak made three changes from the side comprehensively outplayed by the new Portuguese champions and the change in personnel had an almost immediate impact as the Narodnaya Komanda (People’s Team) struck first after six minutes when Brazilian forward Welliton found himself in acres of space and his ball was picked up by a run from winger Dimitri Kombarov whose hard hit shot ricochet off Anzhi’s Georgian keeper Nukri Revishvili hands and into the top corner.
The keeper should have done better but Spartak were not complaining. If that start was supposed to spark them into some form of renewed confidence then somebody forgot to tell the players. Karpin could have no complaints about the way his side worked off the ball as they were very quick to close down. However, in possession it was a different matter.
Spartak shot-stopper Dican’s first piece of the action was to save a well struck shot from 25 yards from Uzibek midfielder Odil Ahmedov after 18 minutes. Anzhi continued the pressure and 38 year old Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos was always at heart of the action.
Anzhi’s hardwork paid off in the 28th minute when Holenda equalised, for his second goal of the season, with a sweetly taken header, from a Shamil Lakhiyalov cross that gave Dican no chance. For the rest of the half Anzhi continued to have the better of it but failed to create any further meaningful attempts on goal.
Four minutes into the second half Spartak suffered a blow when Dican was forced off and replaced by Russian under-21 keeper Nikolai Zabolotny.
The first chance after the break came on 50 minutes when a trademark Roberto Carlos free-kick was deflected by Zabolotny into the path of the oncoming midfielder Kamil Agalarov whose effort was parried wide by the replacement keeper.
Anzhi continued to dominate possession and took the lead on the 74th minute as Angbwa rose above the static Spartak defence to head home from nothing more than a hopeful punt into the box.
Spartak predictably threw everything into the remaining minutes to try and get a leveller but they couldn’t muster any opportunities.
This result now leaves Spartak propping up the rest of the teams and unless something happens quickly then Moscow’s biggest club could well find themselves in the relegation zone for a while longer. Anzhi, by contrast, celebrated their first ever win over Spartak like it was a title deciding victory. Come the end of the season, on this form, Anzhi may well be in that position.
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