Chervichenko: Spartak squeezed Zenit with tactics

Former “Spartak” president Andrey Chervichenko shared his thoughts on the draw result in the match against “Zenit” in an exclusive interview with the “Euro-Football.Ru” online publication. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.

According to him, the draw was a fair outcome for the game. “Spartak” played very well, pressing the opponent into their own half during the first sixty minutes, applying high pressure and creating many opportunities in “Zenit”’s defense.

The visitors, on the other hand, were unable to attack and seemed unsure of what to do. However, Santoso’s second yellow card and the subsequent off-field situation were controversial and influenced the game.

Therefore, he considers it fair that Sergey Semak’s team did not lose. Chervichenko expressed surprise at how well “Spartak” performed despite the team being in a difficult situation.

If Igor Dmitriev had played instead of Manfredo Ugalde, the game would have been livelier and the chances of victory higher. He noted that he liked Igor Dmitriev’s performance and also pointed out that Alexis Duarte did not receive a card in today’s match.

The rest of the team’s players also showed good performance. Regarding Ezequiel Barco’s penalty, he believes it was a foul because the ball touched another leg and changed direction.

The penalty itself was also questionable, and if the referee had not canceled the goal, the situation would have become even more complicated. About the new player Jhedson Fernandes, he said his performance has improved compared to previous games, he scored goals, and he hopes he will play even better in the future.

He criticized Deyan Stankovich’s absence from the post-match press conference as being due to personal reasons and mentioned that sometimes Stankovich gets emotional and does not fully fulfill his responsibilities as the team leader. If he makes a serious decision, it would be better for the team.

Regarding whether “Spartak”’s performance today is temporary or if the team is finding its style and game, Chervichenko said he had predicted that “Spartak” would not lose to “Zenit” and emphasized that the team members tried to show their capabilities during the match. However, he noted that there is an upcoming game against “Rubin,” where the result could be different.

The team has good players, but they need to be united into one system. For now, each player is playing individually.

“Spartak” played with high pressure and put “Zenit” in a difficult tactical situation. The fact that the visitors did not know how to attack in the first half confirms this.

Interview by Elena Grigorievskaya.