Euro 2008 stars back in action at home
Published 07 July, 2008, 14:28
The Russian Premier League is under way again after a seven-week break for Euro 2008. Most of the tourmament’s Russian stars were in action over the weekend and despite warnings from the skeptics, most of them showed the same spectacular form as they did in Austria and Switzerland.
Luch-Energia 1-1 Khimki
Scoring the first goal following the summer break, Luch-Energia were unable to keep their lead against Khimki at home.
Spartak (Nalchik) 2-1 Shinnik
With a goal at the beginning of each half, Nalchik players got all three points against Shinnik, who managed only one in reply.
Krylya Sovetov 2-2 Rubin
Two goals from Kazan’s Noboa were not enough for Rubin to win in Samara. Krylya’s forward Evgeny Savin scored a magnificent goal before the break, while Ruslan Adzhindhzal’s penalty saved a point for the home side.
CSKA 0-2 Dinamo
This Moscow derby has always been a high-profile brand for Russian football. And more than just a crucial game for visitors Dinamo as they had not won a game against any opposition at the Luzhniki Stadium for 24 years.
This time the sequence was finally broken. Russian international Igor Semshov put the ball past CSKA and Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev after a brilliant assist from Dani.
Things got worse for CSKA in the second half as Igor Grigoriev brought Semshov down in the box and was sent off, leaving it to another Euro 2008 hero Denis Kolodin to drill home the resulting penalty.
Lokomotiv 0-1 Amkar
The surpriseng package of this season's Premier League, Amkar, continue to impress. The men from Perm produced another trademark solid performance to overcome home side Lokomotiv in Moscow.
The visitors took the lead after 56 minutes. Martin Kushev getting past the defender on the left wing before crossing into the box, where Georgy Peyev finished with great skill.
Terek 3-1 Spartak
Spartak had taken the lead through Ukrainian Maxim Kalinichenko and later missed various opportunities to double the score.
Then soon after the break Timur Jabrailov got Terek level. Five minutes later the Chechen team went ahead, Jean Bouli netting at the second attempt. Vladimir Kuzmichov then wrapped up the 3-1 win with the quickest of reflexes on 66 minutes.
Zenit 5-1 Tom
Champions Zenit St Petersburg look to be getting their Premier League campaign back on track, with two early goals giving them a comfortable lead over FC Tom.
Victor Fayzulin and Russian international Roman Shirokov got their names on the score sheet. The visitors however pulled one back from the penalty spot through Dmitry Mitchkov, 2-1.
However, it was the visitors’ only bright spot as Zenit then scored three more goals.
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