The second round of the Russian Premier League delivered a series of surprising outcomes. Newly promoted Baltika stunned Spartak with a dominant 3-0 victory on their home ground. In another significant match, reigning champions Krasnodar were defeated by Lokomotiv, who now sit at the top of the league table.
Spartak`s collapse was particularly notable: Russia`s most decorated club suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat at home against Baltika, a team recently promoted from the First League.
To be fair, the Kaliningrad-based team is far from being an underdog. In the opening round, they managed to snatch points from title contenders Dynamo, also in Moscow. Furthermore, Spartak was reduced to ten men from the 11th minute and incurred another red card early in the second half. Nevertheless, serious questions remain regarding the performance of the “People`s Team” head coach, Serbian Dejan Stankovic.
Yevgeny Lovchev, a former Spartak player and the country`s best footballer of 1972, commented:
“It leaves a difficult, very difficult impression. It was crucial to have an energetic, yet very sensible and understanding person near the football field. I`m referring to Spartak`s coach now, and I`m not here to criticize him or anything. But I see that the team today was somewhat agitated. And considering that Stankovic has recently been constantly blaming only the referees for everything… and then there was an immediate sending off. The team just… lacks a fighting spirit. And then there are the defensive lapses – which has actually been a problem for Spartak for several years.”
The surprising events of the Premier League`s second round didn`t conclude with Spartak`s rout. Firstly, Krylia Sovetov and Baltika now share second place with Dynamo. Secondly, the reigning champions, Krasnodar, suffered an unexpected 1-2 home defeat to Lokomotiv. Consequently, the “railroaders” now top the table. The former juniors of the league`s most “Russian-by-composition” team have matured and strengthened, as commentator Dmitry Shnyakin of “Match Premier” explains:
“Yes, and the team as a whole has grown stronger. Because Morozov has matured. Karpukas has also matured. He`s already in his third or fourth RPL season, right? He`s no longer a young player – he`s already 23-24 years old. And Saltykov is 20, he`s also grown stronger; he was at Krylia before this. In general, we now view Batrakov differently. And Rudenko has emerged – he brings a certain variety to the attack. I actually think Rudenko is very much a `Galaktionov-style` player (Mikhail Galaktionov is Lokomotiv`s head coach): he`s good in space, persistent, `running,` capable of performing well both on the wing and in central attack.”
Batrakov netted both of Lokomotiv`s goals, while Rudenko orchestrated the second scoring play. The second round of the Russian Premier League concludes today, with CSKA hosting Akhmat at home and Zenit facing a challenging away match against Rubin Kazan.
Rupert Blackwood 
Clement Ashworth