Hot derby with refereeing Karasev: canceled goals, disputed penalty and double sending off

Cheerfully.

Spartak and CSKA played a crazy derby with Promes’ decisive goal from a penalty kick in the last minutes – 2:1. True, Sergei Karasev became one of the main characters of the Moscow derby – with several controversial decisions in both directions. 

Two offside goals cancelled: all due to lack of offside lines

In the first half, the teams exchanged canceled goals. Spartak had the first moment: the red-and-whites played an excellent combination, but, apparently, Mikhail Ignatov’s knee went offside. 

Offside lines have not yet returned to the RPL – in such controversial situations where there is no obvious mistake, the VAR advises to stick to the original decision. And Karasev’s assistant raised the flag: offside.

After 15 minutes, CSKA also scored from offside – Zabolotny’s goal was canceled due to an offside position, which was easier to track.

Spartak’s chic combination was broken offside. Was he or not?

After that, both teams scored according to the rules. First, CSKA had an excellent throw of Akinfeev into someone else’s penalty area, and there Chalov just threw it off, Medina finished it.

Akinfeev already has 5 participations in scoring combinations this season. Statistical company Opta reports: this is the best result in the RPL-2022/23 among goalkeepers – Anton Shunin from Dynamo scored the same. In terms of assists, the keeper of CSKA is also in the lead – he shares the first place with Shelia from Akhmat.

During the break, the Match TV journalist asked Akinfeev how he gives such programs: “It’s easy. You just hit forward, look where your players are and just hit in that area. The main thing here is not to get offside, ”Igor’s answer.

CSKA was in the lead for a short time. Spartak got moments. Ignatov didn’t convert his goal, but Promes closed Zinkovsky’s cross at the far post.

Thanks to this goal, Quincy became Spartak’s top scorer in the Russian championships. Before that, he was on a par with Yegor Titov (there were 86 goals each), but now he has taken the lead. And he did not stop there, but more on that later.

The removal of Sobolev and Roshi is real madness

A wild story with the removal of Alexander Sobolev and Willian Roshi in the 69th minute. Spartak showed a provocative gesture towards the defender after the contact – he grabbed between his legs.

Rosha drew Karasev’s attention to this, copying Sobolev’s gesture and pointing at the Spartak player – and it seems that the referee misunderstood him: after consulting with the assistants, both players received the Reds.

The Match TV commentators on the air explained that in a conversation with CSKA defender Igor Diveev, side referee Dmitry Cheltsov explained Roshi’s removal as follows: “He showed him too.” A few minutes later, they, referring to their colleagues, reported that Rosha hit Sobolev. And this may be true – the relationship between Sobolev and Roshi was already tense, the players repeatedly converged in a tough fight even before removal.

Two penalties “Spartak” – assigned and unassigned

At the end, Karasev also competed with video assistants. First, in the CSKA penalty area, Diveev stepped on Roman Zobnin’s foot. Karasev saw the episode and showed that there was no violation, but the referee was called to the monitor. He didn’t change his mind.

According to Sports.ru contributor Igor Sergeyev, Karasev watched VAR but abandoned his decision for at least the fifth time this season. Only he has more such cases than in the entire Premier League. 

Five minutes later, the second episode happened in the penalty area of ​​CSKA: Mendez, knocking the ball out of the penalty area, caught Victor Moses. The Nigerian felt the contact and fell on the lawn – Karasev immediately pointed to the spot. This time the referee was not called to the monitor: he remained in the field, consulted with the VAR and approved the decision.

CSKA did not understand Karasev’s decision. Here is the reaction of CSKA Communications Director Kirill Breido: “We are waiting for the RFU to publish the negotiations [of the judges] in its new section. There was an impression that the referee at the VAR did not know the rules.

We will definitely contact the RFU ESC for at least two episodes: on the appointed penalty and on the removal of Roshi, which no one understood. Also, we do not understand what the VAR was guided by today in several episodes at once.”