Tell me who's first: Dynamo and the Army topped the RPL table

According to the results of the ten rounds of the Russian Football Championship, Dynamo Moscow and CSKA are at the top of the standings. They won their matches last weekend and took advantage of the misfires of Krasnodar, who lost at home to Zenit St. Petersburg (2:3), and Spartak Moscow, who missed a 1-1 victory over Krylia Sovetov Samara. Zenit has broken out into third place and is breathing down the backs of the two leaders.

Rubin – Dynamo (Moscow)

After a three-and-a-half-week pause for the national team games, Dynamo has not lost its winning pace, which in August allowed it to break into the leadership group. The match in Kazan was the last in this round, so the blue and white team knew that they could come out on top.

But to do this, they needed to win against the unyielding Rubin, which is winning little in the current championship, but also almost does not lose. After a 1-3 home loss to Krasnodar in the first round, the Tatarstan club had a nine-match unbeaten streak, but it included only two wins.

Dynamo went on the attack from the first minute and created chances at someone else's goal, having the advantage of the game. Until the middle of the first half, Rubin goalkeeper Evgeny Staver saved his team. But in the 30th minute, his save after a shot by Juan Caceres led to a rebound towards defender Jahongir Urozov, from whom the ball flew into his own net.

Soon, the task of the blue and white team to win became even easier: in the 37th minute, Ilya Samoshnikov stepped on David Ricardo's foot and received a direct red card. Being in the majority, Sandro Schwartz's team could not take advantage of the numerical advantage and double their advantage in the score.

They calmly held 1-0, but in the 82nd minute they provided themselves with a hassle when Antonio Rubens got into a tough encounter with Ruslan Bezrukov and received a red card, leveling the line-ups. But Dynamo kept the winning score and came out on top.

CSKA – Rodina

During the break for the national team games, Rodina changed the head coach: Spanish specialist Juan Diaz was fired, who last season led the capital club to its first RPL appearance in its history. Having risen to the elite, the team was almost not strengthened — the management preferred to give a chance to prove themselves to those players who won the competitions in the first league in the spring.

Only in late summer and early autumn, already during the season, Rodina signed a number of newcomers. Including former CSKA defender Rodrigo Becao, who made his debut for the new team in September in a 1-1 game against Rubin, the last before the national team break. And the last one for Diaz, who scored five points in nine rounds.

Rodina's only victory at the moment in the RPL is a sensational away summer success against Zenit (1:2). But it was not possible to secure it. And the club was stuck in the penultimate 15th place, in the direct relegation zone. This led to a change of head coach.

The post was taken by another Spaniard, Jonathan Alba, who had been fired from Rostov two weeks earlier. At the same time, he took up his duties at the new club only three days before the match with CSKA, as he is still an assistant to the head coach of the Russian national team, which he was in during the pause for the national team games.

Perhaps this led to the fact that Rodina could not do anything against CSKA. Alba left Becao on the bench, preventing him from playing against his former team. But it is not known whether his presence would have helped to compete with the Army, who scored two goals in the middle of the first half through the efforts of Danil Krugovoy and Ivan Oblyakov.

This allowed Dmitry Igdisamov's players to confidently control the game. Towards the end, Oblyakov scored a double, and his team won 3-0. She is now on a par with Dynamo in terms of points scored, but is inferior in additional indicators and takes second place. Rodina is still 15th and three points behind the transition zone.

Krasnodar – Zenit

CSKA remained the last club that did not lose a single match in the current championship. Until last weekend, Krasnodar could boast of the same thing. But the leader's match against his main competitor in the fight for the championship in recent years did not go according to the Bulls' plan.

Zenit had the advantage for most of the first half, and shortly before the break it turned into two goals by Maxim Glushenkov against the hosts. And shortly after the start of the second half, Alexander Sobolev brought the matter to a crushing score.

However, Joao Batchi reduced Krasnodar's gap very quickly. In the 71st minute, John Cordoba scored for Zenit again and gave his team a chance to escape defeat. But it was not possible to put the squeeze on the opponent. Moreover, Vitor Tormen was sent off in the 80th minute.

Left outnumbered, the Bulls almost lost their chance to even the score. And Zenit brought it to victory, rising to third place. Sergei Semak's team is just one point behind Dynamo and CSKA. Just like Krasnodar, which lost its leadership.

Krylia Sovetov – Spartak

In recent years, Krylia has repeatedly caused problems for Spartak. And in the last round, they may well be unhappy with the draw. For almost the entire game, the Samara team had an overwhelming advantage over the current Russian Cup winner. She created a lot more chances at someone else's goal.

And in the 24th minute, she also gained a numerical advantage.: Amar Rakhmanovich went one-on-one with Alexander Maksimenko and was knocked down by him, for which the Spartak goalkeeper received a red card. Substitute goalkeeper Ilya Pomazun came on as a substitute instead of Marquinhos. And he made a lot of saves, thanks to which the red-whites generally had reason to expect at least a draw.

Moreover, towards the end of the match, in the 79th minute, they got a real chance to win when Manfred Ugalde opened the scoring, using almost the only moment at Nikita Kokarev's goal. But seven minutes later, Martin Kramaric equalized. In the remaining time, Krylia had two more opportunities to score, but they couldn't put the squeeze on the opponent. Spartak is fifth and two points behind the leaders. Krylia has not lost six matches in a row and closes the top ten.

Four more matches also took place in the last round. Rostov won 1-0 at home against Akron Togliatti in the first game under the leadership of new head coach Dmitry Kirichenko. Orenburg defeated Dynamo Makhachkala (4:0). Moscow's Lokomotiv won 5-0 against Voronezh's Fakel, who fired their head coach Oleg Vasilenko after the meeting.

Fakel remains the only team that has not won a single match in the current championship, and is in last place, five points behind the transition zone. Akhmat Grozny played at home with Baltika Kaliningrad (0:0).