Last weekend CSKA defeated Rostov for the first time in three years and consolidated its leadership in the Russian championship standings. The goal, which removed all the questions in the match, scored Fyodor Chalov Is his first field goal in the current RPL draw.
In this championship, the top scorer of the 2018/2019 season specializes in assists – there are already four of them on Chalov’s account. In an interview Sport24 Fedor admitted that he still loves to score more, and also talked about his relationship with Dzagoev and the support of fans.
– Congratulations on the first goal from the field! Did you breathe out when you scored against Rostov?
– Still, I learned to take it more calmly. Obviously, I am a striker and I want to score in every game. But even if it fails in several matches, I understand that I still benefit the team.
– Your working leg is right, and scoring with the left – is that even nicer?
– I’ve been working on my left leg for a long time, I’m not afraid to hit it. When we stay after training for a series of punches, I alternate: I hit twice with the right, one with the left.
– It seemed that the beginning of the second half was nervous for CSKA. Or were you sure that you will score, because there were enough chances?
– We controlled the match, we have already scored. It was clear from the outside that we were really playing well. When I came on as a substitute, they appointed, let’s say, a controversial penalty – I don’t want to say anything more about him. And after Akinfeev’s save we, of course, lifted up – this is the defining moment of the match. While changing, I didn’t think about the need to keep the score – I really wanted to bring some scoring action and be useful to the team. It felt like it was necessary to take one more step. It’s good that I managed to score and close all the questions.
– Save by foot is already becoming a trademark for Akinfeev.
– We asked him in the locker room how it happened. Igor said that he expected Eremenko to hit the center, but then thought that maybe the ball would go to the right. He says he jumped at the last moment, but still left his legs. In general, I read the opponent.
– You scored with an assist from Dzagoev, who finally returned to the field. How much experience did CSKA lack before?
– Very happy for Dzaga! I don’t want to jinx it, but now he gave the team a new impetus. Thanks to Alan, we won in Volgograd. It can be seen that now all the guys are in good shape, which means we are doing everything right. And Dzaga leads the game in the center of the field – he can aggravate with his non-standard actions or, conversely, hold the ball through experience.
– In an interview, Alan said that your goals are not far off, they will come. Does he often prompt you on the field?
– If earlier Dzaga was impulsive, even unrestrained, now he leaves all these emotions for the game. In general, Alan and I had an agreement for a long time that he does not shout at me in the game. It won’t help, haha. Dzaga understood me.
– With Rostov you played a clean forward for 15 minutes, and then moved to the right flank when Shkurin appeared on the field. The same thing happened with Gaich in the match against Tula. Is this the first time in your career?
– When Musa was still in CSKA, we also played like that: he was in the center, I was to the left. Changed periodically. At the same time, none of us stuck to one position – this way more free zones and space appeared. It was a good experience for me, which I still use now. Yes, my main position is the center forward, but I see no problem to shift to make room in the center for the flank player. The same Kuchaev or Edzhuk.
– For you, a goal and an assist are equivalent actions?
– Of course, I like to score more. Some people like to give passes more – mainly to midfielders. But I’m glad, and when I manage to make a cool assist – so that the partner can only roll into an empty net, for example.
– You already have 4 assists in the RPL (only Shimanski has more), 3 – for winning goals. Goncharenko asks to work more along the lines, or is this basically your style?
– It’s hard to call it style. But I think yes – it’s more about my game. I don’t have a task from Goncharenko to go lower for the ball – he rather asks me not to do this. But I act the way I feel the moment – there is space for creativity. But I also take into account the football rules, so to speak: conditionally, if the ball is on the wing, I need to be in the opponent’s penalty area. It goes without saying.
– How does Zainutdinov feel after a terrible collision?
– We were all worried about him: it’s scary when a person loses consciousness. Fortunately, Bach almost immediately came to his senses, he was not taken to the hospital. He is great: he never takes his leg away, he always goes to the end. “I woke up,” he says. – I looked at the field, I wanted to return. And they tell me that it is not necessary! “
– How do you like the tradition of joint charges of the whole team with the fan tribune “We are CSKA – we will win”?
– This is a great tradition, it should be so. We try to approach the podium after each match and communicate with our fans in this way. We feel the support of the fans – there are always a lot of them. In Volgograd, for example, in the last round the entire upper stand was filled. And in the central sectors, I think, there were also CSKA fans.
– CSKA is in first place for the second round. Goncharenko is asked if leadership puts pressure on young footballers. Does it somehow feel or, on the contrary, charge?
– In fact, now we do not feel any pressure. True, we want to win every game and don’t look at the table. There are still many matches to come, so much can happen – not even the first round is over. Today we won, tomorrow we can lose and go lower. But at CSKA all the guys are ambitious and want to win, so we need to improve in the game itself. There are no limits to perfection.
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