“Zenit on the brink of early championship as Rostov faces Fakel”

MOSCOW, 6 May. /TASS/. The program of the 26th round of the World – Russian Premier League (RPL) starts on Saturday with three matches. On this day, the games “Khimki” – “Dynamo”, “Torpedo” – “Akhmat” and “Rostov” – “Torch” will take place.

Among Saturday’s matches, the meeting between Rostov and Fakel Voronezh attracts the most attention. The meeting will be held at the Rostov-Arena and will begin at 19:00 Moscow time. The game of the first part of the Russian Championship between the teams ended with the score 1:1. The head coach of the team, Valery Karpin, will be absent from the Rostov bench: after the match of the 25th round of the RPL with Spartak Moscow (1: 1), he approached the chief referee of the match, Kirill Levnikov, and criticized his work, for which he was removed. On May 5, the head of the Control and Disciplinary Committee of the Russian Football Union (FTC RFU), Artur Grigoryants, told reporters that Karpin had escaped additional punishment.

The possible early championship of the St. Petersburg “Zenith” this season depends on the result of the match in Rostov-on-Don. Rostov is in second place in the RPL standings with 50 points. Zenit is leading the RPL table with 61 points. If Rostov loses or draws in the match with Fakel, then Zenit, if they win over Spartak in this round, will become the champion ahead of schedule. Fakel is in 14th position with 21 points.

In the first match of the day, Khimki near Moscow will host Dynamo from the capital. The match will be held at the Arena-Khimki and will start at 14:00 Moscow time. Dynamo is seventh in the RPL standings with 39 points in 25 matches. Khimki is in the penultimate, 15th position with 17 points. The game of the first part between the teams ended with the victory of the blue and white with a score of 6:1.

Also on this day, the Moscow “Torpedo” will play at home with the Grozny “Akhmat”, the meeting will be held in the “Luzhniki” and will begin at 16:30 Moscow time. Torpedo occupies the last, 16th place in the RPL standings, gaining 13 points in 25 matches. Akhmat is in the fifth position with 40 points. The game of the first part of the Russian Championship between the teams ended with the victory of Akhmat with a score of 1:0.

About other matches of the tour

The program of the 26th round of the RPL will continue on May 7 and 8. On Sunday, the games “Paris Nizhny Novgorod” – “Ural”, CSKA – “Orenburg”, “Zenith” – “Spartak” and “Krasnodar” – “Wings of the Soviets” will take place. May 8 will be a match between the Moscow “Locomotive” and “Sochi”.

On December 30, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on the introduction of a fan card for access to competitions from June 1, 2022. The opportunity to issue it at the State Services appeared on July 4, 2022. All participants of the event must have a fan card. From December 1, 2022, a fan card is required to enter the stadiums of all RPL clubs.