Artiga didn't keep his promise: Rubin couldn't beat Akron on its birthday

DID FANS COME FOR FOOTBALL OR A CONCERT?

Unlike previous home matches, activity near the Ak Bars Arena stadium in Kazan began an hour and a half before the starting whistle this time. Rubin was celebrating its 68th birthday and made it a festive matchday for the game against Akron. Fans flocked to the arena, around which more than a dozen intercity buses from all over Tatarstan were parked.

The main buzz was in Zone A of the Kazan stadium. A concert featuring popular Tatar pop singers was taking place there. Many attendees admitted that they came not for the football but for Firdus Tyamaev, Alfina Azgamova, and Aidar Galimov. People headed straight for the songs and dances, where valuable prizes were also being raffled off.

There were also plenty of Akron fans, who arrived on seven buses from the Samara region. The match was crucial for their team in terms of results. In the spring, Akron had picked up only one point and had come dangerously close to the relegation zone. The meeting with Rubin seemed like a good opportunity to break their sad losing streak.

Rubin, for its part, was solely focused on a win. Kazan head coach Frank Artiga promised earlier in the week to give the club three points in the celebratory match. For the Spaniard, that was the minimum; the maximum was to show quality football. Rubin's play was indeed attractive, with plenty of chances, but they failed to keep their main promise.

ARTIGA CHANGED THE LINEUP, TRUSTING SHABANHAXHAJ

Despite the festive nature of the match, Artiga reshuffled his lineup once again. Nikita Vasilyev, who surprised everyone by starting in the previous round, was not even in the squad this time. Ruslan Bezrukov and Daler Kuzyaev remained on the bench, although there were no particular questions about them. Instead, Nikita Lobov, who replaced the unwell Denil Maldonaldo, and Dardan Shabanhaxhaj, returning from injury, started. The latter was expected but not from the opening minutes.

All the danger on Akron's goal came through Dardan's flank. Paired with Ilya Rozhkov, the Albanian repeatedly broke away on counterattacks. In the first 25 minutes, at least two chances were created through them. In the first, Rozhkov was brought down in the penalty area — the referee didn't see a foul. In the second, Nazmi Gripshi connected with Shabanhaxhaj's cross and scored. The referees spent a long time reviewing the video and then disallowed the goal due to offside by Mirinda Daku.

Then Kazan started shooting from distance. The first two attempts were blocked by the opponent's defenders, but Veldin Hodža's shot from outside the box hit the post. After Rubin's disallowed goal, the visitors seemed to wilt, creating almost no threat to Evgeny Staver's goal.

Next, Ioniţă Neделчару and Daku exchanged yellow cards. Rubin's forward, after receiving the warning, hit his own knees in frustration. This was Daku's eighth yellow card of the season, meaning he will miss the next championship match against CSKA due to suspension.

FAILED TO CONVERT MAN ADVANTAGE, CONCEDED FROM DZYUBA

In the second half, the game fully opened up. Rubin's goal contributed to this. Kazan earned a corner, which Gripshi delivered precisely onto Lobov's head. The ball deflected off a visiting player and trickled into the net — 1:0. Immediately after, Gripshi twice shot point-blank but didn't score; Shabanhaxhaj tried his luck but missed. Akron responded with a breakaway, but the Tolyatti midfielder's shot was unsuccessful.

Artyom Dzyuba proved more accurate. The all-time leading scorer in Russian championships capitalized on a mistake by Rubin's defenders and equalized — 1:1. This was his 177th goal in his Russian career. Additionally, Dzyuba is now also Akron's all-time leading scorer — no one has scored more for the club than him.

— Honestly, I thought about it before the game, but then I forgot. Boldyrev reminded me after the match. It's nice to reach such milestones, regardless. It means it wasn't all for nothing, — Dzyuba said in a conversation with a Realnoe Vremya correspondent.

However, the joy was immediately replaced by disappointment. In the very next attack, Marat Bokojev badly injured Rozhkov and was sent off. Initially, the referee showed Akron's defender only a yellow card, but VAR changed his decision. The visitors played out the remainder of the match shorthanded.

After that, only one team attacked. Rubin desperately tried to salvage the win. However, of the clear-cut chances in the remaining time, only Daku's miss stands out. The Albanian failed to hit the target from just a few meters out. Kazan's forward hasn't scored since autumn.

ARTIGA CONSIDERS THE GAME “CLOSE TO IDEAL”

Artiga failed to give Rubin's fans a victory on the club's birthday. The 10,000 spectators witnessed a bright and interesting game but were hardly satisfied with the result. Although the team extended its unbeaten run to six consecutive matches. Kazan has not lost in the championship since February 28, when the Spanish manager's debut match for Rubin ended in a setback.

However, the unbeaten streak is being prolonged by unconvincing performances from Rubin. Kazan played scoreless draws with Krylia Sovetov (0:0) and Orenburg (0:0), beat the 16th-placed RPL team Sochi (1:0), and now failed to defeat a struggling Akron. In the spring, Tolyatti has picked up only two points, one of them right here in Kazan.

Questions about Rubin's play are mounting for Artiga. The Spanish specialist continues to pretend everything is fine. For example, he said after the match that his team played “close to ideal” in the second half. In reality, it's hard to argue. The unbeaten streak exists, victories over leaders are also there, and in the second half against Akron, they had the initiative. True, they were playing with a man advantage.

— We started very well, but we had some problems with pressing; in the middle of the first half, we had good chances on counterattacks. In the second half, I wouldn't say we had the initiative. As for the end of the game, we fully controlled the initiative, actively delivered the ball into the penalty area, had finishes, but, unfortunately, the ball didn't cross the goal line. Based on the picture, the second-half performance is close to my ideal, — Artiga said on Match TV.

Rubin's next match will be on April 22 in Moscow against Dynamo Moscow at 7:30 PM Moscow time. It's a six-pointer. The winner of this match will almost certainly take seventh place in the standings. However, for Rubin, the match will be important in terms of the quality of football. A loss accompanied by a terrible performance would be understood by no one.