Marked for Ivan Shevchenko
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match31 Aug 2030
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Spartak Moscow 2 did not have in the autumn.
The terraces2 Sep 2030
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match31 Aug 2030
Three points for Spartak Moscow 2, 1‑0 the final word against Kosmos in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market2 Sep 2030
The name of Dmitriy Lysenko has come up in conversations Spartak Moscow 2 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Looking ahead2 Sep 2030
Zenit 2 next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
The manager makes an example of Sergey Bragin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Sep 2030
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak Moscow 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Zakhar Dyatlov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Georgy Khanin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
Artem Rogov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market29 Apr 2030
The clock does Danil Prutsev’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Spartak Moscow 2 could ask drops and the wages Danil Prutsev can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Feb 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Luki-Energiya waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Spartak Moscow 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market25 Feb 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Spartak Moscow 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Feb 2030
Only the photograph left for Roman Zobnin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Zobnin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak Moscow 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market25 Feb 2030
The phone has started ringing about Leonid Suvorov again, and this time the name on the line is Nosta. Spartak Moscow 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zakhar Dyatlov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
Roman Zobnin knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Zobnin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Apr 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Spartak Moscow 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Apr 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladislav Djuraev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak Moscow 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Spartak Moscow 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Zobnin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Alexey Polesskiy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nursultan Alisherov, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Nail Umyarov has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Spartak Moscow 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Mar 2029
Djurgarden come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Spartak Moscow 2 did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad26 Mar 2029
At 19, Matvey Sazonov is already the best thing here
An average of 7.14 in a first team he is several years too young for. Spartak Moscow 2 have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Market26 Mar 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Spartak Moscow 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Spartak Moscow 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakhar Dyatlov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Roman Zobnin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Ivan Shevchenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.