In a showdown between former Soviet rivals, Spartak Moscow defeated Dinamo Kiev 1-0 Wednesday night in a European Champions League matchup, to keep alive its chances of advancing to the quarterfinals from Group B.
Spartak's Mukhsin Mukhamadiyev sprinted down the right wing through three Dinamo defenders and booted the ball into the right corner of the net in the 48th minute for the game's only goal.
The score electrified what had been a lackluster crowd of more than 35,000 at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, as Spartak fans started setting off fireworks in the stands. As the game ended the crowd thundered "Russia" in unison in support of the home side.
Spartak controlled the tempo throughout the match, allowing Dinamo few opportunities. Any chance of a visitors' comeback evaporated when Vladedislav Vashchuk was sent off for a flagrant foul with three minutes to play.
"We spent the whole match attacking and deserved the victory," Spartak assistant coach Fyodor Cherinkov said after the game.
Spartak still faces an uphill climb to advance to the quarterfinals of the 16-team Champions League from Group B. With one more round remaining, Paris St. Germain is already assured of advancing with four wins in four games going into its match later Wednesday night against Bayern Munich.
Spartak drew even with Bayern Munich at four points in the hunt for the other quarterfinal berth from the group, but the German side had a chance to earn two points with a win or one point with a draw against Paris. In the final round, Dinamo plays Bayern Munich and Spartak plays Paris SG.
If teams are tied on points after the round-robin stage is completed next month, a complex tiebreaker system is used to decide which clubs advance.
Wednesday's game was only the second since 1991 between the long-time rivals. Then, Spartak defeated Dinamo to win the Soviet Union championship. Shortly thereafter, Ukraine declared its independence.
In the teams' first round-robin match in September in Kiev, more than 90,000 fans saw the home team rally for a 3-2 victory. Stadium authorities said they had more than 1 million ticket requests.
Unlike the rivalry between the two teams in the Soviet era, when more of Dinamo's supporters would have made the trip from Kiev, only a small cluster of fans was evident in Moscow on Wednesday night.
"It's a pity that now under the economic crisis we are not able to come here with more supporters, because it's very, very expensive," said Alexander Poklad, 19, of Kiev.
Before the September game, the teams had avoided meeting each other for three years, as Dinamo declined an invitation to play Spartak in a tournament of teams from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
But this fall the inevitable happened, as the former Soviet rivals were put in the same Champions League group. In the minds of thousands of fans, the soccer rivalry became another in the series of endless quarrels between Russia and Ukraine.
"No doubt the Champions League was created especially to give us opportunity to kill Kiev again like we have been doing for so many years," said Alexei Kardonov, 22, a Spartak supporter from Moscow.
Before the game, Spartak coach Oleg Romantsev had dismissed reports in the Russian press about the political implications of the forthcoming match.
"Soccer doesn't have anything in common with the political clashes between our countries," he told the Russian daily Sport Express.
Anatoly Demyamenko, Dinamo's assistant coach, echoed Romantsev. "We consider that sports and politics are absolutely separate things, and we don't want to mix them up," Demyamenko said after the game.
Still, Romantsev prohibited his players from giving any interviews prior to the match. Ukraine's players, meanwhile, maintained a low profile by choosing to stay at the Ukrainian Embassy instead of Moscow's deluxe Baltschug Kempinski Hotel, where most visiting teams are put up.
Wednesday's game was the 102nd meeting of the two teams, and Spartak's victory gave it a 37-36 edge in the series, along with 29 draws.
Spartak's Mukhsin Mukhamadiyev sprinted down the right wing through three Dinamo defenders and booted the ball into the right corner of the net in the 48th minute for the game's only goal.
The score electrified what had been a lackluster crowd of more than 35,000 at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, as Spartak fans started setting off fireworks in the stands. As the game ended the crowd thundered "Russia" in unison in support of the home side.
Spartak controlled the tempo throughout the match, allowing Dinamo few opportunities. Any chance of a visitors' comeback evaporated when Vladedislav Vashchuk was sent off for a flagrant foul with three minutes to play.
"We spent the whole match attacking and deserved the victory," Spartak assistant coach Fyodor Cherinkov said after the game.
Spartak still faces an uphill climb to advance to the quarterfinals of the 16-team Champions League from Group B. With one more round remaining, Paris St. Germain is already assured of advancing with four wins in four games going into its match later Wednesday night against Bayern Munich.
Spartak drew even with Bayern Munich at four points in the hunt for the other quarterfinal berth from the group, but the German side had a chance to earn two points with a win or one point with a draw against Paris. In the final round, Dinamo plays Bayern Munich and Spartak plays Paris SG.
If teams are tied on points after the round-robin stage is completed next month, a complex tiebreaker system is used to decide which clubs advance.
Wednesday's game was only the second since 1991 between the long-time rivals. Then, Spartak defeated Dinamo to win the Soviet Union championship. Shortly thereafter, Ukraine declared its independence.
In the teams' first round-robin match in September in Kiev, more than 90,000 fans saw the home team rally for a 3-2 victory. Stadium authorities said they had more than 1 million ticket requests.
Unlike the rivalry between the two teams in the Soviet era, when more of Dinamo's supporters would have made the trip from Kiev, only a small cluster of fans was evident in Moscow on Wednesday night.
"It's a pity that now under the economic crisis we are not able to come here with more supporters, because it's very, very expensive," said Alexander Poklad, 19, of Kiev.
Before the September game, the teams had avoided meeting each other for three years, as Dinamo declined an invitation to play Spartak in a tournament of teams from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
But this fall the inevitable happened, as the former Soviet rivals were put in the same Champions League group. In the minds of thousands of fans, the soccer rivalry became another in the series of endless quarrels between Russia and Ukraine.
"No doubt the Champions League was created especially to give us opportunity to kill Kiev again like we have been doing for so many years," said Alexei Kardonov, 22, a Spartak supporter from Moscow.
Before the game, Spartak coach Oleg Romantsev had dismissed reports in the Russian press about the political implications of the forthcoming match.
"Soccer doesn't have anything in common with the political clashes between our countries," he told the Russian daily Sport Express.
Anatoly Demyamenko, Dinamo's assistant coach, echoed Romantsev. "We consider that sports and politics are absolutely separate things, and we don't want to mix them up," Demyamenko said after the game.
Still, Romantsev prohibited his players from giving any interviews prior to the match. Ukraine's players, meanwhile, maintained a low profile by choosing to stay at the Ukrainian Embassy instead of Moscow's deluxe Baltschug Kempinski Hotel, where most visiting teams are put up.
Wednesday's game was the 102nd meeting of the two teams, and Spartak's victory gave it a 37-36 edge in the series, along with 29 draws.
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