Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov, despite the increased competition in CSKA, continues to play steadily and even more effectively for the Moscow club. The bbabo.net correspondent tells how the leader of the Kazakhstan national team successfully resumed the season in the Russian championship.
As you know, CSKA significantly increased in winter, signing several strong legionnaires at once - Yusuf Yazici, Jean-Philippe Gbamen and Jorge Carrascal. All of them were immediately identified in the main composition. That is why the status of the player of the starting clip in relation to Zainutdinov was shaken. Already in the first match after the restart against Spartak, Bakhtiyer was on the bench. But the exit of the Kazakhstani at the beginning of the second half turned out to be extremely useful. The midfielder appeared instead of Jesus Medina and added aggression to CSKA. Compared to the Paraguayan, he was more effective in martial arts, interacted better with partners and scored the most important goal, which killed the intrigue in the match.
In the cup meeting against Sochi, Zainutdinov appeared at the base and played 72 minutes. Then there was a match with "Nizhny Novgorod", and this time the Kazakh player completely spent the second half.
The role of Zainutdinov in past games was familiar, he played in the position of a central midfielder, and a little lower, as a rule, Gbamen was located.
The change occurred only in the last round in the game against Lokomotiv. Zainutdinov, rather, played the tenth number and helped Yazydzhi in the attack. It was the Turkic tandem that built the first goal of CSKA. Zainutdinov, entering the penalty area, struck hard, the goalkeeper parried the blow, and Yazydzhi arrived in time for the rebound. In general, Bakhtier's functionality in the game with Loko was very similar to what he did in the Kazakhstan national team last year. It is curious that in the last three matches Zainutdinov was exchanged exclusively for Alan Dzagoev, that is, it is the Russian midfielder that can now be called the main competitor of the Kazakhstani.
As a result, despite the fears about the massive arrival of strong newcomers, Zainutdinov is doing just fine so far. His average playing time over the past four matches is 55 minutes, while on account of his goal in the derby with Spartak, participation in the goal attack with Lokomotiv and stable stretches against Sochi and Nizhny Novgorod.
CSKA scored a great move and is already in the top three, having every chance even for silver. The last time a Kazakhstani football player took medals in the RPL six years ago, although Rostov then took second place without the direct help of Stas Pokatilov, because then he did not play at all. A real contribution to winning medals for his team was provided by Andrey Karpovich, who in 2008 took bronze from Dynamo. Let's see if Zainutdinov can achieve a similar achievement this season.
By the way, about Karpovich - for the new coach of the Kazakhstan national team, the current form of Zainutdinov is an undoubted plus, because in the matches with Moldova it is he who is able to have a decisive influence on the outcome of the confrontation.
bbabo.Net