Real Madrid and Spartak Moscow players vie for the ball possession during their Al Kass Cup fifth place play-off match played at the Aspire Zone in Doha, yesterday. Real Madrid won 4-2.
Real Madrid secured fifth place following a hugely entertaining 4-2 victory over Spartak Moscow, in their Al Kass Cup encounter that showcased the precocious attacking talents of both sides at the Aspire Zone in Doha, yesterday.
The match was a repeat of the Group D opener, an absorbing encounter in which the Spaniards prevailed by the odd goal in five. On that occasion, both Real and Spartak had shown enough to suggest that they could go far at Al Kass 2019, but ultimately neither team fulfilled their early potential.
The tie was perhaps most notable for the way in which Ilya Gloyatov announced himself on the Al Kass stage, with two goals that demonstrated the talismanic Spartak skipper’s rich talents. He came into this play off as the tournament’s top scorer and, by the end of the night, had established an unassailable lead in the striking charts. Yet it was his Spanish counterpart, Carles Moscardo, who grabbed the headlines with a consummate exhibition in the art of finishing.
The game started brightly, with Moscow adopting their usual combative approach that Real matched with some robust challenges flying in from both sides. And, with 12 minutes gone, Madrid took the lead when Moscardo sprung the offside trap to run clear and round keeper Pavel Boriskin, before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Five minutes later, the Spanish striker went close to doubling his tally when he rose highest to get his head to Peter Carmona’s corner from the left, but his effort was inches wide of the far post.
Real were well on top, so it was somewhat against the run of play when Spartak equalised at the end of the first quarter. Picking up the ball midway inside the Madrid half, Daniil Grigorev expertly threaded a pass into the path of Golyatov, and the prolific striker took a touch before dispatching a low shot that left goalkeeper Marcos Lara with no chance.
On the half hour, Moscow went in front following a skilful run into the area by Grigorev, which was abruptly – and illegally – curtailed by Rafael Zamora. Referee Frappart had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Golyatov had no hesitation in slotting home the resultant spot kick. Astonishingly, this was his seventh goal in five Al Kass matches.
Spartak had well and truly settled into their stride, and Real were beginning to struggle with their opponents’ physicality. However, they stuck to their task and, as the first half drew to a close, drew level. Carmona supplied Moscardo, who twisted and turned in the area before finishing adroitly.
The gripping spectacle continued as the second period got underway, with Spartak’s Aslan Mutaliev unleashing a rising drive that Lara athletically tipped over.
As the half reached its midway point, Real regained their lead - and Moscardo completed his hat-trick - after seizing on a loose ball in the Spartak area and slotting home following great work from Andri Gudjohnsen, on as a substitute.
Astonishingly, Moscardo still wasn’t finished, adding his fourth minutes later with a carefully placed shot that evaded Moscow’s massed defensive ranks.
As the game entered its final ten minutes, the effervescent Golyatov almost scored a third with a wonderful bicycle kick that cannoned off the post, with keeper Lara a mere spectator. It was another stunning example of skill in a game that had offered so many, and there was still time for another, when Carmona produced an incredible curling effort from outside the area that looked in all the way, only for Boriskin to somehow get his fingers to the ball and tip it wide.
Belatedly, Real had demonstrated their true quality, while Spartak could perhaps feel a little hard done by to lose such a pulsating contest. Ultimately, this was a tale of two strikers, who lit up Aspire Zone on a chilly winter night.
Earlier, Altinordu finished their Al Kass 2019 campaign with an emphatic 3-0 victory against Ecoile Sportive du Sahel, in the seventh place play-off yesterday.
