The refereeing question in the duel between Karpin and Rakhimov: is a draw between Rubin and Dynamo a logical outcome?

      In the 14th-round match Rubin and Dynamo played to a draw (0:0). Any questions for the referee?

      The duel between Rakhimov and Karpin

      The main talking points surrounding the Rubin–Dynamo match before the starting whistle boiled down to an intriguing coaching duel. Both Valery Karpin and Rashid Rakhimov and their teams are going through a difficult autumn. The white-and-blues have been unable to win since late September, while the Kazan side failed to score in their last two matches against Baltika (0:3) and Krasnodar (0:1). Both head coaches enjoy a solid vote of confidence from the club leadership, but that could quickly run out amid a string of unsatisfactory results. Therefore, yesterday the points were critically important for both Dynamo and Rubin.

      The Muscovites, after losing to Zenit (1:2) a week earlier, moved away from the defensive system. Recall that in St. Petersburg Karpin fielded a three-centre-back model against the sky-blues-and-whites. The system did not bring the expected dividends and Dynamo suffered defeat. Against Rubin the capital club played with the defensive pair Marichal–Roberto, and Maxim Osipenko missed the game.

      The Kazan side, similarly to the match in Krasnodar, lined up in a 5-4-1 shape that during the game smoothly shifted into a 5-2-3, where Bezrukov and Shabankhadzhay operated as inside forwards.

      “So far, everything’s fine,” Rakhimov tersely characterized the effectiveness of the new system.

      In the new attacking model Rubin has yet to score, but both in the match against Krasnodar and yesterday against Dynamo the Kazan side had chances to find the net. It is important to note how Ruslan Bezrukov has come alive under the new system. Under Rashid Rakhimov the midfielder previously played exclusively as a left full-back, serving as a substitute for Ilya Rozhkov in emergency situations. But as a right inside forward Ruslan shows his best qualities. Bezrukov has dribbling, pace and a shot, and he actually joined Rubin in Leonid Slutsky’s time in 2022 as an attacking player, not a defender.

      “The sending-off brought us back down to earth”

      If you summarize Rashid Rakhimov’s team’s performance in yesterday’s game, it can be divided into two parts: before Konstantin Nizhegorodov’s sending-off and after it. On the 58th minute the Rubin defender received a red card for a last-man foul on forward Konstantin Tyukavin, who was running one-on-one with Evgeny Staver. Interestingly, ten minutes earlier, at the end of the first half, Nizhegorodov had saved Rubin’s empty goal when Bitello, bursting into the box, lobbed the Kazan keeper. Konstantin cleared the ball literally off the line…

      “From hero to anti-hero. I told him that. That happens in football,” Rakhimov again remarked succinctly at the press conference.

      Rubin, in their usual manner, played second fiddle against Dynamo. The Kazan side had little possession in the second half and only occasionally troubled the young visiting goalkeeper Kurban Rasulov. At the start of the second half the hosts briefly seized the initiative, but Nizhegorodov’s dismissal quickly curtailed their prospects of winning the match.

      “In the second half our team came out more aggressive, the game turned, but the sending-off brought us back down to earth. We had to reorganize again. Credit to the lads, they played reliably in defence,” the Kazan coach said after the match.

      Did Inal Tanashev mistakenly not send off Glebov in the Daku incident?

      Overall Rubin could have hoped for a favorable ending for themselves if the match referee Inal Tanashev had sent off Danil Glebov in the 78th minute for a foul on Mirlind Daku. There was nobody in the Albanian’s path, and if the Dynamo midfielder had let the forward go, it would have been a clear one-on-one. However, the referee at his discretion showed Glebov only a yellow card, although in the Nizhegorodov incident, recall, he sent off the Rubin player. This outraged Rashid Rakhimov.

      “The Glebov–Daku moment was an obvious one. Nobody covered Glebov, Daku could have run away. We all thought it was a sending-off. Am I upset with Karpin about such a game scenario? Of course not. Everything’s fine, we’ve known each other a long time and communicate well,” the Kazan head coach said.

      Having had a numerical advantage for over 30 minutes, the Dynamo players, broadly speaking, failed to create anything clear in front of Staver’s goal. The introductions of Maukuba and Sergeev did not help either. It felt like with 11 vs 11 the Muscovites actually looked sharper and more preferable.

      A draw in such an uneventful match is a logical outcome. Although in speaking with journalists Valery Karpin did not hide that his team dropped points.

      “We dropped two points. I have no complaints about the players either before or after the sending-off. If you can name a complaint, it’s the finishing,” the Dynamo coach summed up.

      In the 15th round the calendar favors both teams. Rubin will travel to the RPL underdog Pari NN, while Dynamo will host Akron.

      Photo: rubin-kazan.ru

      More news about the event:

      “He’s offended that we haven’t drunk together for a long time”: Rubin held Valery Karpin’s Dynamo

      Konstantin Nizhegorodov saved from a goal, and Mirlind Daku failed to score again

      In the 14th-round match of the Russian Championship Rubin drew with Moscow Dynamo (0:0). 09:49 02.11.2025 Business Online – Kazan

      Refereeing question in the Karpin vs Rakhimov duel: Rubin and Dynamo draw — a logical outcome?

      In the 14th-round match Rubin and Dynamo played to a draw (0:0). Any questions for the referee? 08:30 02.11.2025 Tatar-inform IA – Kazan

      News from neighboring regions on the topic:

      Tambov Spartak suffered defeat in the season’s final match

      Tambov FC Spartak finished the season with a match against Bryansk Dynamo. The game was part of the 30th round of the LEON Second League Division B 2025. 22:47 01.11.2025 OnlineTambov.Ru – Tambov

      Penza’s Zenit will finish the season in Volgograd

      Before the final round Zenit has 25 points, Rotor-2 has 23 points.

      Photo: PenzaSMI archive. 21:58 31.10.2025 PenzaSMI – Penza