Aiden McGeady
Aiden McGeady was far from happy despite scoring his first goal for Spartak Moscow in their 2-2 draw with Amkar Perm.
Dropping points at home to a side struggling against relegation and being denied a clear penalty must have brought the memories flooding back from his last two season’s at Celtic.
Spartak have struggled for consistency in the league all season with just 15,000 turning out in the Luzhiniki Stadium for Friday’s match.
Over 50,000 are expected for tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Zilina which gives Spartak the chance to build on their opening day win away to Marseilles.
Dealing patiently with questions ranging from his coaches choice of suit to the suggestion that he could give lessons to his team-mates on how to cross the ball- all delivered through a translator- the former Celt was typically honest in his answers.
Pleasingly McGeady has still to develop a Schteve McClaren type Russian accent.
“It’s unfortunate that Amkar twice went into the lead and we were chasing the game,” McGeady admitted. “Overall I’m pleased personally but the main thing is the team, we didn’t win so my goal is tainted.
“At 1-1 we should have had a penalty, it was 100% penalty. As soon as Amkar scored they went back into defence, we had to go forward, we equalised but then Amkar went ahead again and that made it very difficult for us to come back again. It just didn’t happen for us.
“There’s a first time for everything and that was my first goal with my belly. After 70 or 75 minutes I’m starting to feel a bit tired but I need football because I haven’t played a lot, the schedule of matches that we have is good for me.
“I’ve just started to get into my stride, I’m pleased with the way that I’ve been playing but there is still a bit more to come from myself and the team. Hopefully that will come in the next game.”
Spartak’s poor domestic form has put pressure on manager Valery Karpin but the 1-0 win in Marseilles has eased some of the criticism.
With back-to-back games coming up against Chelsea in the Champions League it’s vital for Spartak to take full points tomorrow against Zilina who lost 4-1 at home to Chelsea in their opening match.
Karpin said: “Zilina will be difficult opponents, they are strong physically and I expect them to play defensively like Amkar did.
“Games like that are always difficult, we’ve played a lot of games recently and the players are feeling it.
“We’re looking forward to the match and it’ll help us to have over 50,000 supporting us.
“Everyone knows how important it is to get three points from the match, if we can do that it’ll be a great start to the Champions League.”
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