Luciano Spalletti labels CSKA Moscow’s Ahmed Musa as discovery of the season – Football news Zenit St. Petersburg head coach, Luciano Spalletti, has hailed CSKA Moscow’s Ahmed Musa after saying that the Nigerian International striker was arguably the player of the season this term. Musa, who joined the Moscow-based club after leaving VVV-Venlo last season, managed to score 14 goals in all competition including a fantastic brace in the league meeting against Kuban Krasnodar on the away turf. The 20-year-old attacker played more games this season, compared to the last season, and played as a central striker in absence of Seydou Doumbia and Tomas Necid. Musa formed a decent partnership with Vagner Love up front following the return of Brazilian forward from Flamengo this January. Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Amkar Perm saw Zenit finish the season at the second spot on the league table, just two points behind newly crowned CSKA. Spalletti revealed that both the teams played defensively. “Both teams acted well in defence. There were not many scoring chances created in the game but, nevertheless, the contestants tried to play to win until the final whistle,” Spalletti concluded. Spalletti went on to talk about Amkar Perm’s Maksim Kanunnikov, saying that the Russian International is getting better only because he is getting more time on the pitch unlike his days at Zenit. “I like Maksim. In addition to his game quality, the guy uses his head. And I think that's the most important thing. It seems to me that playing for Amkar, he made a step forward in his career as he is getting more playing time, He needed to become a truly adult football player. But he still needs one or two more steps to progress. I hope he gets better and better,” The Russian Cup winner was quoted as saying. Kanunnikov joined Amkar from the St. Petersburg club this season after spending a six-month loan spell at FC Tom Tomsk last season. The 21-year-old striker has scored two goals in 10 league appearances this season. Spalletti urged his side to come back stronger next season, admitting that they are all disappointed after losing the race to win the league title this season.
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