Akhmat lost to Orenburg in the quarterfinals of the Russian Cup with a score of 1:0

The fourth semi-finalist of the Fonbet play-off of the Russian Football Cup at the bottom of the tournament bracket (the so-called “Path of the Regions”) was Orenburg. He defeated Akhmat on the road – 1:0. In this match, everything was decided by an own goal from the hosts’ defender Milos Shatara. Now Orenburg will play with Dynamo, and in the other semi-final the relationship will be sorted out between Ural and Rostov.

In the final confrontation of the second stage of the quarter-final stage of the play-off “Path of the Regions”, clubs that are neighbors in the Premier League met. Moreover, they are in the danger zone, since Akhmat is in 12th place, and Orenburg is in 14th, having scored 20 points each. Obviously, in the current situation, it is now much more important for them to perform in the championship, where, apparently, a difficult struggle for survival awaits them. The Grozny residents, for example, have a match of the 23rd round with Lokomotiv coming up, and the Orenburg residents with Rubin. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the Russian Cup both of them took full advantage of the roster rotation.

But the teams could afford to play open football.

True, despite the fact that the players hardly experienced psychological pressure and were afraid of being eliminated from the cup tournament, scoring chances were difficult. They mostly exchanged shots from inside the penalty area, although some did pose a danger. Thus, the hosts had a close shot at the ball from Lukas Lovat, who already showed in the championship match with Rubin that he can score from a distance. The guests double-checked goalkeeper Mikhail Oparin’s reaction. Emircan Gurluk shot him low, and Maxim Sidorov – high, in the direction of the “nine”. Even in the first half, an episode was noteworthy when Akhmat defender Yasmin Chelikovic, on the verge of a penalty, rolled under Nikolai Titkov in the penalty area, but referee Artem Chistyakov did not see a foul on the part of the Bosnian.

Immediately after the break, Ivan Basic struck another long-range shot in this match, but Oparin was again on his guard. Gurlyuk had already come very close to the penalty area and aimed exactly at the corner, but slightly missed the target. The hosts’ attacking midfielder Svetoslav Kovachev was even closer to the goal when he powerfully hit the crossbar from outside the penalty area. At Orenburg, Jimmy Marin almost scored a beautiful goal, in this case, like a hockey player, substituting his leg rather than his stick for Andrei Malykh’s cross. Akhmat was saved by Celikovic, who cleared the ball from the empty goal. Then Danil Prokhin hit, but hit Oparin straight.

Although the teams did not play for a draw and did not expect a penalty shootout, it seemed that they would no longer be able to avoid this fate.

However, in the 88th minute, an accident occurred with the Grozny team when their defender Milos Shatara headed the ball into his own goal, completing the combination of the guests with the participation of Yaroslav Mikhailov and Jordi Thompson. However, if not for Shatara, the ball would have flown to striker Vladimir Obukhov, and he would probably have sent it into the net anyway. Naturally, Akhmat had practically no time to recoup, and Orenburg won 1:0, becoming the last semi-finalist in the lower bracket of the Russian Cup play-offs.

Previously, Dynamo, Rostov and Ural also made it to this stage. After the end of the match in Grozny, the draw for the first semi-final stage of the “Path of Regions” took place. “Orenburg” will host Dynamo at home, and “Ural” and “Rostov” will meet in Yekaterinburg. Next, the winners will play with teams that will be eliminated following the results of the RPL Path semi-finals, where Spartak faces Zenit, and Baltika competes with CSKA.

Alexander Ilyin