CSKA lost in the second round of the group stage “Ways of the RPL”

Two giants of Russian football in the second round of the group stage of the “Ways of the RPL” Fonbet Cup of Russia played very difficult matches with opponents listed below. But if Zenit was still able to defeat away – 1:0 – “Wings of the Soviets”, then CSKA unexpectedly lost at home – 0:2 – “Torch”, whose hero was Maxim Maximov, who scored both goals.

Krylya Sovetov and Zenit played amusing football in Samara, which, however, has recently turned from an exception into something like the norm in Russia. This is very open football, when even a formal outsider tries to show that he is striving for about the same thing as the favorite, that is, attacking, attacking. And it is not so important that fires blaze in the rear from time to time.

It’s even strange that in this match for a long time it didn’t grow together with goals. Zenit, which presented some kind of terribly elastic scheme, with a change in positions and movement vectors of individual participants, nevertheless tilted a little to the right all the time – to the flank of Mario Fernandez, surpassed, of course, Wings in terms of control over the ball, but if and excelled in sharpness, then minimally. The opponents running forward with the same zeal had approximately equal parts of it, and the quintessence of the first half could be considered a short segment in its middle with two excellent moments in a row for each of them.

At Zenit, in the conditions of a murderous lack of space and time, Gustavo Mantuan famously dealt with the ball near the penalty line, and his shot crashed into the post. The response of “Wings” to him was a sharp attack, like a shot from a slingshot, which was completed by Yegor Karpitsky.

He pierced Alexander Vasyutin from a dozen meters, but the Zenit goalkeeper did not blunder – he competently jumped forward and competently spread himself in half-twine in order to caulk a free corridor where the ball was supposed to slip through.

Zenit still found a way to take the lead after resting at half-time. Naturally, the method implied the energetic use of the right flank, which was taxied by a lightning-fast combination deployed by the Petersburgers after the Samara corner – a classic reprisal for a screwed up set piece and the lack of a reliable safety net. There, on the right, was Alexei Sutormin, and from him a cross went to the center, where Ivan Sergeev perfectly handled the ball.

“Wings” continued to snarl with redoubled anger. And young Ivan Saltykov clutched his head when he saw that a small rebound deprived him of such an honorable goal against the football flagship. And then he grabbed it again, realizing that referee Sergei Cheban refuses to regard his fall in someone else’s penalty area after contact with Eduardo Keyrus as a violation. Overall, Zenit won and secured six points in first place in Group C.

The Moscow match began with a nightmare for its hosts. If there was a nomination “The main mistake of the season”, then the one that Anton Zabolotny made could definitely be considered a real contender for such an anti-award.

Milan Gayich did everything to ensure that Zabolotny scored comfortably – he took the ball from the right in the penalty area, and performed a pass to his partner such that the Voronezh goalkeeper Vitaly Gudiev turned out to be completely won back. The forward got it half a dozen meters from the gate, an absolutely empty gate – and managed to shoot somewhere high, high.

Such a blunder simply insisted that reckoning should follow for him. It followed immediately – in the form of a not bad attack by “Torch” after the interception and accurate blow of Maxim Maximov into the corner.

CSKA had opportunities to recoup. Sometimes – gorgeous opportunities, like the one that appeared in the second half with Maxim Mukhin, who was stopped by Gudiev.

“Torch” fought back, fought back – and inflicted a deadly bite on the army team. Ilnur Alshin went great on the edge of Ivan Oblyakov and hung on the same Maksimov, who almost reserved the status of the hero of the meeting, and having issued a double, turned into a real superhero. Well, along with Gudiev, who managed to score another couple of great saves.

In group A, the unexpected success of Voronezh, coupled with Orenburg’s 2-0 victory over Sochi on the same day, confused the tournament situation to the limit. All four teams now have three points each.

On Wednesday, late in the evening, two more Russian football giants played their face-to-face match of the second round. Dynamo hosted an opponent in Group D Krasnodar.

Alexey Dospekhov