CSKA lost within the normal range – Newspaper Kommersant No. 35 (7480) dated 03/01/2023

Following Ural and Spartak, CSKA advanced to the semi-finals of the Fonbet Cup of Russia from the top of the bracket. After the army team defeated Krasnodar 3-0 at home, the second leg in this confrontation, in fact, turned into an empty formality. On the road, they lost, but within the acceptable limits – 0:1.

Before the second matches of the quarterfinals of the Russian Cup in the upper bracket, only in the CSKA-Krasnodar pair, everything was already clear. At home, the army team literally crushed the opponent, who did not seem to be some kind of bag. On the contrary, this confrontation seemed, perhaps, the most intriguing at this stage of the tournament, especially given the personnel changes and the pre-season results of the rebooted Krasnodar. But in Moscow, the Kubans were taken three unanswered goals, and they could have twice as many, if not for their goalkeeper Matvey Safonov.

And the point is not even so much in the score, which theoretically wins back, but in the fact that CSKA had an overwhelming superiority in the level of readiness. It is definitely impossible to level such a difference in a few days. Probably, “Krasnodar” could still fight for the victory in the sum of two meetings only if the army team, as they say, did not take the field or suddenly suffered irreparable losses in the squad. However, in the first match, Muscovites, for example, absolutely “did not notice” the absence of very important for them Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov and Igor Diveev. And the return head coach of the red-blue Vladimir Fedotov put up the same 11 players.

His Krasnodar colleague Vladimir Ivic made three permutations, one in each line. In particular, the attack was intended to strengthen Olakunle Olusegun. Along with another Nigerian, Moses Kobnan, they flanked centre-forward John Cordoba. The situation obliged the southerners not just to attack, but to take risks and it is desirable to score a quick goal. But in the debut of their home match, CSKA again looked better.

The army team completely controlled the situation and did not think of sitting on the defensive, despite the temptation to play pragmatically to keep the advantage.

Although with scoring chances and they were tight. Not surprisingly, there were zeros on the scoreboard.

The hosts in the final segment of the first half still intensified. Cordoba made an attempt to escape to the gates of Igor Akinfeev, but the defender Willian Rocha was not inferior to him in speed and covered the blow. Then the Colombian striker hit the target from the penalty area, and then the CSKA goalkeeper averted the threat. Akinfeev generally had to tighten up and catch the balls, and when Kadi Borzhis, the most prominent player of Krasnodar before the break, hit after rebounding from a corner, he made a real save, one of those that are then necessarily twisted in video reports and television reports about the match. In principle, probably, the so-called goal in the locker room would leave the Kuban certain chances of success. But the second half started with the score 0:0.

But Krasnodar managed to win back one ball shortly after leaving the locker room. Cordoba earned a free kick, and Eduard Spertsyan once again showed how great he is at meeting such standards. Even seasoned Akinfeev could not react to a flawless blow to the wall bypass. The intrigue in this quarter-final still appeared, especially since CSKA somehow completely ceased to disturb Safonov, who still periodically entered the game in the first half. However, the owners were inexorably pressed for time. In addition, the guests skillfully knocked down the pace.

Before the end, both teams made several substitutions, but this was more to the benefit of the army team, who dragged the enemy into a viscous football that was divided into separate episodes.

Moreover, both of them often fouled, which led to additional pauses.

Ivic’s men certainly improved compared to the first match, but not enough to change the course of events. At the end of the meeting, Akinfeev, like Safonov, had almost no work to do. Is that the breakthrough of the defender of the “bulls” Sergei Volkov, followed by a blow to the near corner caused a commotion in the stands.

As expected, CSKA qualified for the semi-finals of the Russian Cup, having suffered an acceptable away defeat – 0:1. And for Krasnodar, in general, nothing terrible happened. Thanks to the double elimination system, he will continue to play in the tournament, only now in the lower play-off bracket. There, of course, you can get to Zenit, but the rest of the clubs – Akhmat, Pari Nizhny Novgorod, and even more so Akron from the first league – are quite capable of Kuban.

Alexander Ilyin