Dynamo beat Zenit in the first quarterfinal match of the “RPL Path” of the Fonbet Russian Cup
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The flagship of domestic football, Zenit, suffered an away defeat from Dynamo with a score of 0:1 in the first quarterfinal match of the RPL Path of the Fonbet Russian Cup, conceding the only goal after remaining in the majority in the second half. With the same score, another giant, Spartak, lost to Orenburg on a foreign field. And “Rostov” and CSKA, who came to visit him, parted amicably – 1:1.
The match, which opened the main confrontation from the point of view of the sonority of the brands that collided in it, could seem to some to be rather bland, because its participants created little truly sharp, and the game under the prickly Moscow snow was more viscous than dashing, but to others , peering into the details – terribly curious. It was Zenit that made him curious in the first place. Five nominal defenders in the lineup do not always mean defensive football. But Zenit’s half-time style, oddly enough, corresponded to the formal setup. That is, he played against Dynamo the way he would have played if, having suddenly returned to the Champions League, which is now far from Russia, he ran into one of its giants like Manchester City, giving both the ball and space to the opponent.
And such – actually outsider – clothes did not really suit the flagship. It’s not that he was bursting at the seams, but Dynamo’s threats became more and more real. The trend hinted that trouble was just a step away.
And in the middle of the first half, when Dynamo fans were apparently already anticipating something terribly pleasant, Zenit, as if on command, rebuilt. And it turned out that he was ready to simply change priorities instantly. And the attacking Zenit, with Claudinho, Andrei Mostov, and Ivan Sergeev moving to the forefront, was much nicer than waiting for other people’s mistakes in the trenches. Although Dynamo was not lost. And before the pause, the energetic Konstantin Tyukavin even forced St. Petersburg goalkeeper Denis Adamov to dive into the corner for an extremely difficult ball.
And in the middle of the second half, an emergency happened to Dynamo, which, in theory, should have ruined its chances for a good outcome of the match.
Jorge Carrascal rolled under Wilson Isidore from behind, after which the Zenit forward collapsed onto the lawn as if he had been knocked down.
Dynamo fans had reason to regret that Pavel Kukuyan did not watch the replay of this tackle. After all, he demonstrated that Carrascal, strictly speaking, played the ball, and not Isidore’s feet, and, perhaps, deserved not a yellow card, but forgiveness. And the Dynamo player already had his second card. In general, the owners remained in the minority.
Meanwhile, their coach Marcel Licka, placing Tyukavin in the reserve, instead of strengthening the defense with someone experienced and reliable, sent another forward into battle – Fedor Smolov. And it was a decision that hit the bull’s eye.
“Zenith” itself was probably amazed at the impudence of “Dynamo”, which, disregarding caution, rushed forward.
Ngamalyo’s breakthrough along the right flank was brilliant, the cut to the center, a little back – a classic of this kind of counterattack. And Smolov, who had calculated everything, was already running towards the point where the ball was sent to shoot Adamov.
The Rostov match turned out to be more eventful. Its hosts immediately took the lead due to an offensive cut made by CSKA defender Kirill Nababkin, who interrupted the cross. The army team, who felt a certain discomfort after this goal, gradually got rid of it and themselves began to bother Rostov’s rear. As a result, Anton Zabolotny reached the canopy from a set-piece executed by Abbosbek Faizullaev, and the score was leveled.
This match also did not go without sending off.
In the second half, the army player Moises ran into him, touching the ball with his hand, stopping Nikolai Komlichenko.
Of course, Rostov pressed in the end, but CSKA fought back calmly and saved the draw that raised its ratings before the return match in March.
The goal that Spartak quickly conceded in Orenburg by accident, of course, did not work at all. Even before Nikita Chernov hit Yuri Kovalev’s leg in the penalty area, and Nikolai Titkov converted an obvious penalty, Spartak could well have conceded in the episode when Stepan Oganesyan hit the crossbar. And after the penalty they did not look like favorites – they were somehow too heavy, as if the burden of these four months that had passed since the start of the season crushed them completely.
Orenburg, which actually put up an option for the match that was not even close to a combat one, could have increased the lead even before the break. However, Alexander Selikhov took a dangerous shot from Justin Cuero, and soon the same Cuero, after a gift from the goalkeeper, missed the essentially empty goal. But, without increasing it, Orenburg turned its position into an even stronger one due to another stupid mistake by a Spartak player at the end of the first half. Oleg Ryabchuk slept through the pass cut to the right flank of the Orenburg attack, to Yuri Kovalev. And referee Alexey Sukhoi, after watching the replay, was convinced that Kovalev, who was going one-on-one with Selikhov, fell after contact with Ryabchuk. And this violation, of course, amounted to one that deserves a red card.
For the most part, Orenburg had a good game. He had the ball, he had the territory.
This circumstance, it seems, even slightly hampered him – there was not enough strain to transform his superiority in basic statistical parameters into something more valuable.
In the end, there was a feeling that the Orenburg team was about to finish the game. A little over a quarter of an hour before the final whistle, Spartak suddenly came to life. Mikhail Ignatov succeeded in a spectacular slalom, but the shot that crowned it from the goalkeeper’s corner failed – it was very weak and into the hands of goalkeeper Alexei Kenyaykin. And soon a Spartak corner almost headed for a goal. But no, Orenburg held on, surviving the last unpleasant moment already in stoppage time, when Chernov sent the ball over the crossbar.
1/4 finals of the “RPL Path”
“Orenburg” – “Spartak” 1:0
Titkov, 10 (pen.). Removal: Ryabchuk (Spartak), 40.
Rostov—CSKA 1:1
Nababkin, 8 (own goal) – Zabolotny, 33. Removal: Moises (CSKA), 77.
“Dynamo” – “Zenit” 1:0
Smolov, 74. Removal: Carrascal (Dynamo), 69 (2 residential buildings).
The return matches will take place on March 12, 2024.
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