Spartak defeated Pari Nizhny Novgorod with a score of 5:4 in the second round match of the group stage of the Russian Cup

In the match of the second round of the group stage of the Russian Cup, in which Spartak hosted Pari Nizhny Novgorod, the hosts led 3-1, conceded three goals in ten minutes, but still won 5-4. Remaining invincible in the official matches of this season, the red-whites retain leadership in their group.

It was a special, one might even say extravagant game. And it turned out so in many respects due to circumstances.

The schedulers of Russian football tournaments gave Spartak an extreme test of strength. The home cup meeting with Nizhny Novgorod fit in between two trips – on August 5 to Kazan, where Rubin was defeated in the third round of the championship – 4: 1, and on August 11 to Yekaterinburg, where Muscovites in the fourth round will have a difficult meeting with Ural. Playing twice in a row in two days for the third is a difficult schedule, especially considering that in less than a week Spartak will have to fly a total of 5200 km. True, then head coach Guillermo Abascal’s wards will have nine days to prepare for the home match with Zenit, but it’s too early to think about it. As of Tuesday, Spartak remained the only team that had not yet lost points in official matches in the new season, and, of course, was determined to continue in the same spirit. Nevertheless, Abascal, having decided to save the strength of his main team, for the most part released nominal reservists onto the field. Quincy Promes and Georgy Jikia, Alexander Zobnin and Theo Bondonga, Victor Mozes and goalkeeper Alexander Maksimenko, who was replaced by 22-year-old Ilya Svinov, remained on the bench.

The red-and-whites have not been able to beat Paris Nizhny Novgorod in Moscow before. The season before last, within the framework of the championship, the guests at home won with a score of 2:1, and more recently, in May, already under the leadership of the current head coach Sergei Yuran, they achieved a goalless draw. However, in this case, it seemed that the home team managed to seal the fate of the match very quickly. Within a quarter of an hour after the start of the match they were leading – 2:0. First, a protracted attack with an accurate shot into the far corner was completed by defender Leon Klassen, and then Danil Prutsev used Mikhail Ignatov’s cross.

Pari Nizhny Novgorod, however, did not sit on the defensive. A couple of times his players were frankly unlucky, but in the end, the club’s top scorer Timur Suleymanov, after a corner with the full connivance of Spartak defenders, returned one ball with a beautiful header. True, a few minutes later Pavel Meleshin scored, who was helped by a witty pass with the heel of Nikita Chernov and an unsuccessful pass of the same Suleymanov, who prevented goalkeeper Vitaly Botnari in his penalty area. And the hosts went to the break with a comfortable advantage – 3:1.

But the second half was still ahead – even more ardent, unpredictable and productive. Proud Nizhny Novgorod, who defeated Dynamo Moscow in the first Cup round on penalties, equalized the score in just five minutes. Edgar Sevikyan excelled, who scored with the help of a rebound around the very first attack after the break, and Viktor Alexandrov, who used the confusion of someone else’s defense. And then there was an extremely rare episode. Anton Zinkovsky, who received the ball from Jesus Medina, drove the ball into the bottom nine of Botnari’s goal, but the Spartacists did not have time to properly celebrate this success, as their goal was canceled, and Suleymanov went to shoot a penalty. The fact is that at the very beginning of the Muscovites’ counterattack, defender Daniil Khlusevich played with his hand in his penalty area. And instead of Spartak, Pari NN took the lead with a score of 4:3. This, probably, was not expected even by the temperamental and who had seen a lot in his football life Sergey Yuran.

But his colleague Abascal still had the opportunity to save the match with substitutions. And soon almost all the leaders of Spartak appeared on the field, as well as a newcomer – Moldavian Oleg Ryabchuk, bought the other day from Olympiacos in order to strengthen the defense. The rookie, despite the yellow card, looked reliable, but more often the focus was on others – Promes, Bondonga, Zobnin and Christopher Martins, who fully loaded someone else’s defense.

And their efforts were not in vain. In the 80th minute, Mikhail Ignatov, having received a pass from Promes and covered the ball with his body from Nizhny Novgorod captain Kirill Gotsuk, equalized the score. And ten minutes later, the same Gotsuk, the pillar of the defense of the guests, against the background of fatigue, made a bitter mistake for himself – without calculating, he threw the ball back to Botnari. Promes, having managed to intercept, did not miss his chance, performing a crown shot into the far corner. As a result – 5:4. Spartak are leading in Group D with six points. Pari NN has two points after two rounds, and Dynamo, which has scored one point so far, and Krasnodar, which lost to Spartak in the first round, will meet in Moscow on Wednesday.

Evgeny Fedyakov