Spartak suffered a second devastating defeat in a row

The most notable events of the fifth round of the group stage of the “RPL Path” of the Fonbet Russian Cup were Orenburg’s breakthrough to the leadership of Group A, the collapse of Krylya Sovetov in Group C, as well as a new resounding failure of Spartak. Spartak, who had previously been defeated by Krylya Sovetov in the national championship, now lost heavily – 0:3 – to Dynamo. True, the misfire, unpleasant from an image point of view, did not have much tournament significance for the club. Spartak secured first place in Group D in advance.

It’s not difficult to imagine what thoughts tormented those who were worried about the guests in the most important match of the fifth round of the group stage at the end of the first half. Everything seems to be in order so far: the score is 0:0, and, in principle, Spartak, strictly speaking, does not care about the points, because before that they won four cup victories in a row and the position is nowhere stronger: the position at the top of the table will not go away. But it’s still unpleasant. After the Samara embarrassment last weekend with 0:4 from Krylya Sovetov, I want something uplifting, inspiring, proving the accident, the one-time nature of the breakdown. But there is nothing like it. The Spartak version, without Quincy Promes and Theo Bongonda remaining on the bench, without Alexander Sobolev, who is not on the bench, plays some kind of paradoxical football.

The changes and inclusions are beautiful, but completely useless. No wit comes from them. “Dynamo”, having possession of the ball a little less often, is an order of magnitude more springy, faster, and more purposeful. And he already has half a dozen moments.

Including very good moments – such as Fedor Smolov, who, after Daniil Lesovoy’s cross, shot at goalkeeper Alexander Maksimenko at point-blank range, but never made it. And this is not counting Bitellu’s good attempt to convince referee Vladimir Moskalev to award a penalty with his fall in the penalty area. “Spartak”, what can we say, is essentially holding on to the skinny. And who knows when Dynamo will break through?

It broke through before the break – Spartak still couldn’t stand it. The first goal was formed by a protracted attack that culminated with a shot from Smolov, under which Bitellus successfully placed his shoulder, causing a ricochet. The second is a sharp attack. Spartak defender Georgy Dzhikia stopped Bitella with a risky tackle, but the ball went to Smolov. He cut it to Daniil Fomin, who had rushed into the penalty area. Maksimenko coped with one blow from Dynamo, but after the rebound he was no longer able to parry the other.

In the second half, Spartak coach Guillermo Abascal, of course, sent both Bongonda and Promes onto the field. But no radical transformations occurred with his team.

She was still too academic and toothless, as if she didn’t need rehabilitation and wasn’t worried about her reputation and that of her coach. And its best player, despite the missed goals, remained the goalkeeper. It’s just that if it weren’t for the miracles of Alexander Maksimenko, the score in this match would have been completely humiliating for the red and white. For example, in the end, Maksimenko withstood the shooting of Smolov, who was brought forward with a subtle pass from Bitellu, having managed to catch the ball that had already slipped between his legs. But Dynamo still achieved a major and completely deserved victory in stoppage time, once again revealing the flimsy foreign defense and giving 19-year-old debutant Ivan Zazvonkin the opportunity to hit an empty goal, raising, presumably, the degree of anxiety in the hearts of Spartak fans to the limit , waiting for another derby, much more important: in it on Sunday Spartak will collide with CSKA in the championship.

As for Dynamo, it, as before, is level with Krasnodar in the group, having eliminated Nizhny Novgorod from the Russian Cup with the same 3:0 score. In the last round, Muscovites and Krasnodar will compete in absentia for the second ticket to the upper bracket of the quartet. Dynamo hosts Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar has a trip to Spartak.

In Group A, Orenburg triumphed on this day. The club, which was accelerating badly in the season, and opened the cup campaign with a loss to CSKA with a score of 0:6, having finished 2:1 away at Sochi, managed, having already transformed under the leadership of the new coach David Deogracia, to secure the yourself a way into the upper playoff bracket. At the same time, the favorites of the quartet, the army team, have not yet made it into the top two. In a boring match against Fakel, the main time of which ended after an exchange of goals at the draw flag – 1:1, the army team gave the opponents a series of penalty kicks along with a bonus point. CSKA is three points behind Orenburg (with which the capital’s giants will play at home in the final round), two ahead of Fakel and three ahead of Sochi, who will fight for the only vacant spot in the play-offs – although, rather only in the lower grid – with each other.

In Group C, the Krylya Sovetov disaster took place on Wednesday. The club, which looks great in the championship, taking second place behind Krasnodar, failed to overcome the first barrier in the Russian Cup.

“Wings” lost their chance to fight for the playoffs, having been beaten at home by the evil “Akhmat”, who scored two goals against them and eventually tore them to pieces with the same score as “Dynamo” tore apart “Spartak”. Thanks to this success, Akhmat saved the prospect of entering the upper bracket. It is two points behind Baltika, which is the same distance from leader Zenit. The Grozny club will play against the Kaliningraders in the final round away.

Alexey Dospehov