“Torch” was extinguished with a double – Newspaper Kommersant No. 213 (7414) of 11/17/2022

In the match of the fifth round of the group stage of the Russian Cup, Zenit beat Fakel thanks to Malcolm’s double – 2:0. With nine points, the Petersburgers moved up to second place in Group B, where Spartak is in the lead with 12 points.

The match with Fakel, in which Zenit was definitely the clear favorite, still posed a certain danger for him. Firstly, any trip to Voronezh is fraught with difficulties – and not only logistical due to the lack of air traffic. Actually, how difficult it is to play away at Fakel, Zenit has already experienced it for itself, having obtained only one point here in the 12th round of the championship.

Secondly, the Petersburgers were limited in the rotation of the squad, and were left without three central defenders, led by Dejan Lovren, who is preparing with the Croatian national team for the start of the World Cup, and defensive midfielder Wilmar Barrios. Therefore, the head coach of Zenit, Sergei Semak, simply had no alternative in the center of defense to Dmitry Chistyakov, who was recently subjected to severe obstruction for an unsuccessful game in the Premier League match with Akhmat. And also other team leaders, Wendel and Malcolm, who sat on the bench, fell under this same rotation.

The chance to prove themselves was presented to a group of players who have little practice this season, which, probably, could not but affect the potential of Zenit.

The same Zelimkhan Bakaev from the right side could not accurately deliver the ball into the penalty area, where big Alexander Erokhin and Mateo Cassierra were waiting for him. Delivery did not work from Gustavo Mantua on the left either. Claudinho tried to set up the game, through which almost all the attacking streams went, but he did not come from sharpness either. It is no wonder that the Petersburgers delivered one shot on target for the entire first half, and that one was a warm-up shot for goalkeeper Alexei Gorodovoy.

The best thing that Zenit created before the break was Alexei Sutormin’s cross on Erokhin, who, however, failed to adjust to the ball and hit it properly. But Fakel, which most of the time acted as a pronounced second number, was very close to the classic goal in the locker room, when Matvey Ivakhnov won the rebound after a cross into the penalty area, but the Voronezh player did not get an accented shot from close range, and the goalkeeper of the guests Mikhail Kerzhakov handled it with no problem.

For the second half, Semak decided to release Malcolm instead of the absolutely unproductive Bakaev, and the replacement immediately bore fruit. In the 46th minute, Zenit’s top scorer in the championship ran one-on-one with the goalkeeper, easily circled Gorodovoy and hit the empty net. It is impossible not to note the cool long pass that Cassierra gave to the Brazilian.

It was difficult for Fakel to recoup. Chistyakov and Douglas Santos, with the support of Daler Kuzyaev, who “performed” Barrios in this match, practically did not make mistakes and did not allow the opponent to roam in the center of defense.

In addition, Semak additionally strengthened the middle lane and activated the fresh Wendel, and towards the end of the match he added Arsen Adamov to the defense.

The Petersburgers completely controlled the game even with the minimum score, and in the 82nd minute Malcolm increased it by correcting Danil Krugovoy’s shot. “Zenith” won the third victory and with nine points so far came in second in the group, ahead of “Wings of the Soviets”, which will meet with “Spartak” in a week.

Alexander Ilyin