Zenit defeated Akron, and Krasnodar lost to Akhmat in the Russian Cup
The fifth round of the Fonbet group stage of the Russian Football Cup ended with the matches “Zenit” - “Akron” and “Akhmat” - “Krasnodar”. The St. Petersburg team, in which Alexander Sobolev scored his first goal, defeated the opponent 5:1. But the Krasnodar team, who arrived in Grozny as the leader of the Premier League, unexpectedly lost 0:3.
Even though "Akron" just recently appeared in the elite of Russian football, "Zenith" There were personal scores with him. Yes, the first defeat in the championship was inflicted on the St. Petersburg club by Krasnodar, but first it was the Togliatti team that dispelled the myth of its invincibility this season when they prevailed, albeit on penalties, in the cup match. In general, they claimed first place in Group D, as they were only two points behind Zenit.
When “Akron” took two points out of three from the St. Petersburgers, Artem Dzyuba had not yet played for it, who, if not triumphantly, then very impressively returned to the Premier League and in three games scored four points using the “goal plus pass” system, and “ Rostov” even scored the other day. So with him the team became even more dangerous. Another thing is that Dziuba’s participation in the meeting with former teammates was in question. Still, he completely played the match with the Rostov team, and the Togliatti team has an important confrontation with Nizhny Novgorod in the championship ahead. Therefore, it is not surprising that the 36-year-old veteran was now spared and not included in the application.
Moreover, Akron head coach Zaur Tedeev made a 100% rotation. But compared to Zenit coach Sergei Semak, he, of course, has much more modest reserves, and the second team of St. Petersburg, led by Wendel, very quickly realized their superiority in class. In the sixth minute, Alexander Erokhin finished off Pedro's cross, and in the 13th minute, Artur hit the empty net after Wendel's pass. Soon Erokhin almost scored a double and hit the post. But striker Alexander Sobolev could not meet the ball in the final phase of the attack. He failed to make an effective move, and when the hosts made the score 3:0 in the 43rd minute, it was he who made the pre-goal pass to Andrei Mostovoy, who had already assisted Artur.
In the second half, Sobolev finally struck a blow himself, winning the air after a cross from Douglas Santos. And if he headed over the crossbar, then he fired his foot from outside the penalty area into the target, and only the visiting goalkeeper Sergei Volkov prevented the former Spartak player’s first goal at Zenit from taking place. He missed the goal even after he found himself completely alone in the Akron goalkeeper, and Gustavo Mantuan tried to throw the ball on his head as conveniently as possible. And yet, in the 61st minute, Sobolev scored. Mantoine noticed how he opened up in the penalty area, and the forward hit the technique with the inside of his foot.
It is curious that the hosts and guests finished the match with ten men. The St. Petersburg team left the field with Maxim Glushenkov, who was injured almost immediately after coming on as a substitute, and Semak no longer had the opportunity to replace him with another player. And for the Togliatti team, Vyacheslav Bardybakhin was sent off for a last hope foul on Mostovoy, and Arthur, taking a free kick after this violation, also earned a penalty. The VAR system detected Maxim Boldyrev's handball, so Mostovoy sent the fifth ball into the net from the spot. In injury time, Vladimir Moskvichev slightly sweetened the bitterness of defeat with a beautiful goal from distance, and the St. Petersburg team won 5:1. Thus, with 13 points, Zenit secured victory in the group.
In the match "Akhmata" With "Krasnodar" The first and the last Premier League teams to date met. However, unlike the championship, the Grozny team has no problems in the Russian Cup. They advanced to the play-offs ahead of schedule, guaranteeing themselves third place in Group C. In principle, they could no longer strain themselves and play the game with the Kuban team in training sparring mode. For the championship leader, it also did not have any fundamental significance, although they probably wanted to restore leadership in the cup tournament and get ahead of CSKA. But in the end, Krasnodar, as they say, did not even come to Grozny and suffered a 0:3 defeat.
Nader Gundry and Svetoslav Kovachev punished the visitors for gross mistakes in their own penalty area before the break, and Amin Talal scored at the end of the match, converting a numerical majority after John Cordoba was sent off. The Colombian striker received a straight red card for kicking, not the ball, but the opponent. Thanks to this victory, Akhmat rose to second place with nine points, pushing the Krasnodar team to third. True, in the final round the Grozny residents will have a difficult trip to visit CSKA, and Murad Musaev’s team will host Nizhny Novgorod at home and can still avoid getting into the play-offs in the “Path of Regions” bracket.
