“Zenit” reached the play-offs of the “RPL Path” of the Russian Cup together with “Baltika”

The first group round of the “Road of the RPL” “Fonbet” of the Russian Cup was completed by group C. “Zenit” retained the top line in the table, beating – 1:0 – at home the outsider “Krylya Sovetov”. And with him, Baltika got into the upper play-off bracket, having defeated Akhmat, which will play in the lower bracket in the spring, 4:1.

The St. Petersburg match was opened by the attack of “Wings of the Soviets”, which almost transformed into a goal: a mistake by the center of Zenit’s defense, the entry of Vladislav Shitov, the desperate jumps of goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov and defender Nuraly Alip, who together managed to avert the misfortune. In fact, starting the game this way seems to have served it well. She seriously threatened to turn into a dreary sight. Zenit has already secured access to the play-offs of the RPL Path, its opponent has already been eliminated from the Cup. And when both participants have no tournament motivation, fun is rarely expected.

But luck, almost caught by the tail, added impudence to “Wings”, and made Zenit angry and excited. And quite entertaining football ensued, in which, of course, the hosts had possession of the ball and territory, although their composition was formed from those who usually do not get to spend much time on the field in more important matches, but often get to watch them from the bench spare ones or even on TV. But the guests also snapped constantly.

However, the results of these mutual attacks turned out to be paradoxical. It seems that both Zenit and Wings are fine with speed, passion, and the defense tends to show a certain hospitality towards the attackers, but there are not only no goals scored, but no truly serious opportunities to score. Well, the kind that makes those who have them clutch their heads in despair: how could I have made such a mistake?! In general, these teams were missing something. And maybe it’s just the quality of the performers.

Zenit head coach Sergei Semak improved it by sending a couple of forwards into battle after rest – Gustav Mantuana and Ivan Sergeev. But before they had time to prove themselves, “Wings” created just such a moment, after which it’s not a sin to grab your head. They hit Zenit’s goal three times in a row from outside the penalty area. Two were blocked, the third, absolutely lethal from Alexander Soldatenkov, reached them, but was stopped by Mikhail Kerzhakov.

And after this episode, Zenit actually started playing more interestingly ahead. And Sergeev, very effective in cup matches, even scored. But VAR, together with referee Pavel Kukuyan, canceled the goal, having seen that even before the cross to Sergeev, his partner Alexander Kovalenko played with his hand.

Things were already heading towards a series of penalty kicks, when Ivan Sergeev again found himself in the spotlight. And this breakthrough of his deserved, of course, admiration. Mateo Barach and Roman Evgeniev seemed to close his way into the penalty area, shoulder to shoulder. However, Sergeev, like a seasoned rugby player, accustomed to pushing through barriers of muscular men weighing more than a hundred pounds, was able to get between them without losing control of the ball, and sent it into the net past goalkeeper Ivan Lomaev, nevertheless bringing Zenit a victory that guaranteed him the top spot. line in the group table.

Another match in this quartet turned out to be more productive. Baltika and Akhmat exchanged goals in the first half. Moreover, the hosts had to recoup: the Grozny team opened the scoring thanks to the unexpected connection of Anton Shvets. The balance was restored by Angelo Henriques, who sent the ball into the bottom corner close to the post. And immediately after the break, another Baltika footballer Tamerlan Musaev scored a delightful shot from the corner of the penalty area into the top corner.

Having led, the Kaliningraders, who for some time lacked clarity in their interactions, finally gained persuasiveness. They led this match to victory with an iron fist. And “Akhmat”, it seemed, was quite pleased with this development of events. In the end, the third position, along with a ticket to the lower bracket of the play-offs, could not escape him anywhere, even if Baltika, which was two points ahead of the Grozny team before the round, could not be reached. “Wings” are still lower.

As a result, the match was decorated with another small masterpiece of the hot Tamerlan Musaev that evening. Kirill Malyarov threw him into the breakthrough with a long pass. Musaev was approaching the penalty area, but then he saw that goalkeeper Giorgi Shelia had moved out of the gate in advance and launched an amazingly accurate parachute over him, finally killing the intrigue in the fight for second place. It went to Baltika, which found itself together with Zenit in the play-offs of the RPL Path, which already in stoppage time brought the score in the meeting with Akhmat to a devastating one thanks to Gedeon Guzina.

Alexey Dospehov