Kukulyak's controversial decision and Leschuk's fateful saves
The confrontation between Zenit and Dynamo has become an adornment of the Russian Cup. Moreover, it took place not within the framework of the "Way of the RPL", but at the stage of 1/4 of the finals of the "Way of the Regions". St. Petersburg took third place in the group and failed to continue the struggle in the strongest part of the tournament, and the Muscovites lost to Krylia Sovetov in the first round of the playoffs. But on March 15, they had to determine the owner of the ticket to the next stage in a full-time match in the Northern capital.
Despite the fact that the charges of Sergey Semak, confidently going to the next championship, looked like favorites, the opponent had chances for success. This was largely due to the personnel problems of St. Petersburg residents. As you know, after a mass brawl in the November match with Spartak, three key legionnaires continue to serve a suspension at once: forward Malcom, midfielder Wilmar Barrios and central defender Rodrigao. To top it all off, striker Ivan Sergeyev was injured.
The Blue and White also missed players in the offensive line. Fyodor Smolov did not have time to recover from a muscle injury. However, it hardly looked like a colossal loss against the background of the effectiveness of Konstantin Tyukavin, who scored four goals in the last five meetings of the national championship.
Nevertheless, no one could have imagined that the first blow of the Muscovites in the cup match would be effective. And the goal was funny. Moomin Ngamaleo from outside the box shot low into the post, and from there the ball ricocheted off the back of Alexander Vasyutin into the net. It was the tenth second of the game.
The hosts reacted calmly and, with the support of the approximately half-filled Gazprom Arena, laid siege to someone else's gates. At first, they didn't do much. The visitors, who operated in a 4-5-1 formation, dropped to their own half and blocked all zones. Semak's charges mainly tried to open the right flank of the opponent's defense, which was covered by the aged Serhiy Parshivlyuk. Here, Wendel and Claudiño moved to the aid of Gustavo Mantuan and Douglas dos Santos, creating an overload. But it was not often possible to penetrate the penalty area, and the only moment was the result of Igor Leschuk's mistake on the way out. Mantuan, with a bounce off the turf, hit the crossbar, although he had all the empty target in front of him.
And yet the pressure of St. Petersburg worked, because it was increasingly difficult for the opponents to maintain concentration in defense. In the 36th minute, Douglas was allowed to execute a perfect serve, and the almost imperceptible Zelimkhan Bakayev was allowed to accurately shoot with his head. Dmitry Skopintsev lost the position and did not even manage to impose a struggle on the opponent.
It seemed that after the break, an inspired Zenit would go forward. Moreover, Slavisha Jokanovic removed arsen Zakharyan, who was not fully prepared, from the field. But his charges, who in the first half almost did not cross the middle of the field, seized the initiative. As if under Sandro Schwartz, they turned on high pressing and pressed the hosts harder into their box. True, the counter-attacks of St. Petersburg looked more dangerous. Leszczuk rescued his teammates after Wendel's shot from a few yards and Mateo Cassierra's curling shot from the left corner of the box.
But after an hour, the most controversial episode of the match took place. Taking advantage of a cross from the right, Tyukavin got ahead of Claudiño in the penalty area for the ball. The Brazilian did not see the striker jumping out from behind and hit him in the leg. Yevhen Kukulyak initially did not record a violation, but assistants at VAR suggested that he study the moment. The discussion lasted about four minutes, and then for some time the referee watched the replay. But to the surprise of the fans, the referee did not point to the "point".
To the credit of the blue and white, even after receiving a painful blow, they did not stray into disputes and unnecessary emotions, but continued to press. And in the end, they were the number one and went forward. The castling of the headquarters also worked completely. So, Vyacheslav Grulev after a feed from the flank headed into the post. In added time, St. Petersburg had to play for the rebound and almost conceded. Daniil Lesovoy beat Vasyutin in the box, and the ball bounced to the lonely Daniil Fomin, but the goalkeeper reduced the distance in time and took the shot on himself.
As a result, Dynamo still won a well-deserved victory in the penalty shootout. In the main series, the teams made a mistake. Vasyutin took Grulyov's shot into the corner to his left, and Leschuk dealt with Kuzyaev's weak shot. But in the extra series, Douglas unexpectedly missed the first attempt. He also shot unsophisticated at a comfortable height for the goalkeeper. The blue and white with great difficulty went further, and the current champion of the country completed the performance even in the "Way of the Regions".
Timofeev's optional sending-off and Kryvtsov's debut double
The match day opened with the meeting of Akhmat and Krasnodar. It seemed that the opponents' chances of success were approximately equal. However, in fact, the charges of Vladimir Ivic on the road did not leave Grozny a chance. From the first minutes, they began to carry out sharp attacks, which the defenders were not able to cope with. On the flanks, Moses Kobnan and Olakunle Olusegun created serious difficulties for them, and from deep, Nikita Kryvtsov, who received a chance, superbly dispersed attacks.
And in the middle of the first half, Moses scored his debut goal for the team. The combination of guests turned out to be a sight to behold. Sergei Volkov connected forward on the right edge and found the Nigerian with a pass. He shifted to the centre and, beating Eduard Spertsyan, curled the ball under the far post with no chance for Giorgi Shelia.
And shortly before the break, Artem Timofeev let the hosts down. Out of the blue in midfield, he accidentally struck Spertsyan's knee with spikes in a scramble for the ball. There was a feeling that referee Sergei Ivanov could feel sorry for the offender, because he committed a foul by negligence and did not cause an injury to his opponent, but he immediately took out a red one from his pocket. By the way, the Armenian midfielder earned a sending-off for the second game in a row. In the last round of the RPL, after a rough tackle to his shin, Dynamo midfielder Moomin Ngamaleo left the field ahead of schedule.
After the break, Sergei Tashuev also had reason to complain about the referee when he did not award a penalty for a foul by Junior Alonso on Hamida Agalarov. After carefully studying the moment with the help of video replay, the referee found that the attacker first played with his hand.
Akhmat finished off Kryvtsov, who had a great match. After an hour, he fought for the ball on the left edge, burst into the box and from under the defender shot into the far corner. And in added time, the midfielder scored the first brace of his career and scored the third goal in five days. In the mentioned meeting with the white and blue, the midfielder also scored in the end. So Krasnodar won the third victory under the leadership of Ivic and reached the semifinals of the "Way of Regions".
Another Pisarsky goal and Chalov's saving shot
Meanwhile, CSKA and Krylia Sovetov played their second head-to-head match in four days. On Sunday, the army men defeated the opponent in the RPL in the capital (4: 0), and on Wednesday the teams met in the Cup of the country in Samara. At the same time, Vladimir Fedotov practically did not make changes in the squad. Only Igor Akinfeev and Willian Rocha received a rest on the eve of the confrontation with Zenit in the championship.
But it didn't affect the game. In the first half, the Muscovites seemed to continue the previous meeting. They had a tangible advantage and organized serious pressure on the opponent's defense. Especially often the visitors tried to go forward on the right flank, where Jesus Medina and Milan Gaic operated. The Legionnaires complemented each other well and with their movements turned the head of the hosts' defender Glenn Bale. The Paraguayan had a couple of shots from outside the box a couple of shots before the break, but missed the target. And the most dangerous moment in the debut was missed by Konstantin Kuchaev, who hit the post after Fyodor Chalov's save.
However, after the 30th minute, Igor Osinkin's team gradually recovered and leveled the course of the game. Partners tried to look for Vladimir Pisarsky in front of the passes, but he rarely met with the ball. Therefore, the young goalkeeper of the army men Vladislav Torop basically had to interrupt the throws into the box.
But the second half turned out to be much richer in events, and the fans saw four goals. Surprisingly, it is the Wings, not CSKA, who should lament the missed victory, although in the 46th minute they conceded as a result of the gross "arrival" of Dmitry Tsypchenko. This time, Medina took the chance and scored an absolutely deserved goal. The hosts fought back instantly. And again Pisarsky reminded of himself. After drawing a corner, he was first on the rebound at the near post and restored his balance. The forward recorded his sixth goal in the current Edition of the Russian Cup. He failed to score in only one match of the tournament and leads the race of scorers.
And soon Bale with a stunning shot in the fall and completely put the Samara team ahead. But referee Alexei Sukhoi, having watched the replay, determined a tiny offside position for Pisarsky in the development of the attack. However, the hosts did not relieve the pressure and still got their way. In the 64th minute, Tsypchenko struck Torop with a shot from close range and was rehabilitated for a mistake.
Closer to the final whistle, the refereeing team was again on the side of the guests. After a cross from the corner of the field, Igor Diveev struck a header, and the ball hit the same Tsypchenko, who was standing on the line. After consulting with colleagues, the referee pointed to the "point", deciding that the ball touched the attacker's hand. And Chalov coolly converted an eleven-meter. However, the Wings almost snatched victory at the end. Bale scored a superb free-kick and landed in the crossbar.