Rubin's standards and Ural's missed chances
By the third round of the group stage of the Russian Football Cup, Ural approached in the status of one of the leaders of Quartet B and the main pursuer of Lokomotiv, but could hardly be considered the favorite of the confrontation with Rubin. Firstly, Kazan played at home, where they scored four points in recent RPL meetings with Krylia Sovetov and Dynamo. Secondly, Viktor Goncharenko's wards lost to Zenit at the weekend and were clearly not in the best mood. And already in the opening of the reporting match, it noticeably worsened.
In the first ten minutes, there were two events that could plunge Yekaterinburg residents into a state of groggy. At first, the chief referee Yan Bobrovsky considered that Andrei Egorychev "drawn" a fall in the opponent's penalty area and did not award a penalty, despite the presence of obvious contact with the defender, and then Rubin demonstrated his "superpower". The leader of the current RPL season in goals from set pieces again played a perfect corner and opened the scoring through the efforts of Rustam Ashurmatov. And at the end of half an hour, he doubled the advantage - Yegor Teslenko punished the guests for a foul near the penalty area.
"Ural" quickly came to its senses and five minutes later reduced the gap - Alexei Kashtanov opened on the offside line and "shot" Nikita Yanovich. Before the end of the half, he could have scored a double and restored parity, but failed to close Igor Dmitriev's brilliant pass from the flank, hitting the goalkeeper exactly.
After that, Ural only squandered a few chances. A great chance to score was missed by Italo, who entered the field at half-time, who also shot through the center of the goal after a discount to Guilherme Schettin. And towards the end of the meeting, the same Kashtanov hit the defender who was insuring on the line. Goncharenko's wards did not have enough strength for a powerful ending. Moreover, they could have been defeated with a larger score if Joel Fameye had taken advantage of one of their opportunities. But the Ghanaian's shot from the turn was parried by Ilya Pomazun, and his shot after passing along the half-flank lacked accuracy. "Rubin" prevailed and caught up with "Ural" in the table. True, according to additional indicators, the "bumblebees" are still ahead.
Incredible interchange in Voronezh
Unlike Group B, Quartet A did not have a clear leader. Like CSKA and Sochi, after two rounds, Fakel and Orenburg had three points, therefore, a victory in regular time brought one of the teams to the first position. Perhaps that is why the meeting in Voronezh turned out to be so tense and not rich in moments. In the first half, the opponents limited themselves to only one hit on target, and in total they had only five shots on goal for two.
The second game segment turned out to be just as nondescript. Yes, there was plenty of struggle and active pressure from opponents, but there was tension with bright episodes. One can only recall the cruising breakthrough of Ruslan Magal on the left edge, who "wound up" three Orenburg players, as well as a header by Justin Cuero, after which the ball went past the target. By the way, the Ecuadorian could well have distinguished himself with a minus sign, but the referee, together with the video assistants, did not punish him for playing with his hand. Apparently, they thought that she was in a natural position, and there was no accentuated movement.
It seemed that everything was going to a series of 11-meter. For 90 minutes, Fakel and Orenburg made only nine shots on each other's goal, and only two of them were accurate - and both were authored by the hosts. But, as it turned out, the guests saved their own for compensated time for the main time. In the first minute of added time, Leo Goglichidze was allowed to serve almost unhindered into the penalty area, and Vladimir Poluyakhtov was allowed to first win the horse fight, and then shoot at goal. Alexander Belenov rescued his partners, but he could not do anything about finishing off Vladimir Obukhov. The wards of David Deogracia snatched victory and extended the unbeaten streak under the leadership of the Spanish specialist to two meetings. After the resignation of Jiří Jarosík, they have not yet conceded.
A difficult test for Krasnodar
Despite three victories in a row in face-to-face meetings, "Paris NN" could hardly be called a convenient opponent for "Krasnodar". Each time the "bulls" had a very difficult time, the match of the third round of the current RPL season was no exception. Then the wards of Vladimir Ivic prevailed with a minimal difference in the score, and scored only from the penalty spot. The author of the only goal was Eduard Spertsyan, this time he did not have the opportunity to enter the field due to disqualification.
John Cordoba and Mykyta Kryvtsov were not disciplined, but the coach preferred to keep them on the bench. As well as other representatives of the base in the person of Alexander Chernikov and Sergey Volkov. But even in this composition, Krasnodar dominated the field. In the first 45 minutes alone, the visitors had eight shots, with six of them on target. At the same time, the most memorable one was not among them - after a breakthrough on the right flank, Olakunle Olusegun charged exactly into the frame. "Paris NN" responded with only one attempt, but tried to make the most of the chances for counterattacks. Albeit not very successfully.
Despite the solid advantage, Krasnodar could not catch the opponent by surprise, so in the second half Ivic was forced to throw the main forces into battle. By the 62nd minute, Volkov, Chernikov and Cordoba came out, but this did not bring dividends. Ahead of the "bulls" frankly stalled and even risked being in the role of catching up. First, Timur Suleymanov could close Viktor Alexandrov's serve, and then Edgar Sevikyan and Vladislav Karapuzov missed excellent chances. The first header was parried by Stanislav Agkatsev, and the second hit the defender.
But still, the class of Krasnodar affected. Ivic's wards used almost the first clear chance, scored in the end and took three points from Nizhny Novgorod. Olusegun broke through on the left edge and crossed to Córdoba, who sent the ball into the net from a few meters. The Colombian helped the "bulls" to rehabilitate themselves for two defeats at the start of the tournament and return to the fight for a ticket to the playoffs of the RPL Path.
Spartak's killer start in the derby
In the central meeting of the day, Spartak and Dynamo clarified the relationship. And for the red-and-whites, its result was more important than ever. The three-match winless streak made many fans doubt not only the prospects of the ten-time champions of Russia in the fight for RPL gold, but also in the future of Guillermo Abascal at the club. There were even rumors in the media about the Spaniard's desire to provoke his dismissal and leave the capital by winter. The victory over the blue and white could stop these conversations and make them believe in the team again. After all, the triumph in the confrontation with the opponent who has not known defeat since July 25 is worth a lot.
All series end sooner or later. And this time two ended at once, and it became very clear by the 25th minute. By this time, Spartak had hit the Dynamo goal four times and removed all questions about the winner. The hosts literally tore apart the left flank of the enemy's defense, and Alexander Sobolev reigned in the center. Already in the first half of the half, the striker scored a double, and Anton Zinkovsky, who realized a semblance of a hockey shootout, and debutant Srdjan Babic scored one more time. The 194-centimeter defender turned out to be the quickest of all during the corner kick and left Igor Leschuk out of work.
Marcel Lichke quickly got tired of watching the humiliation of his wards. Already in the middle of the half, he removed from the field Alexander Kutitsky, who was forced to play the role of central defender, and Yaroslav Gladyshev, who was absolutely not included in the match, releasing Nicolas Marichal and Nicolas Ngamaleu. And either the substitutions worked, or the hosts slowed down a little, but the guests managed to level the situation a little, and then take the initiative into their own hands. Fyodor Smolov made several spectacular passes, and Daniil Lesovoy shook the post.
In fact, the second half turned into a formality and a bride of newcomers to the guests. Lichka fielded the newly acquired Jorge Carrascal and Luis Chavez, which led to an increase in pressure on the defense of the red and white. And it bore fruit. Ngamalo mockingly dealt with Christopher Martins and soaked the score, but the blue and white were not enough for more. "Spartak" won a major victory and with nine points entrenched on the first line of Quartet D. "Dynamo" remained on the second (4 points), followed by "Krasnodar" (3) and "Paris NN" (2).