CSKA played a draw on the road with Rubin in the first match of the 1/4 finals of the RPL Path of the Russian Cup. Although Marko Nikolic fielded the main team, the Muscovites, as in the last two rounds of the RPL, again looked unclear in attack and made only two shots on target. The Kazan team could well have snatched victory, but Mirlind Daku’s shot from the penalty spot was saved by Vladislav Torop in the end. In turn, Zenit defeated Akhmat at home and almost eliminated the question of the winner in the confrontation. Before the break, Claudinho scored at the Gazprom Arena, and after that, Mateo Cassierra and Alexander Sobolev scored.
Torop’s saves and Diveev’s mistakes
The match with Rubin was an excellent opportunity for CSKA to take revenge for the defeat in the capital’s derby from Spartak in the 14th round of the RPL. In addition, in the Russian Cup the army team has virtually no losses. At the group stage, they won five victories with one defeat from Krasnodar, and in the last four meetings they did not concede. Kazan, on the contrary, barely made it to the playoffs of the Path of Regions, taking second place in the quartet.
As a result, the Muscovites, although they carried out a small rotation, threw almost all their strongest into battle. Of the reservists, only Sekou Koita and Vladislav Torop got a chance.
However, the guests, despite the appearance of all the leaders, did not seem to have recovered from the painful misfire in the derby. The hosts, on the contrary, did not even have the optimal composition to seize the initiative. In the opening, they unexpectedly suppressed their opponents with high pressure and did not allow them to launch attacks.
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Subsequently, Rashid Rakhimov’s players organized counterattacks at every opportunity, breaking into free zones in the opponent’s half and trying to weave combinations. Marvin Chuney was especially active on the left. In one of the episodes, the Albanian moved from the flank to the center and shot into the hands of Torop. In another, he crossed to Valentin Vada on an empty goal, but Danil Krugovoy beat him at the last moment. A little earlier, the Argentine scored with a strong shot from outside the penalty area, which the goalkeeper also coped with.
The red-blues didn’t succeed. Only Koita attracted attention, actively dragging the ball forward while dribbling. It was he who was the author of the red and blue’s only shot on target before the break, when Evgeniy Staver calmly dealt with the threat, despite the rebound.
The second half turned out to be much more eventful. Marko Nikolic, of course, was not happy with what was happening on the field and he threw Miralem Pjanic into the fight. With the appearance of the Bosnian, the army team took control of the ball and began to act more actively. A couple of precise throws from deep by the ex-Juventus and Barcelona midfielder turned out to be masterpieces. However, even his appearance did not solve the problems with penetration into the final third. It is not surprising that the most dangerous moment for the team was Kelven’s long-range shot under the crossbar, which Staver calmly dealt with.
The hosts’ counterattacks looked much more dangerous, and they should have gained the upper hand. The statistics on shots on target are also very eloquent – 5:2 in favor of the Kazan team. Moreover, the main anti-hero in the red-blue squad almost turned out to be Igor Diveev. First, having received a pass from Pjanic, he miscalculated and kicked the ball straight into the pressing Chuni. As a result, the legionnaire ran to rendezvous with Torop and accurately shot with a rebound off the post. However, after studying the replay, the referees canceled the goal because the ball from the forward’s foot hit his hand.
In the end, Rakhimov’s squad received another great chance. This time Diveev did not notice Ilya Rozhkov jumping out from behind him in his own penalty area and simply cut him down. Mirlind Daku took the penalty, as if he had come on as a substitute shortly before. The Albanian regularly takes penalty kicks in the RPL, but this time he shot poorly – low, weakly and at a convenient height for the goalkeeper.
Torop parried the debut penalty in his career at the club level and established himself as the main character of the meeting. In addition to this episode, he made several more saves and helped CSKA take an important draw from Kazan. Along the way, Vladislav kept his possessions intact in the fifth Cup match in a row. But the army team themselves cannot score in the third match in all tournaments.
Claudinho’s kick and Cassierra’s heel
The favorite in the confrontation between Zenit and Akhmat was even more obvious. In the national championship, St. Petersburg residents are fighting for the next championship, while Grozny residents are fighting for survival. In this regard, the meeting with Sergei Semak’s squad within the RPL, which will take place this coming weekend, is much more important for them. Thus, the teams will cross paths three times in 22 days.
On the other hand, even at the risk of being relegated from the elite, Sergei Tashuev’s team fought on equal terms in the group stage of the National Cup with CSKA and Krasnodar and eventually got ahead of the “bulls” in the table, sending them to the Path of the Regions. They were burning with the desire to upset the grandee even now.
However, the hosts demonstrated from the first minutes that the difference in class was too great. Already in the debut, Claudinho had an excellent opportunity to open the scoring, but after his direct shot from a set piece, the ball hit the post and jumped into the field.
But in the 20th minute the Brazilian made amends by opening the scoring. Moreover, last season’s top scorer Mateo Cassierra acted as an assistant. With a neat pass, he found Claudinho in the penalty area. Tom was allowed to calmly handle the ball and accurately shoot into the near corner.
Subsequently, the blue-white-blues had an overwhelming advantage, although many leaders were given rest. They easily opened up the visitors’ defense through small passes and created approaches. If it were not for Mikhail Oparin, the intrigue could have died much earlier. What is worth mentioning is the episode when Pedro jumped out almost one on one with him, but the goalkeeper closed the distance in a timely manner. And a little later, Lukas Lovat helped his partner, taking a shot out of the empty goal after Alexander Erokhin’s shot.
At the very beginning of the second half, Cassierra distinguished himself on his own. Moreover, both the point from the forward and the whole combination turned out to be spectacular. Claudinho and Erokhin hit the wall a couple of times in the opponent’s penalty area, and then the Russian fired a cross into the goalkeeper’s area. And the Colombian heeled the ball into the net.
Substitute Alexander Sobolev put an end to the match. After Luciano Gond’s cross he had to miss the empty target. The referees checked the episode for offside and pointed to the center. Thus, the Russian scored the second goal for the reigning champions.
Source: russian.rt.com
