Athletistic/Football. The second runner-up of the Russian Cup has been determined. In the duel between Zenit and CSKA, the blue-white-blue were stronger.
The meeting started as planned. Just like the previous two. No one was flying forward, no one was trying to take the initiative – and it felt like they were winning in principle. Yes, Zenit traditionally had more possession of the ball, but micro-chances only appeared after set pieces. Pedro and Arthur on the flanks made no difference. By the 25th minute, Zenit’s possession was close to 70%. And around the same time, CSKA created the first cool moment. After Arthur’s mistake, they went on the attack, Oblyakov passed to Zabolotny, but he simply missed the target from an advantageous position. Even if their angle was close.
Zenit’s barren and boring possession hasn’t just put the fans to sleep. And the most important moment of the half was Torop’s injury. After a brutal collision with Alip, the CSKA goalkeeper suffered a serious concussion. He couldn’t even stand, but contrary to expectations, it was not Akinfeev who came out. Vladimir Shaikhutdinov made his debut in goal for CSKA. And he missed a goal at the start of the second half. Pedro crossed from the left, Erokhin won the top and hit the post, and Izidor sent the ball into the net after finishing. But the Frenchman had no time to rejoice, he himself noticed that he was offside by one meter. The referee also saw this and immediately raised the flag. And then the “swamp” began. Specifically, this continued by increasing the viscosity. Zenit’s territorial advantage only led to conflicts and unrest. Due to injuries, Moises and Gayich left the field, replacing Rivandi who made his debut for CSKA. 50,000 spectators witnessed a most boring spectacle with an abundance of errors and inaccurate crosses.
Terribly slow pace of the match, complete lack of will from Zenit in attack. CSKA simply sat in front of their goal and waited for the penalty shootout, which they calmly endured. Even the emotions were not flamboyant, a terrible melancholy reigned on the field, and there were only two shots on target. Victor Davila opened the penalty shootout with a precise shot right in the center of the goal. Cassierra, Oblyakov and Izidor completed their attempts with equal confidence. But Anton Zabolotny didn’t fool Adamov with a weak shot to the center; Denis reacted calmly. Mostovoy, Diveev and Tamerlan Musaev made no mistakes and the decisive blow of the series fell to Claudinho. The Brazilian converts his attempt and brings victory to Zenit. The hosts win the penalty shootout and advance to the Russian Cup superfinal.
After the defeat, CSKA coach Vladimir Fedotov noted that his team lacked freshness.
“A tense cup match in a good atmosphere in a good stadium. I think we lacked a bit of freshness, but our players were patient, waited, we pricked the opponent at the very end and had an incredible opportunity to score. make a logical point.
We also didn’t let anything create in front of our goal, despite the strengthening of the opposing team and their pressure. We fought back, but we lacked the finishing touch to get to the big moments. I repeat, this last minute episode should have decided the outcome of the match in our favor, but unfortunately this did not happen,” Fedotov said after the match.
Zenit coach Sergei Semak said that the match turned out to be very interesting and combative.
“The match turned out to be a battle match, a real cup match, as we have already learned from our matches with the army team. We tried to attack, to create. The opponent defended with a low block, waiting for counterattack opportunities. in order to use standard positions. Today we released an experimental composition to make the second floor look a little better. In the previous match they served a lot, there were a lot of set pieces, but today in terms of desire and dedication. , the guys played a very good and high quality match, it is clear that the composition was experimental, they gave the opportunity to play less, I am happy with the team’s performance, well done, even if the penalty is partly a lottery, in which we were stronger today. Thanks to the army team for today’s match, they tried to attack the guys until the last minutes, score and please them with a goal, “semak noted during the press conference.
Zenit is in the Super Final, where they will face Baltika. But based on this match, the team does not appear to be an absolute favorite.
Source: Sport
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
