The situation in the group of “Spartak” and “Zenith” turned out to be as confusing as possible before the start of the final round of the Russian Cup. The Red-Whites were three points ahead of the Wings of the Soviets and St. Petersburg. So Zenit needed a victory in regular time (in the Cup of the country, the teams shoot a penalty in the event of a draw, and the winning side scores two points – approx. Sportbox), given the fact that Samarans with a high degree of probability should have beaten the loser of all matches in the Torch Cup.

And the defeat of Spartak would lead to the fact that all three teams would score the same number of points, and then additional indicators would come into play.

The stakes were very high. Formally, the third place in the group did not knock out the team that took it from the tournament, but it would have to follow the “Path of Regions”, which, of course, is much more difficult and more energy-intensive.

It was Spartak who managed to achieve the desired. The Muscovites held back their rivals in regular time and sensationally squeezed the St. Petersburg team out of the champion’s path. It looks like a new favorite has appeared in the Russian Cup!

Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

The atmosphere is cooler than the World Cup

The head coach of Muscovites Guillermo Abascal traditionally released Alexander Maksimenko at the base. The goalkeeper of the “red-whites” this season specializes mainly in cup meetings. He played in all matches in the group before that, and in the championship he entered the field only a few times, where Spartak booked the first number for Alexander Selikhov. The rest of the composition of the Muscovites was combat.

Sergei Semak acted according to the same plan. The Brazilian goalkeeper Ivan, who is not involved in the Russian championship, was put on the basis. But among the outfield players, the composition was optimal. With the exception of Dejan Lovren, who is currently fighting in Qatar at the World Championships as part of the Croatian national team. In any case, taking into account the absence of European competitions, no one wanted to refuse the Cup of Russia. Fans would simply not understand such resource savings.

The atmosphere at this match was great. The filled stands of the Gazprom Arena created the impression of a World Cup or Champions League game. And to some extent, the picture looked even better than the championship in Qatar, somewhere and then you can see empty seats in the stands.

Sergey Semak / Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

The game was disappointing in the first half.

Unfortunately, in the first half hour the game was not too pleasing with an abundance of scoring chances. And to be honest, they, in fact, were not at all. Spartak pressed Zenit very high and did not allow Spartak to run away to fast attacks. It was clearly the plan of Abascal, who defeated St. Petersburg 3-0 in the previous cup match. Another thing is that the statistics of the games in St. Petersburg were clearly against the Muscovites. The “Red-Whites” have not won even once in the northern capital over the past 10 years. If that’s not motivation, then what is?

And I must say that Spartak really played better than the opponent at the beginning. In one of the episodes, Zobnin kissed the ball well, but he flew above the gate. Abaskal’s players had a number of good approaches to Ivan’s possessions, but they practically could not bring the matter to a blow. At Zenit, everything was sadder.

Perhaps, one can only recall a penetrating pass into Maksimenko’s penalty area in the 30th minute of the first half, but the goalkeeper of the “red-whites” came out of the gate in time and intercepted the ball. A similar situation arose another 10 minutes later, and again Maksimenko figured out an elegant combination of Zenit players. Otherwise, there is simply nothing to remember at the end of the first half. In the parallel match in Samara, there were also zeros on the scoreboard, so the intrigue was simply transferred to the second half, where we wanted to see more active actions from the teams.

Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

“Zenith” turned on, but did not score

If Spartak was completely satisfied with this state of affairs, then Zenith needed to change something. Of course, Sergei Semak understood this very well, who changed Ivan Sergeyev to Mateo Cassierra during the break. St. Petersburg came into the second half more charged and almost immediately could open an account. Malcom moved from the left flank closer to the center and famously struck, but the ball flew near the top corner of Maksimenko’s goal. At the 55th minute, the same Malcolm jumped out to the gates of Spartak, but the goalkeeper of the “red-whites” saved his team. True, later the referee fixed the offside position.

Five minutes later, Wendel had to score after Zobnin’s mistake in his own half of the field. Kuzyaev beautifully gave the Brazilian a heel, but the kick of the Zenit legionnaire pulled out Maksimenko. Spartak sank deep into the defense, and its players managed to get three yellow cards in five minutes. There was a feeling that the “red-whites” were holding on with their last strength, trying to keep the zeros that suit them on the scoreboard.

In the 77th minute, Andrey Mostovoy, who came on as a substitute, had a great chance to put Zenit ahead. He responded to the pitch from the flank and hit his head from a few meters, but the ball flew above the gate. Here it is worth noting the ugly game of Spartak defender Leon Klassen, who simply stopped fighting and watched from the side as Mostovoy calmly flies to a lethal position. Muscovites responded with a good attack, which was completed by Nicholson, who replaced Sobolev. The Jamaican legionnaire “Sparataka” entered the game perfectly and regularly strained the opponent’s defense, which won valuable time for his team.

Everything had to be decided in the last 10 minutes. Moreover, by this moment, the Wings still scored against Fakel and guaranteed themselves a place in the playoffs. The situation for the Petrograders was becoming critical. And Zenit had a moment. Again, Mostovoy was alone in the opponent’s penalty area, but he hesitated with a shot and missed a fantastic opportunity to win this match for his team.

The St. Petersburg team could not do anything before the final whistle and will now go to the Way of Regions, where they will have to ride around the country for the opportunity to play on June 11, 2023 in the final match at Luzhniki. It is not surprising that before the penalty shoot-out, the disappointed players arranged a showdown with their rivals: the referee had to deal with the conflict for almost 10 minutes, in order to then issue as many as 6 red cards! Rodrigao, Sobolev, Nicholson, Malcolm, Barrios and Selikhov left the field.

Open video

When the players came to their senses, it still came to blows from the point. Zenit (4:2) turned out to be stronger in this phase of the confrontation – the St. Petersburg team scored their two points, which, however, could no longer help reach the playoffs on the RPL Path.