“Beautifully drawn.” Did the judges help CSKA in the Russian Cup final?

The one who scores more wins. And in order to score, you need to create scoring chances. According to this indicator, CSKA was objectively better than Krasnodar today.

Interestingly, Vladimir Fedotov played it safe. Instead of the usual game of two forwards, he decided to seal the middle of the field by sacrificing Zabolotny. Apparently, the fact that in the penultimate round of the championship, where there was a kind of rehearsal for the final, worked, Krasnodar looked very good. Also, the CSKA coach released Kuchaev into the support zone, and not Mendes. The Russian eventually earned a penalty, thanks to which the army team opened the scoring. But in general, he did not cope with his tasks, so he left the field already during the break.

Having conceded, Krasnodar took the initiative into their own hands, and CSKA sat down quite deep. It is not surprising that soon the army team conceded – and after pressing the opponent. It was possible to change the game only after Fedotov returned to a more familiar model, having paired Zabolotny with Chalov. CSKA has simplified the game and began to regularly create dangerous chances after long throws on the forwards. In many ways, this worked because Krasnodar had an extremely inexperienced defense: young Harutyunyan and Alonso, who did not play very well at the top. Agkatsev, who replaced Safonov in the goal, generally played normally, but once he almost brought …

It cannot be said that Krasnodar survived. The team did not give up their football and looked very decent. And the penalty shootout is a game of nerves, where even experienced penalty takers don’t always score. As in any final, there was a luck factor here. Repulse Agkatsev’s penalty, which he almost reached for, and the series would almost certainly have remained with the Bulls. Well, Akinfeev once again confirmed his level.

Of course, Krasnodar should be offended: the second final in the history of the club – and the second defeat on penalties. In addition, I have no doubt that Vladimir Ivic and the club in general will have complaints against the judges. There really is no one hundred percent certainty in a penalty kick on Kuchaev. Sometimes in such situations, players try to stand on their feet and continue the attack. Kuchaev, feeling the minimal contact, decided to fall, and painted this fall very beautifully. Although Bezborodov had formal grounds for appointing a penalty kick.

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CSKA can definitely bring this season to its asset. It will be very interesting to see them against Zenit in the Super Bowl. I think there will definitely not be such a big score as last year with Spartak.