The favorite in the match of the 3rd round of the RPL between Pari NN and CSKA seemed to be obvious. Muscovites approached the game with two victories in the asset, having not conceded a single goal since the start of the season. Nizhny Novgorod, on the contrary, kept at the bottom of the table with one of the worst performance indicators. In other words, no one would be surprised if the army team took another three points from the Volga.

And at first, the expected scenario really played out at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium, but the Volga region team managed to turn the game around in the second half. The main hero of the match turned out to be a 22-year-old Dagestan striker, whose double unexpectedly deprived CSKA of victory.

Even Akinfeev could not save the army!

Comfortable advantage of CSKA

Despite the status of outsiders, the Pari NN players started the match against CSKA very confidently. Nizhny Novgorod put serious pressure on the guests during the first 15 minutes and even brought things to a blow several times, but a strong debut was eventually blurred by one ridiculous mistake.

The central defender of the team Kirill Gotsuk made an inaccurate cross pass in the center of the field – and allowed the opponents to intercept the ball. The army team brilliantly took advantage of the very first slip of the opponents, who lifted the defense line high, and ran away to the counterattack. Fedor Chalov opened the scoring in the 15th minute, after returning from Switzerland he had not scored yet in his homeland.

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Within seven minutes, CSKA doubled its advantage by implementing the standard. Another goal was scored by Konstantin Kuchaev, who plunged the ball into the Pari goal after a free kick. Having secured a comfortable score already in the middle of the first half, the army team went on the defensive: by the break, Nizhny overtook Moscow in corners (4: 0), shots (13: 7) and possession percentage (55% vs. 45%), but was inferior in the main – goals scored (0:2).

The unexpected feat of Suleymanov

The course of the game was turned over by 22-year-old Timur Suleymanov. It is curious that even in the first round the player earned the title of anti-hero by substituting the team in the match with Lokomotiv. The hot Dagestan striker earned two yellow cards within three minutes (on the 25th and 28th), leaving Pari in the minority already in the first half. Nizhny then miraculously took away one point from the capital (1:1).

This time, Suleimanov played exactly the opposite role. The coach released the player, who missed the second round of the championship, only in the 58th minute – and after a couple of moments Timur gave Pari hope, scoring with almost his first touch in the match.

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After that, the Nizhny Novgorod people started up – and made a real bulk. Igor Akinfeev did everything to save the team from another goal, and even managed to chastise colleague Nababkin for a failed defense game. In the 83rd minute, the goalkeeper pulled out the most difficult ball after Nikolai Kalinsky’s strike, the pass to which was given just by Suleymanov.

When Timur himself entered the game again, Akinfeev was powerless. Two minutes later, the Dagestani striker scored a brace, responding to Stotsky’s cross from the flank. Suleimanov’s jump took the CSKA defenders by surprise, frozen in amazement. 2:2 – and the Muscovites take away only one point from the Volga. One change did it all!

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