Clicks on the nose: how Akron knocked Lokomotiv out of the Russian Cup in a penalty shootout, and Spartak tied with Ural

Pinyaev's miss at the end and the scandal around Barinov

Departure from the “RPL Way” of the Russian Cup to some extent benefited Lokomotiv, because it got rivals in the next stage, which did not gain an excellent move, Ural, but Akron, which turned out to be the only representative of the First League that reached this stage.

Of course, the arrival of the three-time champion of the country caused a stir in the small Zhigulevsk.

According to media reports, all three thousand tickets to the Crystal Stadium were sold out in a couple of hours.

After a difficult victory over Akhmat in the national championship, Mikhail Galaktionov predictably seriously updated the squad.

Even Artyom Dziuba was not included in the application, and Ilya Lantratov, Maxim Nenakhov, Stanislav Magkeev and Francois Camano remained on the bench.

But the squad still came out as combative as possible, for example, Anton Miranchuk and Dmitry Barinov returned to the start.

Despite this, the game began with a "cold shower" for the guests.

Already in the 14th minute, the opponent took the lead.

Big questions in this episode arose for all the defenders of Muscovites.

Nair Tiknizyan calmly allowed Konstantin Savichev to make a raid on the right flank and complete the serve, while Ivan Kuzmichev and Herman Conti did not keep track of Sergei Makarov in the penalty area, who accurately hit his head from the near corner of the goalkeeper.

It is noteworthy that Daniil Khudyakov was upset by a pupil of the railway workers, who did not really get a chance in his native club.

Even having missed, Galaktionov's wards failed to get rid of some impressiveness.

In attack, they mainly relied on the raids of Sergey Pinyaev and Maxim Glushenkov, since in the central zone the opponents, who acted according to the scheme with three central defenders, left no free space.

Quite infrequently, Ivan Ignatiev also received the ball in front, although he nevertheless recorded a couple of harmless shots on target.

Feeling the confusion of the favorite, Akron began to act more boldly.

The team did not go astray and take out to the other half, but tried to play the ball from the bottom.

Also, the team of Yevgeny Kaleshin regularly tried to go forward on the right edge, taking advantage of the fact that Pinyaev did not always improve in defense, and Artyom Karpukas did not have time to insure him.

And if Togliatti had hit a little more accurately, they could well have increased the difference in the score even before the break.

Not surprisingly, the dissatisfied Galaktionov made a double castling.

The places of Miranchuk and Glushenkov were taken by Rifat Zhemaletdinov and Francois Camano, who recovered from a serious injury.

And a little later, after an hour of the meeting, the mentor threw young Mikhail Shchetinin and Vadim Rakov into battle.

In the end, the replacements paid off.

The advantage of the red-greens became more and more tangible, and the tired rivals pressed closer to their own gates.

However, Sergei Volkov acted above all praise for the time being.

What is worth at least a save after going one on one with Kamano.

Also in this situation, Jamaldin Khodzhaniyazov played great, clearing the ball from the line.

Still, Akron did not have quite a bit to win in regular time.

Even if the favorite didn't manage to score from the game, he realized the chance at the set-piece.

After filing from the right flank and a successful rebound from his partner, Kamano, laying down his body, sent the projectile exactly into the near corner.

Volkov, who was closed by a defender, this time failed to rescue his partners.

In the time remaining before the final whistle, both teams could put an end to it.

For example, Pinyaev miraculously missed the empty near corner after Kamano's cross from the right flank.

A little earlier, a stunning double save was made by Khudyakov.

First, he parried Ruslan Apekov's shot into the far corner, and then managed to finish off Pavel Shakuro.

With a repeated blow, the football player sent the ball into the sky.

But in the penalty shootout, luck smiled at the team from the First League.

At Loko, Zhemaletdinov did not convert his first attempt - Volkov dragged his shot into the corner to his left.

Then, in a similar manner, he almost took Pinyaev's blow.

As part of the hosts, only Apekov could not cope with the nerves, who was unable to beat Khudyakov.

However, in the series, before the first mistake, it was made by the railroad workers.

Kuzmichev bottom missed the target and gave cause for rejoicing to the fans of the hosts.

Akron sensationally advanced to the semifinals of the Path of Regions of the Russian Cup, knocking out the second team from the elite division.

However, it is possible that the Muscovites' players were not so upset about the relegation, because even during the first half, information appeared in the media that they could be counted for a forfeit defeat.

Barinov received two yellow cards in matches with Spartak and, according to the regulations, had to serve a suspension.

Warnings burn out only before the quarter-finals of the "Roads of the RPL" and "Paths of the Regions", as well as before the decisive confrontation of the tournament.

The capital club did not comment on the incident, and Akron is not going to file a protest.

Successful replacement of Goncharenko and incredible rescues of Pomazun and Maksimenko

A much more serious opponent went to Spartak, who had to fight with the Urals.

Firstly, Yekaterinburg under the leadership of Viktor Goncharenko turned from an outsider into one of the most inconvenient RPL teams.

Since the end of September, they have been on a 15-match unbeaten streak in all competitions, with 11 victories in this stretch.

Secondly, at the beginning of March, they almost got the better of the Muscovites on the road in the championship - 2:2.

Then Ruslan Litvinov's goal in the end saved the hosts from defeat.

At the same time, if the “bumblebees” beat “Torpedo” in the last round without any extra effort, then the red-whites hardly put the squeeze on “Torch”.

Compared to this meeting, the headquarters made several substitutions.

For example, Tomasz Tavares is on the right side of the defense, Pavel Melyoshin is on the tip, and Alexander Maksimenko is on the last line.

The game itself between the teams turned out to be much less bright and eventful than the previous one, which can be explained by its cup character.

Wrestling and martial arts came to the fore.

The advantage was expectedly owned by the hosts.

Starting from the 15th minute, they locked the opponent in his half.

It is not surprising that it was during this period that the goal of Quincy Promes fell.

Tavares performed an excellent serve from the right corner of the penalty area, and an uncovered partner shot the target.

The Portuguese scored the first point for performance in Spartak, and the Dutchman scored the 102nd goal and caught up with Yuri Gavrilov in the top scorer race in the history of the club.

Only Yegor Titov (105), Fyodor Cherenkov (114), Galimzyan Khusainov (121), Sergei Rodionov (148) and Nikita Simonyan (159) are ahead of them.

Immediately Muscovites could earn a penalty.

On the replay, it seemed that Silvie Begich hit Pereira with an elbow in the face, and Sergey Karasev even took a break.

But despite Abaskal's displeasure, he did not go to the monitor.

This helped Ural recover.

Soon, Yekaterinburgers leveled the game and even created a couple of chances.

So, Daniel Mishkic, after filing on the right, hit his head with a rebound from the lawn, but Maksimenko rescued his partners.

He also coped with Leo Goglichidze's shot into the near corner from outside the penalty area.

Despite the unsuccessful first half, the guests once again proved to be an uncompromising strong team that is able to show character, and again parted ways with Spartak.

In the second half, they improved their counterplay even better, and this did not take long to affect the result.

"Ural" was obliged to equalize after an hour, but an incredible save was made by Maksimenko.

He miraculously reacted to Alexander Yushin's shot practically from the goalkeeper's line.

Competent substitutions for Goncharenko again helped to put the squeeze on the opponent.

He refreshed the line of attack by throwing Yuri Zheleznov and Eric Bikfalvi into battle, and after only three minutes it paid off.

Having practically no practice this season, the Russian put pressure on the opponent in the opponent's half, made a tackle and beautifully rolled the ball into a corner from a long distance.

Maksimenko could have saved the red-and-whites if not for the rebound from Ruslan Litvinov's leg.

However, in the end, the hosts were closer to victory.

Promes missed two amazing chances.

First, after throwing Anton Zinkovsky from several meters, he missed the target, and then Ilya Pomazun incredibly pulled the ball out from under the crossbar after his header.

Thus, the opponents again parted in peace and will decide who will go to the finals of the RPL Path in the return confrontation in early April.