The second stage semifinal match of the Fonbet Russian Cup Regions' Path, which was held at VTB Arena, ended in a 2:0 win in favor of the visitors.
After the exhausting match against Zenit, Marcel Licka made two changes in the starting line-up. Daniil Fomin and Konstantin Tyukavin got the opportunity to rest a little, while their places on the pitch were taken by Bitello and Fedor Smolov, respectively.
The visitors started the game actively and organized several promising attacks. In the 8th minute, Dynamo responded with their fast counterattack, in which Nicolas Ngamaleu beat Srdjan Babic and earned a corner. The leader of the red and white defense needed an urgent substitution after that. While it was preparing, Spartak opened the score. Mikhail Ignatov crossed into the penalty box, where Aleksandr Sobolev headed the ball into the net.
Immediately, Dynamo players moved the game to the opposite half of the pitch, but there was not enough threat in the final third. Ngamaleu demonstrated great dribbling, Luis Chavez shot from afar – his first strike was denied by Aleksandr Selikhov, and his next shot from a free kick hit the defensive wall. Jorge Carrascal aimed at the far corner from 20 meters – the ball flew very close to the post.
Gradually, the White-Blues began to find more and more free zones in the proximity of Spartak goal. Selikhov got ahead of Ngamaleu, and then he intercepted Chavez' dangerous low cross by his foot. By the end of the half Spartak scored again in a rare counterattack: Sobolev nodded the ball into the penalty area to Ignatov, and the latter rolled it into the corner. At first, the referee flagged for offside, but the VAR assistants changed his decision, awarding a goal.
In the 9 minutes added to the first half, Dynamo pushed the visitors to their goal and created the best chance of this derby. Fabian Balbuena sent Smolov one-on-one with Selikhov with a long ball. However, the Spartak goalkeeper managed to timely get out of the goal and denied the shot at point-blank range.
Konstantin Tyukavin came on the pitch instead of Bitello at halftime. Dynamo switched to three centre-backs and two forwards, further increasing the pressure in attack. But, long interplay at the Spartak penalty area ended by crosses most often, which were cleared by defenders. Dynamo were able to create a dangerous chance after the set piece, when Balbuena headed the ball near the post.
Skopintsev fired from distance, earning another corner, after which Diego Laxalt struck powerfully into Selikhov's hands. Denis Makarov and Vyacheslav Grulev were fielded to refresh the attacking group in the last 15 minutes of the match. Unfortunately, the pressure on Spartak goal did not bring success.
Dynamo finished their performance in the Cup. In the next RPL match, our team will face Sochi on Sunday, May 5. Buy tickets to VTB Arena on our website.
