Lichka released a young goalkeeper in the heart of Dynamo. But another rookie took the penalty shootout
Anatoly Romanov July 25, 2023, 21:10 Moscow time
Muscovites lost to Pari NN in a penalty shootout. But there are fewer questions about the game for the guests.
The first match in perhaps the most interesting group of the Russian Cup, with Spartak, Krasnodar, Dynamo and Pari NN, ended in a draw. The winner of the meeting between the teams of Marcel Lichka and Sergei Juran was determined in a penalty shootout. Nizhny Novgorod received two points, Muscovites – one.
Dynamo played in Nizhny Novgorod, in fact, the second lineup: of those who were at the base in the initial round of the RPL, only Roberto Fernandez came out of the first minutes. Pari NN, by contrast, fielded almost all of the strongest. 8 of the 11 people who started the meeting with Zenit were at the start. Juran, like Lichka, gave the reserve goalkeeper the opportunity to show himself: the newcomer Botnari took the place at the gates of the hosts, and Kuptsov took the place of the guests (while Shunin and Leshchuk were absent on the application).
In this experimental squad, some Dynamo players occupied positions that were not entirely familiar to them. For example, Laksalt played the role of a defensive midfielder, Parshivlyuk – the left back. On the right, the young Bessmertny acted in defense, for whom it was his debut in an official match with the first team. Obviously, a lack of teamwork is one of the reasons the Dynamo made staggering mistakes under pressure. In particular, Kutitsky, Gagnidze, Marichal and goalkeeper Kuptsov gave balls to the opponent at his gates.
Everything you need to know about the Russian Cup:
14 amateur clubs will participate in the Russian Cup. How the tournament format changed again
Kutitsky’s mistake only led to a quick goal against Dynamo. “Pari NN” arranged a counterattack, in which the blue-and-white ward Zhivoglyadov handed the ball over to Sevikyan. The striker scored with a well-executed low shot. Overall, Sevikyan was perhaps the most prominent figure in the first half, creating chances through individual actions. I remember another episode where Edgar hit his head freely from several yards, but sent the ball wide of the goal in a situation where it was easier to score than miss.
Lichka’s team recovered only a minute after Pari NN’s goal, or even this. It all happened because of the “bringing” of his own player: Stamatov framed Maig with a bad pass. Botnari missed between the legs and Gladyshev requested a spot on base with a ball scored. The “comedy of errors” was continued by Pari’s defender NN Kakkoev before the break. He made a discount in his penalty area for Dynamo Grulev, and the hosts were lucky that the striker’s clash with Botnar did not end in a penalty in a contentious situation.
Three substitutions on Pari NN at half time showed that Juran did not want to overload the players either. For some players, three games in a week is an ordeal even at the beginning of the season, when it seems that there should be better preparation after the pre-season. The debut of the second part was left by Nizhny Novgorod. Sevikyan kept breaking, he beat Parshivlyuk and Fernandez one on one. What a moment it created for Kalinsky – fabulous! If a colleague had hit the target, Kuptsov would hardly have crawled.
This was probably Sevikyan’s best match for Pari NN. All the more unpleasant for Juran that the striker asked for a replacement in the middle of the second half. Lichka, for his part, changed almost the entire attack group at the end of the match hour. Among others, Zakharyan appeared on the field. Yes, Arsen is not yet in Rome, he flew to Nizhny Novgorod. Zakharyan came in actively, worked well on jerks and scattered attacks. In the 73rd minute, the midfielder who caught Lazio’s attention had a great chance, but he hit the post. The Czech coach of the blue and whites reacted emotionally to the ruling.
And Pari NN without Sevikyan became more predictable in attack, while Dynamo with Zakharyan added. Laxalt in the defensive midfielder position probably liked Lichka. As a result, the blue and whites even surpassed Nizhny Novgorod in shots (11:10, on target – 5:3), however, Yuran’s team had a chance to win in the last attack: for Yuldoshev, who struck from a good position, the gates were not wide enough. In the penalty shootout, Botnar dragged in Makarov’s shot, while Parshivlyuk hit the post.
In the second round, Pari NN will play on August 8 in Moscow with Spartak and Dynamo, on August 9 at home with Krasnodar.
