“Zenith” did not notice Malcolm’s departure. They scored “Akhmata” with the help of a touch pass! Video
Anatoly Romanov July 25, 2023, 23:05 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Mario Fernández debuted with the Russian champions.
Zenit is still winning even without Malcolm: two games of the new season, two wins.
Of the last three newcomers from Zenit, two entered the bid for the Russian Cup match: goalkeeper Adamov and ex-soldier Fernandez started the match on the bench. But the Serbian defender Erakovich watched football from the podium. By the way, the “fugitive” Wendel, who eventually returned to St. Petersburg, was also there.
Overall, Zenit’s lineup was six positions different from the one at the weekend in Nizhny Novgorod. The hosts entered the field without Kerzhakov, Douglas, Renan, Barrios, Bakaev and Cassierra. But Sergei Semak now has a very large clip, so the coach of the Russian champions could easily rest at least all eleven base players. His colleague Sergey Tashuev almost repeated the composition of the first round of the RPL – he changed only two. This spoke to Akhmat’s motivation for the cup meeting.
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In the first half, Tashuev’s team really slowed down the champion, even without counterplay. Zenit did not move the ball fast enough, they lacked interactions at speed. But as soon as the rival got tired, blue-white-blue began to create chances. Thus, before the break, they scored eight shots on goal and four on goal. If in Nizhny Novgorod Malcolm was quite successfully replaced by Bakaev, now Mantuan looked solid on the right. After his dribble, Claudinho almost scored, in minute 39 Gustavo himself opened the scoring.
All of Zenit’s attack deserves a round of applause, a very beautiful combination! Sergeev kept the ball very well, Claudinho fired a brilliant pass into Mostovoy’s space and Mantuan decided the episode with a couple of touches. The defenders of “Akhmat” were so confused by the speed of the owners that they began to signal offside, not noticing that the partner was “dangling” to the right.
After the break, “Zenith” by inertia for about 10 minutes pressed. It seemed that Claudinho attracted all the balls both in his half of the field and in the other half of the blue-white-blue. With the departure of Malcolm and the “disappearance” of Wendel, his role as playmaker becomes even more important for the Russian champions. But his teammate Claudinho in midfield and compatriot Du Queiroz continues to look for himself. The signing of this Brazilian initially raised doubts, and for the moment the newcomer does not show that he corresponds to the Zenit base. In the second half, he stopped following the rhythm: this was one of the reasons why Akhmat seized the advantage.
Half an hour before the end, Fernades made his debut at Zenit. Mario actually took the right midfielder position. At least when he attacked blue-white-blue, he flew forward, and in defence, the hosts created a defense of five according to the situation with a short Karavaev at center back. Fernández worked well in the starts. If the naturalized Brazilian was overweight, now he does not feel that a few kilograms are in his way. Another thing is that Mario has not yet played with partners. For example, once he collided with Claudinho in someone else’s penalty area, the movement paths of the starting players intersected.
Thanks to substitutions and tactical changes, Zenit calmed down the game. “Akhmat” had a couple of opportunities, but did not use them. Tashuev was not pleased with Berisha’s actions, and certainly expected more from the new Konate. In the 80th minute, Semak’s team scored the second goal after a counterattack. Cassierra added an assist to two goals in the first round of the RPL and perhaps man of the match Claudinho raced to the right spot and deftly completed the moment.
Zenit won, and in the next round they will play on August 9 with Wings of the Soviets in Samara. Akhmat will host Baltika on August 10.
