Amazing next to each other: what were the memorable matches of the Russian Cup of soccer

The European Cups are not the only ones: the Russian Cup also produces dramatic confrontations, which are as heated as battles between top clubs. Tuesday and Wednesday's matches were quite interesting. The games in Tyumen, Rostov and Yekaterinburg were especially hot. Read more in Izvestia's article.

"Tyumen" - "Krasnodar"

In recent matches, Krasnodar looked bad - the team lost points against Rubin and Khimki. The game with poor Tyumen, who are in last place in the first league, should have been a walkover. Obviously, the guests from the RPL were the favorites - a lot of goals were expected.

"Krasnodar" started confidently: the first goal was made by Danila Kozlov, and then two more goals were scored by Fedor Smolov (one in each of the halves). With the score at 0:3, the fate of the match seemed to be sealed. But the home team's defender Stanislav Poroykov had other things on his mind: he scored two goals in four minutes to cut the lead to a minimum.

"Tyumen" managed to surprise: in the 87th minute of the match Denis Tkachuk, who came on as a substitute, equalized the score, and the teams went to beat each other on penalties. It's a pity, but the fairy tale didn't happen after all: Krasnodar scored four of the five penalties and advanced to the semifinals of the Way of the Regions.

"Shinnik" - "Akron"

All of Tuesday's goals went to the match in Tyumen. Otherwise, how else can you explain the fact that Shinnik and Akron had only one goal in the match? Midfielder Artem Malakhov upset his team in the first minute of the match.

After a corner kick, the ball bounced treacherously to Malakhov, who, trying to dodge, made things worse and gave Akron a goal. The score remained unchanged in the end.

Toward the end of the game, Shinnik captain Dmitry Samoilov was suspended - perhaps that's why the hosts failed to mount a successful assault on the goal in the final minutes. "Akron advanced to the semifinals of the Path of Regions, where they will face Krasnodar or two other teams we'll talk about below.

CSKA vs. Rubin

The RPL Pathway has a slightly different format: the teams face each other twice. The meeting between Rubin and CSKA in Kazan did not reveal a winner, but after the match in Moscow there were no questions left. CSKA convincingly defeated the visitors: the final score was set in the first half. Kellven, Abbosbek Faizullayev and Tamerlan Musayev each scored once - the latter, by the way, also scored a goal.

Thanks to the defeat of Rubin, the Army Men found themselves in the semifinals of the RPL Way and confirmed their status as the tournament favorites. But it will be much more difficult from here on: the real giants of Russian soccer are left in the competition.

"Ural" - "Khimki".

If you decided to skip this match, we can confidently say that for nothing. The end of the meeting turned out to be unexpected - and this despite the boring score of 1:1 and a series of penalties. The game opened up only towards the end of the second half: first Maxim Voronov put Ural ahead, and just six minutes later Butta Magomedov of Khimki equalized. The match was heading towards a penalty shootout, but at the end of the game there was an unexpected twist: the visitors' goalkeeper Igor Obukhov received a straight red card for playing with his hand outside the penalty box.

Midfielder Khetag Khosonov was sent off to defend Khimki's goal, as the team simply had no substitutes left. Unfortunately, this situation will not get a cult status: the player missed four shots from the spot and failed to realize his own. "Ural" - in the semifinals of the Way of the Regions.

"Sochi" - "Dinamo" (Makhachkala).

According to the results of the past soccer season, the teams simply swapped places: "Sochi" from the RPL went to the first league, and Dinamo Makhachkala followed in the opposite direction. It was interesting to see which team looked better right now.

Sochi recalled their glory days in the RPL - Artur Shushenachev opened the scoring towards the end of the first half. But in the second half Dynamo players remembered that they play in the Premier League - they equalized the score and had a few more great chances: there was a shot on the bar and even an uncounted goal.

The winner was determined in a penalty shootout: both one and the other missed. In the end, Dinamo was more lucky: Egash Kasintura scored the winning goal from the spot and sent his team to the semifinals of the Way of Regions.

"Akhmat" - "Zenit"

There was little interest on the part of spectators in this match, as Zenit, by and large, solved the question of reaching the semifinals of the RPL Way in the first game, having achieved a thumping victory in St. Petersburg.

The trip to Grozny did not bring any problems for the Russian champion: even with a half substituted lineup, Zenit controlled the game and won by two goals.

Before the final whistle, Maxim Samorodov scored one goal, but it was too late. "Zenit" continues to go to the second Cup in a row.

"Rostov" - "Spartak"

The Muscovites came to visit Valeri Karpin's team to get back for the minimal defeat in the home match (1:0). However, they failed to do so. Egor Golenkov opened the scoring on 19 minutes. Viktor Melekhin doubled the home team's lead in the 31st minute. Christopher Martins scored the visitors' only goal on 56 minutes. The Red-Whites had several opportunities to level the score, but Rostov were saved by Tajik goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov. "Rostov" won on the sum of two meetings and reached the semifinals of the "RPL Way" of the Cup of Russia. "Spartak" will play in the second stage of the quarterfinals of the "Way of the regions".

"Lokomotiv" - "Dynamo".

The main match of the week in Russia is the cup derby between Lokomotiv and Dynamo. Lokomotiv has a significant advantage: the team won the first meeting of the 1/4 finals with a score of 2:1, and the return match will be held at the home arena of the railroaders.

The form of the teams is a cause for concern: in recent matches, neither of them show their best side. "Loko scores very few goals, and in the recent derby with Spartak managed to concede five goals.

Dynamo's results are no better: after the international break the players played a draw with Fakel, conceding an offensive goal in the 99th minute of the game. Let's see what the teams will show on Thursday - let's hope they will please the audience.