The organizer of the third round of the XXV tournament was the RFU. It took place on March 25 in the arena of the Spartak Academy and was dedicated to the memory of referee Nikolai Gavrilovich Latyshev.
1) Dynamo – CSKA – 0:0
2) Dynamo – Torpedo – 1:0 (Romashchenko)
3) Dynamo – Lokomotiv – 1:0 (Gavrilin)
4) Dynamo – Spartak – 0:0
5) Dynamo – RFU – 0:0
1st match. Dynamo's game advantage was visible in both halves. Perhaps only haste and the desire to score faster prevented the players from concentrating before the strike. There were moments, there were no goals.
Alexey Kutsenko: We have not warmed up yet and have not entered the tone of the game day. We put force into goal kicks to the detriment of accuracy.
2nd match. Dynamo maintained a high pace with substitutions during the game and eventually exhausted their rivals. Maxim Romashchenko put his whole soul into the shot, and the ball flew into the upper left corner of the goal – 1:0.
Maxim Romashchenko: The ball lay perfectly on the left foot for a kick, so there's no need to think about it. I guess the goalkeeper didn't expect my shot.
3rd match. The scoring combination was drawn in the first half: after his raid, Alexey Kozlov gave an accurate pass to Igor Gavrilin, and he drove the ball under the crossbar – 1:0.
Igor Gavrilin: The pass to me was amazing, the gate is close. But I still punched the force so that the goalkeeper did not have time to react.
4th match. The most difficult and exciting match. Spartak players were close to success, but Andrei Tveryankin's excellent game and luck when the ball hit the goalpost kept the score dry. Dynamo also had a moment – Romashchenko struck hard from almost zero angle, the goalkeeper fixed the ball right on the goal line.
Mikhail Skokov: Tveryankin is a good fellow. Pulled a dead ball out of the bottom corner. And the bar is the goalkeeper's friend, I know this well from experience.
The 5th match. Only a win against the RFU guaranteed Dynamo the first place. But the rivals defended themselves with all available means, even sacrificing territory. There were a lot of shots on goal, a lot of corners, but there were no goals.
Vladimir Dolbonosov: Today the team played to its usual strength: the goalkeeper helped out, the defense did not fail, the attack brought two victories. Our rivals traditionally set us a difficult task – how to crack their defenses. That's the only reason we don't take the Simonyan Cup often.
The Dynamo team consists of Andrey Tveryankin (goalkeeper), Eric Yakhimovich (captain), Stanislav Dubrovin, Alexander Tochilin, Mikhail Markin, Alexey Kozlov, Maxim Romashchenko, Valery Likhobabenko, Andrey Novgorodov, Igor Gavrilin, Vladimir Skokov.
In reserve: Alexey Kutsenko
Team Leader: Vladimir Dolbonosov
Dynamo veterans supported their native club: Mikhail Skokov, Viktor Losev, Sergey Kozlov, Alexander Rakitsky, Andrey Smetanin, Anatoly Piskunov, Valery Zenkov, Vladimir Kapustin.
The places of the teams and the best players of the March round:
1) Spartak – 12 points (Alexey Kocharygin)
2) Dynamo – 12 (Andrey Tveryankin)
3) "Torpedo" – 10 (Valery Sergeichev)
4) RFU – 10 (Sergey Manykin)
5) Lokomotiv – 9 (Andrey Lebedev)
6) CSKA – 7 (Oleg Puzyrev)
Nikita Simonyan's Cup went to Spartak, who scored 5 goals.
The position of the teams after three rounds
1) Dynamo – 37 (one first place)
2) RFS – 33
3) CSKA – 29 (one first place)
4) Spartak – 29 (one first place)
5) "Locomotive" – 29
6) "Torpedo" – 23
The host of the April tour "Lokomotiv" invites rivals to the Sapsan Arena stadium. The date will be set later.