The match of the 3rd round of the group stage of the Cup of Russia, held at VTB Arena, ended with a score of 3:0.
As has become tradition, Sandro Schwarz changed almost the entire lineup for the cup match, leaving only Ivan Sergeyev in the lead. However, Konstantin Tyukavin, who missed the derby against Lokomotiv due to injury, was included in the squad, and Daniil Fomin even led the team out onto the field wearing the captain's armband.
Dynamo started the match briskly, spending almost the entire time in the opponent's half. However, Akhmat's dense defensive line, where the two-meter-tall Kalidou Sidibe constantly drifted, managed to guess all the plans of the white-blues. The Grozny team blocked two promising long-range shots from Ulvi Babayev and Fomin, and dealt with several good corner kicks from Luis Chavez, albeit with some difficulty.
The visitors occasionally sparked and launched some good counterattacks. Igor Leshchuk was the first goalkeeper to get involved, securing a hidden shot by Galymzhan Kenzhebek with his second touch. Midway through the half, Egas Kasintura broke into the penalty area and beat Leshchuk, but let the ball go too far, allowing Dmitry Skopintsev to defuse the situation.
Dynamo dominated the rest of the half. First, Chavez played a one-two with Fomin and headed the ball to Skopintsev, who dived and shot wide. In the 43rd minute, Fomin won a duel in the final third and put Sergeyev one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Vanya sent the ball into the corner and scored his 24th goal in the Cup, equaling the record of Oleg Veretennikov and Alexander Sobolev.
After the break, Danil Glebov and Yaroslav Gladyshev came on, needing just over seven minutes to extend the lead. Sergeev made a great play in the center and passed to Timofey Marinkin, who sent Gladyshev through – his first shot was saved by Giorgi Shelia, and his second flew off the crossbar!
Grozny could have quickly gotten back into the game if Kasintura's shot had gone slightly left from a good position, but as it did, it hit the post, after which Leon Seidenzal cleared the ball for a corner. Meanwhile, the introduction of Bitello and Tyukavin refreshed the attack, and these changes also brought results.
In the 79th minute, Gladyshev found Tyukavin in the penalty area, who broke away from the defender and fired a powerful shot straight into the top corner! After the third goal, the game calmed down, and the Muscovites confidently secured their third consecutive victory.
Thus, Dynamo overtook Akhmat in the table and, halfway through the group stage, sits second in Group B. The white-and-blues will host Spartak in their next match on September 6. The last tickets to VTB Arena are still available for purchase on our website.
