The return match of the semi-final of the RPL Path of the Russian Cup, held at VTB Arena, ended with a score of 0:0.
For the most important cup match, Marcel Licka left the defensive line that played in Nizhny Novgorod, and the already familiar combinations came out in the center and attack: Chavez - Glebov - Fomin and Bitello - Carrascal - Gladyshev.
From the first minutes, the Dynamo players, driven by the packed stadium, rushed forward. A great combination, played on the right flank, ended with a blocked shot by Carrascal, and after a corner, Chavez hit it from 20 meters with his favorite left - only the goalpost saved Igor Akinfeev's goal. Soon Bitello shot from the penalty area with a turn - the ball went past the right post.
The first third of the half ended with a great cross from Chavez into the penalty area, where Gladyshev literally lacked centimeters to hit the army team's goal. Our footballers brought their attacks to shots with enviable regularity, but the ball stubbornly did not go into the goal. Gradually, the CSKA footballers managed to stop Dynamo's starting impulse, and for the first time they crossed the center line in large numbers only in the 22nd minute!
After a short period of equal play, the Dynamo players created a dangerous moment - Carrascal intercepted the ball on the opponent's half of the field, moved forward and fired a powerful shot from outside the penalty area - Akinfeev blocked it in front of him, and the defender got ahead of Gladyshev on the rebound for a moment. A few minutes later, the situation repeated itself almost exactly the same, only this time Bitello almost made it to the finish.
For the third time, Akinfeev saved his team after Fomin cleverly headed the ball after a cross from Chavez. As a result, the excellent first half by the white-blues did not bring any goals, and the army team did not make a single shot at Andrei Lunev's goal.
The second half began with a double substitution in the center of the field for the visitors and two good moments involving Gladyshev. First, Yaroslav won the fight with Willian Rocha and dangerously crossed along the goal - Akinfeev caught the ball, and then our forward missed Juan Caceres' penetrating pass. The army team responded with the first strike, when Saul Guarirapa hit Lunev's hand from an acute angle.
However, this was a one-time action, after which the Dynamo players continued to storm the guests' defensive lines. However, with the accumulating fatigue, it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Carrascal continued to bombard Akinfeev's goal - again, the red-blue goalkeeper saved his team in a jump. The captain of the army team did not fail after Dasa's powerful shot from afar.
The first substitution for the white-blues occurred only in the 78th minute, when Bitello was replaced by Nicolas Ngamaleu. Later, Diego Laxalt and Viktor Okishor joined him. Unfortunately, the final assault, which included Lunev's trip to the guests' penalty area, was not crowned with success.
Based on the sum of the two matches, the army team reached the final of the RPL Path, and the Dynamo players will now play in the second stage of the semi-finals of the Path of Regions with Spartak away. In the next match on April 20, they will host Rubin as part of the RPL. Buy tickets to VTB Arena on our website.
