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The Russian Cup continues to belong to the Moscow "CSKA" club - in the tournament final held on Saturday at the "Luzhniki" stadium in a duel between the two strongest teams of the previous season, with three goals scored by Alves Jo and one by Vagner Love, they convincingly beat with a 3-0 victory and defended the title of cup winners.
The country's champion and current leader in the championship "CSKA" did not have key players such as Ivica Olic, Milos Krasic, Chidi Odiah, and Rolan Gusev due to injuries and call-ups to the national teams, while the temporary coach of the "Spartak" team, Vladimir Fedotov, had to prepare for the World Cup without the country's team players Martin Jiranek, Radoslav Kovac, and Maksim Kalinic.
Guided by Valery Gazayev, "CSKA", with Lithuanian Deividas Semberas playing the whole match, started the game more aggressively and had the first real opportunity to score, as usual this season, with the team's attacking leader, Brazilian Jo - he took the ball from Martino Stranzlo and passed Spartak goalkeeper Wojciech Kowalewski, but Gabriel Tamas managed to clear the ball from the goal line and save his team from a goal.
Later, Spartak goalkeeper W. Kowalewski got to work and, blocked Dudu's shot, and on the other side of the field, Jegor Titov and Roman Pavlyuchenko failed to take advantage of good opportunities. Just a few minutes before the end of the half, "CSKA" finally broke through when Jo's shot ricocheted off the ball after a penalty kick and flew into the goal.
After the break, "Spartak", who had not won against "CSKA" for five years, tried to equalize the result and both J. Titov and Nikita Bazhenov came close to scoring, while the "army team" dangerously counterattacked and in one swift move, Vagner Love's attempt to beat the goalkeeper ended unsuccessfully - the ball flew wide.
However, at the end of the match, "Spartak" faltered. First, defender Mozart received a red card for rough play against his compatriot from Brazil Dudu, and as the game ended, "CSKA" secured the victory with a solo raid and a precise shot from V. Love, while in extra time, in another Brazilian combination, Dudu passed the ball to Jo and he scored the third goal.
"CSKA" celebrated the victory and defended the trophy won last year in the final against the lower league "Khimki". In the club's history, the "army team" won trophies for the 8th time and surpassed the two Moscow clubs "Dynamo" and "Torpedo" by this indicator, who have won the cup seven times each. Over the 70-year history of the tournament, Spartak has won the cup the most times, triumphing 13 times.
