The red-blues once again failed to win the RPL on their home field.
What do we know about the CSKA team? This capital club is annually considered a priori as a contender, if not for gold, then certainly for a place in the top three of the RPL. The favorite or the Russian top club as it is. But this is not the first season that the army team has been in some kind of permanent suspended animation, where one head coach experiments, achieves nothing special and is replaced by another.
But, if in past years the red-blues were famous for the fact that they have an excellent scouting service that brings interesting football players, then in the 2024/2025 season everything became completely sad. And, there is a feeling that coach Marko Nikolic is a mistake by the team management.
I was a centimeter away from scoring. Dzyuba’s heels were awarded the “Best Player of the Match” prize
Before the match with Rubin, it seemed that CSKA should not have problems with the middle team of the RPL. Although, the army team is now not very far from the guests – the red and blue are in 6th place, Rashid Rakhimov’s team is in 7th. In fact, the game of the 17th round was between direct competitors for a place in the middle of the table. But in hindsight, Muscovites still look like favorites. The quarterfinal cup match, which took place this week, added positive emotions to Muscovites fans.
Photo source: PFC CSKA
Then Nikolic’s chicks calmly dealt with the opponent – 3:0. But this is the Cup, from where there is no relegation as such in case of defeat. That’s why some clubs don’t put up much of a fight, preferring the championship. Rubin’s game this weekend showed that this is so. The guests, led by one of the best goalscorers of the RPL, Mirlind Daku, seemed to have changed places with the army team. They attacked, they carried out maneuvers, besieged the possessions of Igor Akinfeev and generally had both a gaming and territorial advantage.
Tamerlane took Kazan. Army team in the semi-finals of the Russian Cup
The goal that Daku scored towards the end of the first half completely followed the logic of the game. Rubin was better in almost all components. Adding to the sadness of the capital club was the fact that they won only four matches at their home stadium this season. For a contender for high places, to put it mildly, this is a so-so “achievement.” Moreover, the team switched to playing fairly cautious football with any opponent. It’s as if the red-blues don’t have the resources to dominate… at least at home.
Photo source: FC Rubin
Just a couple of months ago, the real star of European football, Miralem Pjanic, moved to the CSKA camp, one of the leaders Saul Guarirapa was taken from Sochi, and the best young player in Asia, Abbos Faizullaev, has been spectacular since last season. It would seem that with such a core, the army team should not notice many of their opponents at all. But they naturally suffer on the field and everyone can see it.
FINAL BET 20,000₽
Moreover, it makes no difference whether the team wins or loses. Their football is always the same. The zest is added only by individuality, and they cannot carry the team throughout the match. Rashid Rakhimov also saw all this, building the Kazan team’s game from the opponent’s weak points. The second ball was also a matter of time. In the 52nd minute, tall central defender Yegor Teslenko did his job efficiently in the CSKA penalty area and made the situation worse for the Muscovites.
Photo source: FC Rubin
What the red-blues really have in their arsenal is to rip matches out of their veins. Give away the entire game, and then die heroically, trying to at least scratch out a draw. They succeeded once again. True, not without the help of the guests – in the 65th minute, for the second yellow, the main referee Vasily Kazartsev kicked Dmitry Kabutov off the field. The difference of one player affected the last minutes. Young Matvey Lukin became the hero of CSKA. Even before Kabutov left, he scored one goal. And in the sixth added minute to the match he saved the team from defeat.
The video is available on the Match Premier telegram channel. The rights to it belong to National Sports Channel LLC.
But, frankly speaking, a fiasco from Rubin would not be something surprising. After another unimpressive match in the RPL, I really want to know the opinion of the leaders of the army club: why was former mentor Vladimir Fedotov worse than Marko Nikolic? The army team’s play became more cautious, and the result dropped noticeably. However, they are in no hurry to fire the Serbian specialist. Perhaps there is some hope…
