Long-awaited.

CSKA won Fonbet Cup of Russia! In a difficult final, they led at Krasnodar, conceded the return, it came to a penalty shoot-out – and there the genius of Igor Akinfeev appeared.

He took two hits: first, the fourth, when CSKA had to recoup after a miss by Moises, he dragged Bashi’s shot, and when the series went beyond the five mandatory hits, he hit the ball from Olakunle Olusegun in the lower right corner.

The Nigerian striker can be considered the anti-hero of the match: he brought a penalty in the first half (except that the Kranodar bench argued, the decision looks right), which was converted by Fedor Chalov. He made a decisive mistake.

But it is much more pleasant to consider this victory as the achievement of Igor Akinfeev! He himself had flashbacks from the 2018 World Cup : the same goal, also the most important victorious save.

Another post-match phrase is very important: “I want to congratulate the most active CSKA fans who do not go to matches. This is their victory too, we share this joy with them. We love and appreciate them. Let me tell you a little secret: they came to our base to motivate us. This victory is for them.”

CSKA took the eighth Cup of Russia – after 10 years of pause. Been without trophies since 2018

CSKA is now an eight-time Cup winner, more often in Russia only Lokomotiv took the trophy (nine).

If we count only the 21st century, the army team is the leader. All titles have been won since 2002, while Loko has victories from 1996 and 1997.

CSKA had a huge pause – since 2013. In ten years, in general, they reached the final only once – in 2016, when they lost to Zenit. Now the Russian Cup is the third year in a row for the Moscow team: after Loko and Spartak.

The army team has been without trophies for almost five years – since the Russian Super Cup-2018, where they were not even supposed to play, but took part only because of the disbandment of Tosno, which took the 2018 Cup.

This is the first trophy for coach Vladimir Fedotov, his first season at CSKA is a success. Championship silver and victory in the Russian Cup is a great result.

Igor Akinfeev became the hero of the final and took the 21st trophy in his career. When it came to the penalty shoot-out, one could guess how it would all end: Igor won five out of five in the Russian Cup, including three in the final, and in general lost only one in his career – in the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup.

For Akinfeev, this is the seventh Cup of Russia in his career – he caught up with the record of teammates of the previous generation. Sergey Ignashevich and Elver Rahimich, who have already finished their careers, have the same number of trophies.