Khimki stun Ural to reach Russian Cup final

Ural Ekaterinburg 1-3 FC Khimki
Sunday 19 July, Russian Cup semi-final, Ekaterinburg Arena

Goals: Ural - Panyukov (73’); Khimki - Gapon (11’), Troshechkin (35’), Polyarus (37’)

FC Khimki pulled off a major upset to reach their second-ever Russian Cup final by running out comfortable 3-1 winners against Ural Ekaterinburg thanks for goals from Evgeny Gapon, Aleksandr Troshechkin and Artem Polyarus. Andrey Panyukov pulled one back in the second half, but in truth they rarely troubled their well-organised visitors.

The second-tier visitors shocked their hosts just after 10 minutes when Evgeny Gapon stopped to head home a seemingly harmless deep free kick almost completely unmarked. Despite having not played a competitive match for over four months, Khimki continued to look for the far sharper side. 

Ten minutes before half time they struck twice in the space of three minutes as first Troshechkin hooked in a volley from Artem Smirnov’s header back across goal, and then Polyarus put Khimki in complete control with a cool first-time finish across Yaroslav Godzyur.

There was still time for Rafal Augustinyak to rattle the bar before the break with a thumping header.

Finally Ural found a lifeline with less than 20 minutes remaining. Panyukov had come off the bench just moments earlier when he curled a low shot past Ilya Lantratov.

FC Khimki will take on the winner of Zenit St. Petersburg vs Spartak Moscow in the Russian Cup final on Saturday 25 July, while Ural Ekaterinburg will host Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier Liga final matchday on Wednesday 22 July.

Ural Ekaterinburg: Godzyur, Kulakov, Emelyanov, Gerasimov, Kalinin, Augustinyak (Magomadov 82’), Bavin (Panyukov 70’), Kucharczyk (Afremov 61’), Bicfalvi, Egorychev, Pogrebnyak

FC Khimki: Lantratov, Smirnov, Gapon, Danilikin, Tikhiy, Bozhenov, Koryan (Georgievsky 83’), Polyarus (Kukharchuk 90+1’), Martusevich (Evdokimov 83’), Troshechkin (Aliev 90+1), Dyadyun (Barkov 62’)