10-man Arsenal hold Akhmat to goalless draw

Arsenal Tula 0-0 Akhmat Grozny
Saturday 2 April, Arsenal Stadium

Man of the Match: Kings Kangwa (Arsenal)
Sent off: Arsenal - Causic 45+6’

Arsenal keeper Anton Kochenkov celebrated his 35th birthday making a start, but he was substituted off with 10 minutes to go until half time. Within two minutes the goal he had vacated was breached. Evgeny Kharin slipped a well-judged Bernard Berisha through-ball past him, but a VAR review correctly ruled out the Akmat player’s effort for offside.

Moments earlier Evgeny Lutsenko - who plundered 15 RPL goals two seasons ago, but has only managed four since then - had a golden chance to put Arsenal in front when he broke the offside trap to race well clear on goal, but his shot squirmed wide.

Deep into first-half added time, the hosts were dealt a blow when Goran Causic was sent off for a lunged challenge. Ten minutes after the break they came within a whisker of falling behind when Mohamed Konate powered a header against the crossbar, but still the hosts held firm.

Their resolve was tested another 10 minutes later when Mikhail Levashov made a stunning double save; first he blocked a fierce Kharin shot from six yards out, before scrambling across goal to tip a Daniil Utkin header wide.

Konate’s snap shot in the last minute was well covered by Levashov as the teams shared the points. 

Arsenal leapfrog Ural and Khimki up into 13th on 21 points, while Akhmat go seventh on 32 points.

Next RPL fixtures: Saturday 9 April - Akhmat vs Zenit; Sunday 10 April - Spartak vs Arsenal