Akmat Grozny edged past Fakel Voronezh 2:1 in the Cup Group Stage on Tuesday. The hosts opened the scoring early and managed to see out the game despite a late scare. Their encounter on 10 August told a different story, as the two sides played out a goalless stalemate. Here, moments decided the result, not sustained pressure.
G. Melkadze struck in the first minute, catching Fakel flat-footed before they could settle. It set the tone for an afternoon where Akmat looked sharper in the final third. E. Cacintura added a second at 31 minutes, stretching the back line with a composed finish. To be fair, Fakel never quite found their rhythm, struggling to string passes together against a well-organised defence.
The visitors pulled one back in the dying embers. At 90+5 minutes, Fakel found the net, though the scorer remained unrecorded. Both sides threw everything at each other in a frantic finish. Akmat held firm to take the points.
There was a significant turnover of personnel around the interval. Akmat brought on M. Uridia, K. Simonov and K. Shchetinin at 46 minutes, reshuffling the attack. The visitors responded at 61 minutes with G. Kenzhebek and M. Keliano. Fakel watched the game slip away, and the substitutions became attempts to change the narrative. More changes followed, with Melkadze and Kovalev coming off in the seventieth minute, while Netfullin entered for Fakel in the seventy-seventh. Cacintura made way at 79 minutes.
The numbers back up the visual impression of dominance. Akmat enjoyed 54 per cent possession and recorded six shots on target, while Fakel managed four. The hosts won eleven corners to seven, pinning the visitors back. A. Kovalev received a yellow card for Fakel in the twenty-third minute, a caution that reflected the growing frustration. They also registered three blocked shots compared to the visitors' single effort.
This result offers a reprieve for Akmat after a tough run of fixtures. They lost 1:0 to Krasnodar on 15 August and drew 1:1 with Lokomotiv Moscow earlier in the month. Fakel also suffered a setback, losing 1:0 to CSKA Moscow on the same day. The victory moves them forward in the group, where every point matters.