Misimovic Penalty Knocks Zenit out of Russian Cup

Zvjezdan Misimovic’s penalty strike put Dynamo Moscow in the Russian Cup semifinal at the expense of Zenit with a surprise 1-0 away win. Rubin Kazan recorded their biggest win since 2009 by thrashing Lokomotiv Moscow 4-0 in Wednesday’s other quarterfinal. League leaders Zenit thrashed Dynamo 5-1 on Friday, and started brightly, leaving Zenit goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov with little to do in the first half-hour of the match. Alexander Bukharov set up veteran Zenit midfielder Sergey Semak on 41 minutes, but he was unable to score with a placed shot. Dynamo’s German striker Kevin Kuranyi missed an opportunity to give his team the lead in the 51st minute, when he was one-on-one with Zhevnov but saw his shot saved. The breakthrough came on 72 minutes when Zenit captain Alexander Anyukov brought down Kuranyi in the box, and Bosnian international Misimovic converted the penalty. Zenit coach Luciano Spalletti said he was not sure the crucial penalty should have been awarded. “I’ve seen that incident several times, and I have my doubts. I don’t see an intentional breach of the rules there,” he said. “Kuranyi most likely was looking for contact with our player in that case.” Dynamo goalkeeper said the team now wanted to win the cup in order to secure Europa League qualification. “We really want to take part in European competition, and it’s the quickest way there.” Two goals from Turkish midfielder Gokdeniz Karadeniz helped Rubin to beat Lokomotiv in a game moved to the Chechen capital Grozny due to problems with the condition of Rubin’s facilities. Karadeniz opened the scoring in the 30th minute from Alan Kasaev’s pass before Alexander Ryazantsev doubled the lead. Karadeniz added his second 20 minutes from time, before Sergey Davydov added to Lokomotiv’s misery with an 81st minute strike. Lokomotiv coach Jose Couceiro said he was shocked by the loss. “The Lokomotiv I’m used to seeing wasn’t on that pitch today,” he said. “You can’t just give the game to your opponent like that.” In the semifinals, Dynamo will play the winners of Thursday’s match between FC Volga and Terek Grozny, while Rubin face either FC Rostov or minnows Fakel Voronezh, who also play Thursday.