Akron and Akhmat played out a 1–1 draw in their Matchday 21 Russian Premier League encounter.

 

Akhmat took the lead in the 27th minute through forward Georgy Melkadze. Early in the second half, however, the Grozny side were reduced to ten men after Ismael Silva received his second yellow card in the 49th minute. The hosts managed to equalize in the 85th minute, with Artem Dzyuba finding the net.

 

Stanislav Cherchesov shared his thoughts after the match at the post-match press conference:

 

— The tactical setup we had been working on for the past three days worked exactly as intended. The players picked up on the nuances of their roles. The game once again showed that Dzyuba is someone you have to pay close attention to on the pitch, and that was one of the reasons we adjusted our system. Overall, I think the approach worked well both defensively and offensively.

 

After the sending-off, we had to make adjustments. One option was to switch to a 4-4-1, but we decided to stick with three centre-backs, three midfielders, and one forward. Of course, we wanted to win, but it finished 1–1 — that’s the reality. I hope the fans enjoyed the game.

 

— Which of the last two draws was more difficult?

 

— Both were tough in their own way. Here, we played with ten men. In both matches, we had to deal with being a man down from an early stage. In Orenburg, we managed to come back to 2–2 after an early red card. We accept the result. A lot of things worked well, but there are still details we need to improve to avoid conceding goals like this.
 

Akron – Akhmat – 1:1 (0:1)

 

March 15, 2026. Kick-off: 14:00

Samara, stadium: Samara Arena. Attendance: 2,582

Weather: +3°C, cloudy

 

Referees: Bulanov, Safyan, Malikov (all Russia)

VAR: Tsyganok, Galimov (both Russia)

 

Akron: Terekhovsky, Bokoev, Nedelcearu, Fernandes, Pestryakov, Khosonov (Kuzmin, 59), Loncar (Arevalo, 69), Djakovac (Bazilevsky, 81), Boldyrev, Benshimol, Dzyuba

Head coach: Zaurbek Tedeev

 

Akhmat: Ulyanov, Ndong, Abdulkadyrov, Tsakaev, Ismael, Pryakhin (Zhemaletdinov, 90), Bogosavac, Khlusevich, Kasingura, Samorodov (Keliano, 54), Melkadze (Konate, 89)

Head coach: Stanislav Cherchesov

 

Goals: Melkadze, 27 (0:1); Dzyuba, 85 (1:1)

 

Bookings: Loncar (36) – Melkadze (5), Ismael (15), Keliano (80)

 

Sending-off: Ismael, 49 (second yellow card)