CSKA pound Arsenal in race for second
Six-time former Russian champions CSKA Moscow thrashed Arsenal Tula 6-0 on Sunday as the battle for the second automatic Champions League place intensified.
A hat-trick by forward Fyodor Chalov, a brace by Nigerian striker Ahmed Musa and a goal by midfielder Alexander Golovin set the Red Army side to a resounding victory which lifted them into third.
With the top two earning automatic qualification to the Champions League and only one match to go, CSKA are one point adrift of city rivals Spartak and five behind newly-crowned champions Lokomotiv.
Third-place finishers will go through to the Champions League qualifiers.
“We’ve scored two early goals and that determined the course of the match,” CSKA manager Viktor Gancharenko said.
“In the first half we’ve scored on five occasions but I cannot say that we’ve been in complete control of the play.
“After the break the situation has changed for the better but we managed to score only one more goal.”
CSKA got off to a flying start as Chalov received a pinpoint pass by Vitinho in the area and sent the ball home from the edge of the six-yard box when the match was just 100 seconds old.
In the 11th minute Musa, who is on loan from Leicester City, made it 2-0, 10 minutes before Chalov netted his second of the match.
Golovin scored CSKA’s fourth lobbing the ball into the net after a mazy run into the box from within his own half, while Chalov completed his hat-trick two minutes before the break.
CSKA continued their hammering of the club from Russia’s city of gunsmiths after the restart with Musa chalking up his second in the 49th minute.
In the season’s last match CSKA will take on lowly Anzhi Makhachkala, while Spartak clash with city Dynamo.
In Sunday’s early encounter Amkar Perm recorded a confident 2-0 win at Ural Yekaterinburg to keep alive their chances of avoiding the relegation play-offs.
Skipper Petar Zanev put Amkar into the lead just before half-time.
Ural’s Romanian forward Eric Bicfalvi squandered a clear chance to level in the 78th minute when he failed to convert a spot-kick before Costa Rican substitute forward Brown Forbes added a stoppage-time goal.
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