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USSR FOOTBALL CUP 1976

The 35th USSR Cup took place in March-September 1976. For the first time, Dynamo Tbilisi became the owner of the Cup, having beaten Yerevan's Ararat in the final.

THE WAY OF ARARAT TO THE FINAL

FINAL MATCH

PROGRESS OF THE FINAL MATCH

Dynamo Tbilisi and Ararat Yerevan met for the first time in the final in the history of the USSR Cups. Prior to that, they met 3 times at various stages of this tournament: in two cases, Dynamo went further, in one - Ararat.

The first scoring opportunity in the match was created by Ararat players at the very beginning, when Khoren Hovhannisyan, who rushed into the penalty area, received an unexpected and accurate pass from the right flank of Nazar Petrosyan. However, after Oganesyan's shot, the ball hit the crossbar and bounced into the field, where it was knocked out by the Dynamo defender. At the 7th minute, Tbilisi organized a return attack, but at the final stage Revaz Chelebadze sent the ball over the goal from the 11-meter mark. By the middle of the first half, the game leveled out: the Yerevan team controlled the ball more, and the Tbilisi team responded with sharp attacks. At the 27th minute, the score was opened in the match. Chelebadze crossed into Yerevan's penalty area while taking a free kick, David Kipiani sent the ball into Ararat's net in a high jump with his head. The rest of the first half was spent in mutual attacks that did not lead to a result.

After the break, the Ararat players controlled the ball, trying to organize attacks, but they failed to enter the opponent's penalty area and had to rely on shots from an average distance. Tbilisi, having strengthened the defense, relied on breakthroughs ahead of Kipiani or Vladimir Gutsaev. One of these breakthroughs brought its result when the rules were violated on Gutsaev in the opponent's penalty area. The referee pointed to the point, and Piruz Kanteladze converted a penalty in the 64th minute, increasing the gap in the score (2:0). After 4 minutes, Chelebadze, taking advantage of the mistake of the Ararat defender, hit the bottom with a devastating score, which did not change until the final whistle. Dinamo Tbilisi for the first time in its history won the USSR Football Cup.

SEMI-FINALIST TEAMS

Ararat: 

Hovsepyan (Abramyan, 68'), Gevorgyan, Sarkisyan, Mirzoyan, Mesropyan, S. Petrosyan Booked, Minasyan, Hovhannisyan, Keropyan, N. Petrosyan, Khalayjyan, Azaryan, Sahakyan
Head coach: Eduard Markarov

 

Dynamo: Gogia, Khizanishvili, Kanteladze, Khinchagashvili, Ebralidze, Chivadze, M. Machaidze (c), Chelebadze, Gutsaev, Kipiani (Tsereteli 75'), Kopaleishvili
Head coach: Nodar Akhalkatsi

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