Artyom Bandikyan Wins Russian Cup with CSKA

Artyom Bandikyan, a player for Armenia’s U21 national team, has won the Russian Cup for the 2024/25 season as part of CSKA Moscow. In the second leg of the RPL Path final, CSKA defeated Zenit Saint Petersburg in a penalty shootout (4:3) after winning the match 2:0 in regular time, which leveled the aggregate score following a 0:2 loss in the first leg.

The decisive game took place on May 14 at VEB Arena in Moscow. CSKA opened the scoring in the 37th minute through Matvey Kislyak. Just before halftime, Ivan Oblyakov missed a penalty, but in stoppage time, Tamirlan Musaev headed in a goal to make it 2:0 overall.

In the penalty shootout, goalkeeper Vladislav Torop became the hero by saving Zenit’s first shot from Alexander Sobolev. The shootout ended with a miss from Gustavo Mantuan, giving CSKA the victory.

Although Bandikyan was included in the matchday squad, he did not take the field. This is his first major title with CSKA. So far, he has made only two appearances in the Russian Premier League.

CSKA will now play in the Russian Cup Superfinal on June 1 at Luzhniki Stadium, facing the winner of the Spartak vs. Rostov match, which is scheduled for May 15.