Luckless Lokomotiv held by a poor Dynamo

In a very entertaining contest, Lokomotiv were unjustly held by a really poor Dyanmo. Lokomotiv practically dominated the match from first to last and they SHOULD have scored at least another two goals. To add insult to injury the ref waved away two possible penalty claims. Despite "losing" two points, as a Lokomotiv fan I cannot but be very happy with the performance put by they guys. Sychev was inspirational, Bilyaletdinov seemed to return to the Bilya we know AND as I said many times, we have a gem of a player: Gatagov. One word: Amazing! Shuffling the formation once again, Semin opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation. Giulherme regained his place while the returning Rodolfo was the only change from the back four which started last match. Actually he took the injured Sennikov's place. Charles and Glushakov protected the back four while the trio who assisted Sychev up front was made of Gatagov, Bilyaletdinov and Odemwingie.

From the begining, the match looked bright for Lokomotiv. The first chance of the match fell to the feet of Glushakov, whose his well-hit freekick skimmed the crossbar. Within minutes it was Gagatov who tried his luck from 25 metres out but his shot went wide. On the 31st minute, Rodolfo put Sychev clean through, but the latter's effort was neutralized by Gabulov. Sychev didn't looked to be disheartened with his effort but rather it motivated him and from then on he was totally unstoppable. Aftwerwards Odemwingie had a goal ruled out for an offside. Kombarov's half-chance at the end of the first half resulted to be the only Dynamo's chance of note of the first half as the referee blewed for half-time with the score being 0-0.

Apart of the goal, the second half was all Lokomotiv. Sychev, Bilyaletdinov, Gagatov started to create havoc within the area of the blues, while Odemwingie seemed to up his game from the first half. Furthermore Charles passing really impressed me. So did Glushakov work-rate! After Bilyaletdinov, Odemwingie, Charles and Sychev came close to open the score, on the 70th minute, Gagatov put free Bilyaletdinov and our captain fired Lokomotiv infront, sending the crowd into raptures in the process! Lokomotiv haven't played such beautiful football (Semin's football) for ages! However, within 8 minutes the game was level again. Dujmovic lost Kerzhakov, and the latter's shot ended up in the ended, albeit with the help of the upright. With ten minutes left, Lokomotiv upped their tempo and started to look for the winning goal. However neither today luck wasn't on our side. Neverthless Lokomotiv really looked bright and full of ideas today, for sure it augures well for the future!! FORZA LOKOMOTIV, yep my friend, its BACK!!! =)

The match was refereed by Yury Baskakov.

Player Ratings:
Guilherme - 6 - Solid and composed, however could have done a little better with Kerzha's goal.

Yanbaev - 7 - Linked up well with the attack
Dujmovic - 6 - Lost Kerzhakov for the goal and nearly gifted a goal to Dynamo. Played out of position yet again but was solid throughout all match though.
Rodolfo - 8 - Excellent match from the centre-back. Passed some excellent balls, particularly the cross with his outer-left. Unbelievable staff from a defender.
Kuzmin - 7 - Strong as ever, good match from the former FC Moscow man.

Charles - 7.5 - Won and sprayed some good balls
Glushakov - 7 - Amazing work-rate, never stopped going. A good match from the youth graduate.
Odemwingie - 6.5 - Spilled a chance, and was somewhat quite in the first half. Tired out as the match went on
Bilyaletdinov - 8 - A captain's performance. Took his goal very well and full of tricks.
Gatagov - 8.5 - This lad has a great future. Amazing stuff from the 18 year old youngster. An Izmailov-like performance. Sent in some good crosses and seemed unstoppable at times!

Sychev - 8 - Apart from his lost chance, Sychev was unstoppable throughout all the match. Skipped players as if they were just cones, and came close with a 25 metre shot. Could have won a penalty. Great match!