Four minute blitz gives Lokomotiv 3 points

Today, in the 2oth round of the Russian Premier Liga, Lokomotiv faced Kuban. Despite dominating from first to last, Lokomotiv had to wait till the last 20 minutes to secure the three points against the troubled side from Krasnodar. From the beginning I actually noticed that today Lokomotiv were lacking something very important, that is motivation. The real reason I don't know. Maybe they were still after shock after the departure of Captain Diniyar? Maybe because they thought that Kuban will not posing any threat? Anyways I felt that in the first half Lokomotiv had not the right attitude. Actually I hoped that in the break Semin find some words in order to motivate them. Although I must say that in the second half Lokomotiv came out a little bit more aggresively than before, still I felt that half of the team weren't giving the hundred percent. Thankfully the wake-up call suddenly arrived as Kuban shocked the hosts with a well-worked goal. This seemed to had fired Lokomotiv as within only ten minutes from the opening goal, Lokomotiv were 3-1 up.

For the match with Kuban, Semin opted to make 4 changes from last match against Zenit. Guilherme started in goal while Kocis played in an unusual position of right back. On the other hand Yanbaev started on the left flank, thus meaning that there was no place for Kuzmin. Asatiani and Sennikov partnered each other in the centre. Dujmovic and Glushakov protected the back four while the void left by Bilyaletdinov was filled by Gatagov. Odemwingie started on the right flank while Wagner assisted Sychev in attack. Furthermore the loss of Bilya meant that Semin had to choose a new captain. Despite reports appearing in fclokomotiv.com stated that Rodolfo was appointed as new Loko captain, today Sychev captained the team. However it is not clear if Sychev was appointed captain or he was standing in as a captain due to Rodolfo's absence. Time will tell.

With regards to the match, from the beginning it was clear that Lokomotiv were superior from their opponents. However somewhat despite dominating possesion, the final ball was lacking. Actually it took Lokomotiv 40 minutes Lokomotiv to threaten the posts of Karyukin (who earlier replaced the injured Stepanov) through Odemwingie, Glushakov and Sychev. Still however the score was 0-0 at the end of the first half.

As I had already stated, the second half started with a more aggressive note from the home side. For sure we couldn't afford to loose points against Kuban. Semin knew that but not the same can be said to the whole squad. Actually Semin seemed to had cleared the concept as Lokomotiv nearly opened the scores. After good work by Gatagov on the left, the ball fell into the path of Sychev whose shot from 10 metres out skimmed the crossbar. This showed things to come as soon Lokomotiv appealed for penalty for a hands of Khagush. Despite Khagush does seemed to change the direction of the ball with his hand, I felt that awarding Lokomotiv a penalty for such violation would have been harsh, very harsh. On the hour mark, Kuban silenced the Lokomotiv staidum. A fast counterattack saw Okuduwa's cross being met perfectly by Tlisov, who with a good header gave Guilherme no chance. One-up for Kuban and all to play for Lokomotiv. As Kuban scored, Lokomotiv seemed to have finally found the motivation. Soon they started to press Kuban and within 2 minutes Odemwingie came close by hitting the upright. At that moment I felt that today wasn't out day. Fortunately I was wrong. A good run by Yanbaev, followed by a good cross was turned into the net in style by Sychev. Giving no time to Kuban to settle, Lokomotiv hit again. Wagner floated in a an inviting freekick which was turned inside by Odemwingie for his third goal of the campaign. Barely a minute had passed and Lokomotiv made them 3. Picking the ball from the right flank, Kocis ran to the centre and from 25 metres out he let a shot to the right bottom of the net which gave the keeper no chance. 3-1 was the score and all over was for Kuban. However not the same was for Lokomotiv as Wagner made them 4 by cooly slotting in after a good cross of Sychev much to delight of the home crowd.

The match was refereed by Vyacheslav Popov

Ratings:

Guilherme - 7 - Done what required. No chance with the goal.

Kocis - 7 - Could have protected better the right flank for the Kuban's goal; however made amends by scoring a very nice goal from 25 metres.

Asatiani - 7 - Composed as ever. Brought bags of confidence in the Lokomotiv defence.

Sennikov - 6.5 - Used his experience to keep the Kuban striker quiet.

Yanbaev - 7 - Lost the man for the goal but as his counterpart on the right flank made amends by providing the assist for the goal of the draw. Ran tirelessly all night.

Dujmovic - 6.5 - Failed to stamp his authority as usual

Glushakov - 6.5 - Quiet game from the midfielder. However on some occasions delighted the crowd with fine dribbling.

Odemwingie - 7.5 - The Nigerian seems to finding his feet again. Scored a goal which hopefully will do wonders to his confidence

Wagner - 8 - Kept his cool for scoring the fourth and provided the second. An important acquisition for Lokomotiv. Clear that his technique is superior, possibly even than that of Bilyletdinov.

Gatagov - 6.5 - Quiet game from the youngster. Maybe a little young to be consistent. Still however a hot prospect.

Sychev - 8 - What more could you ask from the captain on the day? An assist and a goal. Never stopped going even when Lokomotiv were 3-1 up. Amazing work rate and for sure an example to others. Will make a good captain and I just really hope that he did enough to impress Hiddink who was present for the match.

Substitions

Minchekov - N/A - No time to impress.

Kambolov - N/A - Same as Minchekov.