Lokomotiv 2, CSKA 1. No matter how, no matter if Loko were fortunate, no matter anything, a win is a win. And that's what Lokomotiv achieved today!! A goal at death, precisely in the 90th minute brought to an end a 3-year-wait victory over CSKA! To be sincere after Dzagoev's goal I gave up and hoped that Lokomtiv hold on for a draw rather than search for a win. Merit to their new man Mark Gonzalez seemed to be playing with fire in his belly; he literally terrorised Kuzmin in terms of speed. Actually he supplied Dzagoev for the goal. This prompted Semin to move Yanbaev on the right flank; a move which paid dividends as the Chilean found it a little bit more difficult to use his speed. Good work by the former Kuban man! With the time ticking, I was resigned or at least hoping for a draw; especially after Sychev spilled a chance in front of goal. However the unthinkable happened! A brilliant ball by Gatagov let Sychev free, who from a quite tight angle sent the Loko fans into raptures!! Ole, a victory!!
Following last week's great performance in Samara, Semin decided to field the same starting eleven. The only change was that Yanbaev and Kuzmin altered their flank, that is Kuzmin started on the right and Yanbaev on left. I believe that Semin played Renat on the left in order to neutralise Krasic's speed. If at time Yanbaev found it difficult to stop Krasic, I wonder what Kuzmin would have done. Rodolfo and Asatiani completed the back four while Guiherme started in goal. Dujmovic and Charles protected the back four while Odemwingie, Bilyeltdinov and Glushakov made the five-men midfield. As we became accustomed to, Sychev started up front.
As the match went underway, it seemed that both teams decided to study each other, hold back and try to avoid to commit any errors. Lokomotiv started well and looked that they will continue what they left in Samara. On the quarter mark Sychev gave the fan an illusion of goal; however the ball only hit the side netting. Another thing I noticed in the opening minutes of the game was that the backline were playing with too much confidence. It's good to play confidentially, but however one have to be a little bit cautious. Actually on the 19 minute Lokomotiv nearly paid their price for the self-assurance. A misplaced back pass nearly resulted as an assist to Vagner Love. However thanks to a double tackle by the keeper Guilherme, first on the same Vagner and then on Schennikov saved Lokomotiv. Good play by the 200cm keeper. The hosts responded through a Sychev's shot and a long shot from the aggressive Dujmovic. As minutes passed by the match started to become more and more aggressive. With such rythym I predicted that the match won't end with 22 players on pitch. Lokomotiv were risking the most!! With 5 minutes remaining, Lokomotiv turned their superiority into a goal. After some good work by Sychev on the left, Dima passed the ball to Yanbaev who after skipping a player sent in an inviting cross into the area. The ball was headed down by Glushakov into the path of Bilya who from a real good position volleyed home to open the score and thus Lokomotiv went into the break one-nil up.
The second half started in a by-far less aggressive fashion. While CSKA started to take the iniative, Lokomotiv seemed happy to sit back and play the ball. However as the match progressed on, Lokomotiv's passing started to be a little more scrappy, in certain cases really dreadful. At least, for Lokomotiv's luck, CSKA didn't pounced on any error. However it was clear that now Lokomotiv were playing with fire. CSKA were finding too much space and personally I believed that a goal was a question of when rather than if. After both Vagner Love and Dzagoev came close to score, CSKA had a penalty call rightly ignored. Vagner Love bursted with velocity into the area only to be stopped by a tackle from Yanbaev. Replays showed that Yanbaev connected with the ball and thus it was never a penalty. Good piece of refeering! On the 60th minute Ziko introduced their new man Mark Gonzalez. Within two minutes the debutant provided the assist. A good run on the left was followed by a good cross which fell pinpointly at the feet of Dzagoev, who showed great agility to turn the ball past Guilherme. 1-1 was the score and wide open was the match! After five minutes Semin made the first change for Lokomotiv; Gatagov coming on for the tired Glushakov. Soon Wagner followed the youngster on the pitch, replacing Odemwingie in the progress. When a draw looked more than certain, Lokomotiv notched the winner. Although replays showed that Sychev's position was a little bit dubious, the goal stood and celebrations could go underway. 3 points for Loko and 3 wins on the trot! Go Loko!!
Player Ratings:
Guilherme - 7 - Good performance by the keeper, the undisputable Loko no. 1. Need to improve a little bit his kicking though.
Kuzmin - 6.5 - Started on the right and controlled the left flank well till the introduction of Mark Gonzalez. Was completly terrorised by the Chilean. Linked-up well at most times.
Asatiani - 6.5 - Mixed performance by the Georgian. Great tackles and misplaced passes. Need to be more concentrated thoughout all match.
Rodolfo - 7 - Strong throughout all match. Made some great tackles. Lucky to him, his missed header doesn't made Loko pay
Yanbaev - 7.5 - A really great performance from the right/left back. Linked up well, made some good runs and did let nothing get past behind him. Totally neutralised both Krasic and Speedy Gonzalez.
Dujmovic - 6.5 - put some strong tackles. Doesn't stayed back from putting heavy tackles. Nearly gifted CSKA the opener with a misplaced back pass.
Charles - 7 - Won some great balls and did his work well. His first touch is literally impressing.
Odemwingie - 6.5 - Some great runs which however with little end product. Could have played better the ball before the CSKA draw
Glushakov - 6.5 - A little bittle anonymous in the second half. Made his usual dirty work. Jaded in the end
Bilyaletdinov - 7 - Took his goal very well but wasn't influencing as usual.
Sychev - 7.5 - Clinched the victory for Lokomotiv. Tracked back whenever needed. Good match by the Sychov.
Substitutions:
Gatagov - 6.5 - Assisted Sychev for the goal
Wagner - N/A - no time to impress, although managed a good one-two with Gatagov.
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