Lokomotiv finished the season with a win in Yekaterinburg!
By Gameweek 30, Lokomotiv had reached all of their tournament objectives for the season. The team earned silver medals and a pass to the Champions League group stage, therefore this game had no significance for the final standings and it was possible to enjoy the game, instead of thinking about the result. The hosts had a similar situation - all of their objectives were reached before this game. Ural lost their chance to qualify for the Europa League, lost in semis of the Russian Cup and had no risk of going down to the lower division.
In the starting lineup, Lokomotiv had 8 graduates from the academy with Dmitri Barinov captaining the team. Also, a number of Kazanka players were included on the bench - Savin, Silyanov, Iosifov and Galanin.
Certainly the context of the match influenced its nature. In the first half, the teams played at low speeds and created only a few chances. Suleymanov had the best opportunity in the first half. Timur missed a sitter from around 5 meters after the pass from Rybchinskiy from the left wing.
It took 20 minutes for Ural to respond. First, Bicfalvi tested Kochenkov with a powerful strike, and later Panyukov’s shoot went just over the bar.
When the teams seemed to be about to leave for a break, Lokomotiv organised a quick attack, Rybchinskiy passed the ball to Anton Miranchuk, who skillfully struck the ball into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area - 1:0!
In the second half, Ural came out determined to turn things around and locked Lokomotiv in the penalty area, taking corners one by one. If it wasn’t for Kochenkov's brilliant play, Lokomotiv might not have retained the victory. Anton pulled out a brilliant save after Egorychev’s hit, denied Augustyniak lob shot, saved Kalinin's powerful strike from an acute angle and caught a number of crosses confidently - and all this in a space of ten minutes. And already in stoppage time, Anton pulled the ball from under the crossbar after Pogrebnyak’s hit. After the game, he deservedly received the Man of the Match award.
When Ural got a little bit tired and started losing concentration, Lokomotiv tried to catch the opponent on counter attacks. Zhemaletdinov scored the second goal, but the referees canceled the goal due to an offside. Soon the referee raised the flag again after Farfana went one-on-one with the keeper.
Jefferson Farfan had the last chance in the game. Lesha Miranchuk crossed the ball into the box, Jeff got away from the defender, but his shot went above the goal.
Lokomotiv finished the game with ten men. Anton Miranchuk got the second yellow card for diving. And on the 93rd minute Artur Chernyi, another academy graduate, made his debut in the Russian Premier League after he replaced Lesha Miranchuk.
Lokomotiv extended their unbeaten streak to 11 matches and finished the season on a high note. The new season of the Russian Premier League will begin in three weeks.
TINKOFF Russian Premier League. Gameweek 30
Ural - Lokomotiv - 0:1 (0:1)
Goals: An. Miranchuk, 45 (0:1)
Ural: Godzyur, Gerasimov, Emeljanov (Haroyan, 83), Magomadov, Bicfalvi, Boumal, Kalinin, Egorychev (Pogrebnyak, 80), El Kabir (Bavin, 38), Augustyniak, Panyukov (Efremov, 80)
Lokomotiv: Kochenkov, Zhivoglyadov, Murilo (Kulikov, 68), Kvirkvelia, Rybus, Magkeev, Barinov, Rybchinskiy (Zhemaletdinov, 68), Al. Miranchuk (Chernyi, 93), An. Miranchuk, Suleymanov (Farfan, 55)
Bookings: Magomadov, 15. Boumal, 19. Augustyniak, 32. El Kabir, 33. Emeljanov, 48. Rybchinskiy, 51. An. Miranchuk, 79. Zhivoglyadov, 86. Farfan, 90
Sending off: An. Miranchuk, 92
Referee: Stanislav Vasiljev (Izhevsk)
July 22, 2020. Yekaterinburg, Yekaterinburg Arena
