Extra Time, Please

Leonid Kuchuk never stops tuning his team. This time he preferred attacking winger Sergey Tkachyov to Maksim Grigoryev on the left, Taras Mikhalik was back in the defensive midfield area, while Roman Shishkin returned to his usual right back position replacing Renat Yanbayev. Aleksey Miranchuk covered for the suspended Mbark Boussoufa, and Ilya Abayev resumed the duties of a goalie.

Lokomotiv managed a fast opener when Sheshukov passed to Pavlyuchenko who heeled to Miranchuk. The young talent steamed past the back four and outfoxed the keeper sending the ball home.

Trying hard in front of their fans, the Bulls took away the initiative and created some really good chances but Loko's defence worked well, with flank defenders always assisting all along the pitch

But the hosts eventually managed to score. Late in the half Shirokov crossed to Pereyra, the Uruguayan tackled Denisov and passed to Joaozinho who rolled the ball past Abayev.

Lokomotiv had a perfect chance to take the lead again had Samedov been cooler from the spot. Lokomotiv played a corner and Kaleshin handplayed in the area. The referee granted the Railwaymen a penalty but Aleksandr Samedov wasted it, kicking the ball wide.

In the second half Krasnodar dominated. They possessed the ball, created chances and were close to scoring several times but the ball only shook the posts. This put Lokomotiv's spirit to test, which was passed successfully.

Late into the game the Red-Greens again managed to score but a linesman had flagged an offside. The time was up, and the score was level. It seemed Lokomotiv would let Zenit break away.

You only had to wait until the extra time to see you were wrong. Samedov had another chance and this time made no mistake! Filtsov tipped the ball but couldn't stop it from crossing the line.

Two minutes later Magomed Ozdoyev took part in a rapid counter-attack, passed to Samedov whose strike set the final score 1:3. Lokomotiv demonstrated their will to win and earned the three points that helped keep the thrill of the champions race.

Krasnodar - Lokomotiv 1:3 (1:1)

Goals: Al. Miranchuk 6 (0:1). Joaozinho, 45 (1:1). samedov, 90 (1:2), Samedov, 90 (1:3).

Failed penalties: Samedov, 45 (missed).

Krasnodar: Filtsov, Markov, Martynovich, Kaleshin, Sigurdsson, Gazinskiy, Shirokov (Shipitsin, 56), Joaozinho, Pereyra (Petrov, 82), Ari (Komlichenko, 83), Wanderson.

Lokomotiv: Abayev, Denisov, Corluka, Durica, Shishkin, Sheshukov, Mikhalik, Samedov, Miranchuk (Ozdoyev, 69), Tkachyov (Yanbayev, 72), Pavlyuchenko (N'Doye, 63).

Yellow cards: Wanderson, 31. Pavlyuchenko, 42. Kaleshin, 45. Corluka, 75. Markov, 88.

Referee: Sergey Ivanov (Rostov-On-Don).

April 26. Krasnodar. Kuban Stadium.