Victorious Start!

The game started in extremely difficult weather conditions. A few minutes before the whistle, Luzhniki Stadium was caught in a snowstorm and the field that had been carefully cleaned before the game got covered with snow in a second.

But this did not hamper the Railwaymen who locked the opponents on their side. Loko had two great chances in the 30 minutes. First, Renat Yanbaev passed to Felipe Caicedo who rounded a defender and shot at the goal from within the box but missed. Then, Dmitry Tarasov made a tremendous shot from a 25-metre distance. Iraizoz deflected the ball in front of himself but there was no one to follow up.

Lokomotiv put pressure on Athletic but overlooked Muniain and the Spanish forward scored an opener in the 35th minute.

Loko didn’t take it close to heart and searched for a scoring opportunity. Before the half-time, Maicon had one. Caicedo sprinted up the field and, leaving a defender behind, crossed right into the centre of the penalty area but the Brazilian’s shot went straight in the keeper’s leg.

After a shake-up in the half-time, Lokomotiv started aggressively. In the 52nd minute a marvelous cross from the right flank found Zapater in a perfect position to score but Iraizoz stopped the Spaniard’s shot.

The Railwaymen scored in the 60th minute. Felipe Caicedo carried the ball through half a pitch and was knocked down in the penalty area. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and Denis Glushakov scored an equalizer.

In less than three minutes Glushakov had another chance! His powerful shot from outside the 18 yard box was followed by a great save by Iraizoz.

And finally in the 71st minute came a winner! Yanbaev crossed from the left flank, Amorebieta failed to clear the ball which went to Caicedo, and the Ecuadorian international sent it right into the corner.

After that, the Railwaymen occupied themselves with shooting at the Iraizoz’s goal from different angles and positions. But Tarasov and Zapater were not accurate, and the Spanish goalie saved his team again after a wonderful shot by Yanbaev.

On the last minutes, Athletic tried to storm Loko’s goal but both the defence and Guilherme were in the saddle. The Brazilian stopped two consequent shots by Muniain and Llorente. Loko continued counter-attacking and won the game.

«Lokomotiv» - «Athletic» 2:1 (0:1)

Goals: Muniain, 35 (0:1). Glushakov, 60, - penalty (1:1). Caicedo, 71 (2:1).

«Lokomotiv»: Guilherme, Yanbaev, Burlak, Belyaev, Shishkin, Zapater, Tarasov, Glushakov (Ozdoev, 88), Torbinsky (Obinna, 67), Maicon (Sychev, 90), Caicedo.

«Athletic»: Iraizoz, Aurtenetxe (Lopez, 79), Amorebieta, Iraola, Javi Martinez, Iturraspe, Herrera, Susaeta, De Marcos, Munain, Llorente.

Yellow cards: Maicon, 9. Torbinsky, 45. Aurtenetxe, 59. Guilherme, 90.

Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan (ROU)

16 February. Moscow. Luzhniki Stadium. 14 000 spectators.