Clear The Way!

Kuchuk's list of top 11 were almost identical to that of the previous game against Dinamo with just two new names on it. Renat Yanbayev gave way to Vitaliy Denisov, and Dmitry Tarasov's end of suspension secured him a place on the pitch instead of Taras Mykhalyk.

Lokomotiv rushed for an early goal. In the 2nd minute Lass Diarra intercepted in the middle and ran forward. Close enough to shoot, the Frenchman rifled. The shot was blocked but the ball bounced back to Dame N'Doye who was going to try his luck if only the referee hadn't blown for the offside. Actually, heavy rain and puddles on the pitch in Krasnodar considerably slowed the ball's movement.

But even this couldn't stop the Railwaymen from scoring. Diarra intercepted again and started another attack with a pass to N'Doye. The Senegalese striker passed to Boussoufa who rolled it further to the super-fast Maicon who broke away from the defenders and kicked it past the keeper straight into the back of the net!

Ten minutes later Lokomotiv doubled the lead. Aleksandr Samedov made his hallmark cross from a free kick into the box where Vedran Corluka headed it home.

Kuban tried to break the run of play and rushed forward but only missed another counterattack. After an interception in the midfield Maicon and Boussoufa played a one-two, the Moroccan found himself with the ball all alone in front of the goal and made no mistake making the score big.

The second half began with another potentially dangerous attack set up by the visitors. Maicon ran one on one with the keeper and fell down in the area but the referee saw no foul from the keeper and issued the Brazilian a yellow card for simulation.

Shortly after this episode the game calmed down. Kuban tried to set up attacks but they posed no threat to Abayev's goal. Lokomotiv defended well and managed several good counter-attacks.

In the 63rd minute Diarra passed to Maicon who speeded up and rolled on to N'Doye but the Senegalese failed to make the last pass to Samedov.

Kuban's first real opportunity came only in the 84th minute. Khubulov hammered at the centre of the goal but Abayev made no mistake with positioning and stopped the ball.

The hosts' second opportunity happened in the extra time, and it turned fruitful. The cross from a corner found the head of Jibril Cisse who nodded it in.

However, Lokomotiv secured a victory which took them to the top line in the league standings first time this season.

Kuban - Lokomotiv 1:3 (0:3)

Goals: Maicon, 5 (0:1). Corluka, 14 (0:2). Boussoufa, 31 (0:3). Cisse, 90 (1:3).

Kuban: Belenov, Armash, Fidler (Sosnin, 63), Kozlov, Sandao, Cabore, Zhavnerchik, Ignatyev (Khubulov, 74), Popov, Balde (Cisse, 79).

Lokomotiv: Abayev, Corluka, Durica, Denisov, Shishkin, Boussoufa, Samedov (Grigoryev, 71), Tarasov, Diarra, Maicon (Caicedo, 81), N'Doye (Pavlyuchenko, 80).

Yellow cards: Maicon, 47. Tarasov, 57.

Referee: Aleksandr Yegorov (Saransk).

December 2. Krasnodar. Kuban stadium.