Derby Victory

Compared to the last game against Dynamo, Slaven Bilic considerably reshuffled his starting eleven. This time, Jan Durica, Maxim Grigoriev, Dame Ndoye and Jan Tigorev made it to the coach’s short-list. For Belorussian international Tigorev who had dropped out for long due to an injury this game was an official debut in Lokomotiv.

The opener came quickly. At the 6th minute Spartak managed a rapid attack which was crowned by a goal by Dmitry Kombarov.

Just a minute later the Railwaymen could have equalized. Grigoriev received the ball on the very edge of the box, turned around and shot but missed just an inch.

Denis Glushakov had another opportunity ten minutes later. Loko’s captain rammed into Spartak’s box and blasted a tremendous shot – alas, it was cleared by a defender.

The last minutes of the first half abounded in tough tackles but opportunities were few. One of them happened just before the whistle: Andrey Eschenko broke away from his opponent and crossed to the box but Ndoye’s header was too weak to make it a goal.

To boost up attack, in the half-time Slaven Bilic substituted Magomed Ozdoev with Roman Pavlyuchenko.

In the second half, Lokomotiv grabbed the initiative and started putting up pressure on Spartak’s goal. Pavlyuchenko started off actively, shooting twice: his first shot was cleared by keeper Dikan, and the second attempt was a bit inaccurate, going just above the crossbar.

An hour into the game, Lokomotiv finally managed to equalize. The Railwaymen were granted a corner. Alexander Samedov crossed to the far post where Ndoye outsmarted Ari and netted a header. Another Ndoye-style goal!

Just six minutes later Lokomotiv scored again. And again it was a free-kick. Alexander Samedov centered the ball where Roman Pavlyuchenko’s position was the best and the forward scored a header.

Unai Emeri immediately made a double substitution: Bilyaletdinov and Emenike appeared on the pitch instead of Makeev and Dzyuba.

These substitutions made Spartak play more aggressively up front but reaching Kresic’s goal was no easy task. Many of their attacks were cut short in the midfield by Tigorev whose highly efficient performance helped secure victory.

During the six minutes of extra time Spartak piled onto Kresic’s goal but the defence reinforced by Taras Burlak worked well. Lokomotiv managed a couple of counterattacks involving Pavlyuchenko and Samedov, however, all fruitless.

This hard-earned victory brought three points to Lokomotiv who now stand fifth in the table.

Lokomotiv - Spartak 2:1 (0:1)

Goals: D.Kombarov, 6 (0:1). N’Doye, 60 (1:1). Pavlyuchenko, 66 (2:1).

Lokomotiv: Kresic, Corluka, Durica, Shishkin, Eschenko, Grigoriev (Obinna, 84), Glushakov, Samedov, Tigorev, Ozdoev (Pavlyuchenko, 46), Ndoye (Burlak, 89).

Spartak: Dikan, Insaurralde, Rafael Carioca, D.Kombarov, Makeev (Bilyaletdinov, 68), K.Kombarov, McGeady, De Zeeuw (Ananidze, 76), Romulo, Ari, Dzyuba (Emenike, 68).

Yellow cards: De Zeeuw, 13. McGeady, 36. Carioca, 59. Glushakov, 69. K.Kombarov, 83. Cresic, 90. Corluka, 90+2.

Referee: Aleksey Eskov (Moscow).

September 2. Moscow. Lokomotiv Stadium. 27 269 spectators.

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