Tarasov : 'It was an essential rivalry for us and the fans’

Lokomotiv midfielder Dmitriy Tarasov has summarized the game against Torpedo that we won 2:0, and commented on the ejection of the opponents’ captain Vladimir Rykov.

‘We expected a lot of people today, it’s an essential rivalry for them and for us, - said Tarasov. - The victory was vital. We’re happy we have managed to make the fans happy, all of those who came to support us today.

It’s hard to comment on the episode with the ejection. There was a dangerous tackle, I played tough but I did hit the ball. It was a usual foul punished by a yellow card. When I was getting on my feet Rykov ran to me pretty aggressively and touched me on the face. The referee saw the episode and decided to show him a red card.

Despite the advantage we understood we couldn’t relax, we had to score and win. And we did it! After the first goal, the game became more open. We controlled the ball, earned a penalty, and doubled the lead.

After the second goal we created many chances and could have scored more but Torpedo had some promising counter-attacks. Yes, sometimes I played tough and fouled a lot but it’s a derby! I understood I couldn’t lose a single tackle. I’m not thinking about the five away games. I’m focused entirely on the coming fixture. We need a victory!’

The official website did live text commentary that is also available on Twitter.