Alan Kasaev: "In the second half we had it our own way!"

LokoTV interviewed midfielder Alan Kasaev who scored a winner against Spartak.

- Alan, congratulations! It seemed in the beginning Lokomotiv were all about defence. Why?
- It's hard to give analysis right after the game, I actually have to watch the replay on TV to be on the safe side. In the first quarter of an hour we played not as we planned: not enough pressing, far from the opponents' area. But we'll have time to look into it. It's good that we coped with it and improved in the second half. The game was ours, and we deserved this victory.

- What did you correct in half-time?
- We made changes in the tactics, and we stressed that we needed to be more active up front, and employ the wings more actively. We had been doing so in the first half and often changed the direction of attacks. So in the second half we simply went on with it and were able to set up more attacks.

- Can you remember how you scored?
- I was intending to cross to Ndoye, but it so happened that nobody touched the ball and it went to the far corner.

- Does it make any difference for you whether you are a scorer or an assistant?
- Absolutely not. The result is important, the three points we earn as a team.

- Briefly about the playing conditions. Despite the weather, did the turf allow to play football?
- It did. But anyway it wasn't comfortable, it's -10 Centigrade, if I'm not mistaken. On the other hand, the conditions were equal for everyone, so speculating about how easy it was for some and difficult for others is a lame excuse. We cannot change the weather, so all that's left is to come out and play.

- Your personal opponent on the wing was the young Denis Kutin who's just 21. Did you keep it in mind?
- I didn't know he was going to be my vis-a-vis. I only saw him on the pitch. I counted to see Makeyev but Yakin decided to trust the young defender.

- It looked like you often relied on your dribbling skills against the young opponent.
- I cannot say I turned to it immediately. Every time you watch an opponent, you analyze his manner. If you see his style of play allows you to dribble, you can go ahead and try. It's good that it happened so.

- You often turn a gamebreaker. Do you have any professional secret?
- No. Let's hope this will occur more often. Again, it's not important for me whether I score goals or my teammates. I don't set a threshold level for goals and assists. Only result that is useful to the team is important.