Six-Pointer

Soon after the starting whistle Kuban's goalie could tell he was going to have a hard day at work. The first danger came in the third minute when N'Doye and Boussoufa both rammed into the box and the Senegalese rifled but Dealbert got in the way.

A minute later the Spaniard had to step in again. Alexander Samedov crossed to N'Doye but the tall defender broke the pass.

Up to the mid-half Lokomotiv was more or less effective in supplying their forward with the ball but Dame was failing to net it. Meanwhile, the visitors felt they could talk back and ran for a corner which turned dangerous: Xandao lacked just a bit to net a header.

Half-an-hour into the game, the crowd at Cherkizovo saw a hallmark run by Samedov. Loko's #19 saw space in front of N'Doye and passed there. The Senegalese made another attempt but Belenov had been doing great so far.

Later, Yan Tigorev could become an assistant. The midfielder intercepted the ball in the centre and passed to N'Doye who managed a great shot at the near corner, but Belenov was reliable.

Minutes before the half-time, Kuban pulled themselves together and pushed the Railwaymen to their goal, creating three opportunities. First, Balde shot from a difficult position, then Bucur rifled from the edge of the box, and later Tsorayev tried to net. All three times, Ilya Abayev demonstrated his perfect goalkeeping skill.

In the beginning of the second half, Lokomotiv managed a great attack. Samedov passed to Boussoufa who hit it with the left foot but Belenov reacted.

But Loko pushed harder, and finally Kuban's defence allowed a mistake. Samedov crossed from a corner finding Dmitry Tarasov, and the six-feet-five midfielder headed the ball right into the back of the net.

Almost immediately the Railwaymen got a chance to score again. Maicon found himself close to the goal and quite surprizingly bent it towards the far top corner but Belenov tipped away in a spectacular jump. A minute later the crossbar helped the keeper secure the goal following Shishkin's attempt.

After this siege, the play swang back to Abayev's goal. Melgarejo tried to hammer the ball in, Xandao employed a header, Balde rifled from a close range to Row Z, and Popov hit it first time - all in vain, as Abayev did his job well between the posts.

Then came a period of relative tranquillity which lasted to the final whistle. In several episodes, Loko's defenders had to step in, and did it well. Corluka made a timely clearance after Abayev chose a wrong position, Renat Yanbayev blocked a cross by Tsorayev, and Jan Durica started a potentially dangerous attack. The Slovak tackled an opponent, had the ball and passed to Samedov. Alexander sent it further to Caicedo but the freshman got his timing wrong and was forced to pass to Maicon who was quickly shadowed by Kuban's defenders.

During the injury time, the Railwaymen managed a lay-off pass to Pavlyuchenko who had a chance to break one-on-one with the keeper but failed to shake off Dealbert.

Nevertheless, Lokomotiv kept their goal intact and climbed to the fourth standing in the table.

Lokomotiv - Kuban 1:0 (0:0)

Goal: Tarasov, 49.

Lokomotiv: Abayev, Corluka, Durica, Shishkin, Yanbaev, Boussoufa (Caicedo, 79), Samedov, Tarasov (Mykhalyk, 69), Tigorev, Maicon, N'Doye (Pavlyuchenko, 79).

Kuban: Belenov, Xandao, Dealbert, Kozlov, Melgarejo (Rabiu, 84), Tlisov, Kabore, Bucur (Cisse, 66), Popov, Khubulov (Tsorayev, 6), Balde.

Yellow cards: Tigorev, 76. Mykhalyk, 82. Abayev, 85. Pavlyuchenko, 90.

Referee: Alexey Eskov (Moscow).

15 September. Moscow. Lokomotiv stadium. 9 475 spectators.