Ponce's goal in the back of the head, a penalty on Miranchuk and Tedesco's removal: how Spartak and Lokomotiv tied in the RPL

Personnel loss and Zorn's resignation

Spartak and Lokomotiv approached the full-time match at the Otkrytie Arena with a considerable amount of problems. The railroad workers drew home games with Wings of the Soviets and Sochi, inferior in class, and missed the opportunity to break away from Krasnodar in silver RPL and a direct ticket to the group stage of the Champions League. 

On the other hand, the red-green under the leadership of the new head coach Marco Nikolic did not suffer a single defeat. In four matches, the team scored eight points out of 12 possible. And the last time I lost the “Locomotive” back in December. 

And the defeat of “Krasnodar” from “Zenith” allowed the Moscow team to retain the second place even in terms of lost points. On the eve of the derby, the railway workers were four points ahead of the competitor, although he had a match in reserve. 

A much more complicated situation has developed in Spartak. Red and white first lost to CSKA in a plain game, and then sensationally failed at home with Tambov - 2: 3. 

It is believed that this failure was worth his post to the club's general director Thomas Zorn, who left Spartak on Monday. An additional negative around the red and white created a scandalous statement by the president of “Zenith” Alexander Medvedev two weeks before the semifinal of the Cup of Russia. 

However, the statistics of recent meetings with Lokomotiv inspired fans of Spartak with some hope. In the first round of this season, the wards of Domenico Tedesco completely defeated the opponent away - 3-0, and Zelimkhan Bakaev gave three assists. 

Luck smiled red and white in December 2018, when Oleg Kononov was just starting work on the team. Then his team won (2: 1) thanks to a goal by Denis Glushakov, and Fedor Smolov did not realize a penalty.

But on the eve of the next match, both teams were missing the leaders. Spartak in the derby could not count on the disqualified Samuel Gigot and Roman Zobnin. The first place in the center of defense was predictably taken by Ilya Gaponov. And the second in the center of the field was replaced by Nail Umyarov. 

Loko was left without three players. Grzegorz Krychowiak was out of order due to exhaustion of cards, and Marinato Guillerme with Dmitry Barinov - due to damage. Thus, a couple of oporniks were compelled by young students of the academy, Daniil Kulikov and Stanislav Magkeev.

The game of “Locomotive” “second number” and the fast attacks of “Spartacus”

The meeting did not start very well for Lokomotiv. Wards Nikolic seemed to go out on the lawn not completely ready and immediately missed a couple of quick attacks. As a result, Maciej Rybus and Kulikov received yellow cards. 

However, the railroad quickly managed to pull themselves together, and the game calmed down. The guests gave the ball to the opponent, trying to deprive him of his trump cards - speed and free space. 

But the quick attacks from the hosts still took place from time to time, especially not always reliably acting in the center of the field of Magkeev with Kulikov. For example, the latter, already having a mustard plaster, played a couple of times on the verge of removal. 

After an hour of meeting, Bakayev almost opened the score. He burst into the penalty area on the right flank, easily removed Vedran Chorluka, but failed to outplay Anton Kochenkov, who promptly left the gate. 

But after eight minutes, the reserve goalkeeper failed to save the team. After filing from the left flank Esekiel Ponce head gently sent the ball into the far corner. Magkeev could not prevent the striker in this situation, and the Argentinean recorded himself the sixth goal of the season. 

However, Lokomotiv instantly managed to equalize. Alexey Miranchuk won the position against Umyarov on the right flank, broke into the penalty area and fell in the fight with the opponent. Judge Sergey Lapochkin immediately pointed to the "point". 

The decision of the arbiter really pissed off Tedesco, who did not restrain emotions and did not choose expressions in relation to the judiciary. As a result, the German first received a yellow, and then a red card, and went to the under-tribune premises, pushing all he met along the way. 

Alexey Miranchuk corrected for an unrealized penalty in the match of the previous round with Sochi and scored the ball and Alexander Maksimenko in different angles. Thus, the midfielder scored the tenth goal in the current season of the RPL and the fifth after the resumption of the season.  

Controversial episodes in free kick guests and minimum points

Spartak also began the second half actively and in the 51st minute even claimed a penalty. Ayrton in the penalty area easily beat his opponent, threw the ball to his turn and collapsed on the lawn after a collision with Kochenkov. 

Lapochkin did not point to the “point”, and his assistants on VAR did not advise him to review the episode. Yes, and the repetition was clearly visible that the goalkeeper managed to play the ball.

After that, the game calmed down again. Lokomotiv, who removed Kulikov from the field during the break, gave the ball to an opponent, but the hosts were waiting for the opportunity for quick attacks. They did not occur too often, and in those rare moments when guests left free zones in their half, Tedesco wards did not act very well. 

In particular, Bakayev spent not the best second half. Zelimkhan several times lost the ball on the right flank in promising situations, or made inaccurate passes for aggravation. 

The railroad workers practically did not show themselves in the alien half of the field, as in the first half. In the attack, the team placed all their hope in Miranchuk, and the ball practically didn’t reach Eder. In the second half of the meeting, the guests were remembered only as a long-range dangerous strike by Rifat Zhemaletdinov. 

Spartak tried unsuccessfully to earn a penalty. So, in the 75th minute of Rasskazov fell in the penalty area, tripping over Rybus' thigh, but Lapochkin immediately spread his hands to the side. And in the very end, Chorluka hit Larsson’s legs, trying to close his partner’s backache, but the judge didn’t react to this episode either. 

In the last minutes, the red and white went ahead, trying to snatch victory, and the coaching staff threw Alexander Sobolev into battle. However, gaining three points did not help. 

Thus, Spartak extended the unbeaten run in the RPL to four matches. And Lokomotiv tied for the third time in a row and gave Krasnodar a chance to beat itself against the lost points. Yes, and the arising CSKA reduced the gap from the railroad to four points.