Smolov's goal, Guilherme's fourth match to zero and Bistrovich's removal: how Lokomotiv beat CSKA in the RPL

Excellent move by CSKA and the crisis of Lokomotiv

September gave CSKA fans two home derbies at once.

Following Spartak (3: 1), the army team had to take over Lokomotiv.

And fans of the red and blue expected only success from their favorites. 

Viktor Goncharenko's wards scored an excellent move in recent matches and won three victories in a row in the RPL with a total score of 7: 1.

This allowed the team to reduce the gap from the leading Spartak and Zenit to one point.

True, the competitors won victories on Saturday, therefore, CSKA also needed to gain three points in order to keep up.

Lokomotiv, on the other hand, after the departure of Alexei Miranchuk and the injury of Dmitry Barinov, fell into a protracted crisis.

In six matches, the railroad workers won only one victory and slipped into the middle of the standings.

In the last three meetings, the red-greens did not concede a single goal, but scored only five points. 

To top it all off, Marko Nikolic in the derby, due to the busting of yellow cards, could not count on Dmitry Barinov.

Thus, the duet in the support zone was again composed of young Stanislav Magkeev and Daniil Kulikov. 

At the same time, the coaching staff unexpectedly put Vladislav Ignatiev on the left flank of the midfield, who has been acting in defense in recent seasons.

Thus, the guests hoped to contain the active Mario Fernandez.

But the duet of strikers Fedor Smolov - Eder, the coach did not break.

But the newcomer Francois Camano remained in reserve.

In turn, Goncharenko was also left without Konstantin Maradishvili due to disqualification, but he was predictably replaced in the support zone by Kristiyan Bistrovich.

But at the forefront of the attack, just like a week ago, a newcomer Chidera Ejuke appeared.

Fyodor Chalov remained in reserve. 

The useless pressure of the army and the illogical goal of the railroad workers

Lokomotiv expectedly gave the ball to the opponent from the first minutes, and CSKA started attack after attack.

However, the railroad workers, as in all the last matches, defended extremely reliably and did not allow the opponent to do anything. 

The owners still created dangerous moments.

So, in the ninth minute, Konstantin Kuchaev threw Marinato Guilherme, who had recklessly played at the exit, but missed the target, and the line judge recorded an offside position.

Following Baktiyor Zainutdinov, with a kick from the penalty area, he almost sent the ball into the left corner, but the army team did not smile in this episode either. 

On the whole, CSKA completely outplayed the opponent, but practically had no opportunity to penetrate someone else's penalty area.

At the same time, Edzhuke was more often located not at the forefront of the attack, but on the left flank, and the red and blue significantly lacked a clean forward.

And Fernandez, covered on the right flank by Ignatiev, did not join the attacks so often. 

True, in front of Lokomotiv absolutely nothing came of it.

Smolov tried to create at least some kind of danger at the gates of others, who did a lot of work and actively pressed the defenders.

But Anton Miranchuk completely dropped out of the game. 

However, after half an hour, the course of the match suddenly changed dramatically.

CSKA pulled back to their goal, and the initiative passed to Lokomotiv.

At the same time, Ignatiev exchanged flanks with Miranchuk. 

And this castling as a result allowed the team to score at the very end of the first half.

The effective attack was started by Eder, who won the fight for the ball on the right flank and performed a cross into the penalty area.

Ricochet from the defender's leg, the shell flew to Ignatiev, who immediately struck into the far corner.

Igor Akinfeev coped with the blow with great difficulty, but reflected the ball directly to Miranchuk, who performed a neat discount on Smolov. 

The striker scored a goal in the second match in a row, and Miranchuk made an assist.

This shot on target was the first for Lokomotiv in this derby.

But CSKA in the first half never bothered Guilherme at all.

Head-to-head play and guests' dedication

The second half was the complete opposite of the first.

If before the break, the teams inflicted only five shots in total, only one of which hit the target, then after - 13 and nine on target. 

CSKA returned to the field with a serious attitude to recoup, but immediately almost missed the second goal.

After a corner, Vedran Chorluka from a turn powerfully struck Akinfeev in the opposite direction, but Igor miraculously parried the shot, and the partners were the first on the rebound.

Then Smolov missed an excellent moment to make a double.

Eder once again won the fight in someone else's half and made a pass to Fedor, who easily beat Vadim Karpov and shot into the far corner from outside the penalty area.

CSKA was saved by the bar.

However, gradually the army team seized the initiative and began to siege the opponent's goal.

Even the experienced Guilherme, who almost threw the ball between his legs after Georgy Shchennikov's kick into the near corner, “floated” under pressure from his opponent.

Then Vlašić scored a powerful shot under the crossbar, but the goalkeeper of the Russian national team played reliably this time. 

Perhaps CSKA could have put the squeeze on Lokomotiv, but in the 59th minute Bistrovich received an optional second yellow card.

Kristiyan played dangerous against Ignatiev in the fight for the ball and was sent off.

At the same time, Goncharenko has already prepared a replacement for the Croat in the form of Chalov. 

This castling had to be postponed for some time, and Kuchaev moved from the attack to the support zone.

Nevertheless, soon Fedor still entered the field, changing Zainutdinov.

At this point, both teams began to operate on a collision course.

So, Akinfeev coped with Ignatiev's shot with great difficulty.

And then Smolov, after throwing Murilo, struck the crossbar.

In the end, even in the minority, CSKA managed to push the guests to the goal, and Goncharenko threw fresh Nayair Tiknizyan and Arnor Sigurdsson into the battle.

However, Lokomotiv footballers acted with the utmost selflessness.

Especially good were Murilo and Chorluka, who took over a dozen hits.

A huge amount of work was done in the support zone by Kulikov and Makgeev. 

The final whistle of the judge recorded the victory of Lokomotiv, which became the second in a row for the team and allowed it to rise to sixth place.

At the same time, the railway workers are not allowed into the RPL for four meetings in a row. 

CSKA interrupted the winning streak.

The lag of the army team from "Sparatk" and "Zenith" is now four points.