Berg's goal, Krykhovyak's injury and nine cards from Bezborodov: how Lokomotiv tied with Krasnodar in the RPL

Lokomotiv injuries and thirst for revenge from Fernandes

In the central match of the 16th round of the RPL in Cherkizovo, Lokomotiv and Krasnodar met. After the misfire of Rostov, this meeting actually turned into a battle for second place, because the winner bypassed the rest of the competitors and became the main pursuer of Zenit.

At the same time, both teams came to the confrontation with accumulated fatigue after the European Cups. On Wednesday, railroad workers sadly lost to Juventus in the Champions League, conceiving a decisive goal in the 93rd minute, and Krasnodar beat Trabzonspor in the Europa League at home on Thursday.

Thus, the hosts had more rest a day, but a much longer bench played into the guests' hands. Yuri Semin recently, due to a series of injuries, was forced to do without practically any replacements.

However, before the game with Krasnodar, the fans of the Moscow team finally got a reason to rejoice. Anton Miranchuk and Fedor Smolov were in the application for the match. That's just both remained in reserve. Of the minuses, it is worth noting the loss of Vedran Chorluka. The main central defender of “Loco” missed the meeting due to the exhaustion of yellow cards. Also, Dmitry Barinov wasn’t even in the application, and Alexander Kolomeytsev took his place in the supporting zone. Finally, literally at the workout, he aggravated the damage by Maciej Rybus - Dmitry Zhivoglyadov was urgently included in the base.

Krasnodar could count on all its leaders. Manuel Fernandes, the former midfielder of the railroad, came out with a special spirit to the game. An experienced Portuguese in the summer did not manage to agree with the capital club on the extension of the contract and ended up in the south of Russia. In a new place, the footballer adapted quickly enough and already scored three goals for Krasnodar and intended to upset the former team.

By the way, the fans of “Loco” greeted the Portuguese as warmly as possible and accompanied the announcement of his name with applause. Ari also got an ovation, who also managed to spend a lot of time on loan at the railway club and became the champion of the country with the team.

Cautious football and goals in the end of the half

The match itself began in a rather cautious manner. Understanding the importance of the meeting, the rivals were not eager to take risks and sought to act as reliably as possible in the defense.

At Krasnodar, Fernandes was responsible for the aggravation. Already in the fifth minute he managed to carry out an assist on Ari, but the judge rightfully canceled the goal because of an offside position. A little later, the Portuguese with a cool cutting gear brought almost one on one of Marcus Berg, but the Swede, aiming at the near nine, did not hit the target.

The railwaymen responded mainly with quick counterattacks, but the team clearly lacked freshness. Only the tireless Alexei Miranchuk tried to come up with something ahead. But Eder was reliably covered by Alexander Martynovich with Uros Spaic.

It seemed that in such a cautious game performed by tired teams of goals scored, the fans might not wait at all, but everything changed just before the break.

The railroad workers managed to open an account. It is not surprising that the hosts did this thanks to the standard position. Miranchuk earned the most dangerous free kick and himself delivered a magnificent blow. The ball hit the crossbar, and Grzegorz Krychowiak was the first to finish. The Pole has already scored the sixth goal in the current RPL season and the seventh in all tournaments.

Immediately Krykhovyak dangerously collided in the middle of the field with Ari and literally flew his head into the lawn. Grzegorz could not recover for a long time, but after a couple of minutes he nevertheless left the field with the help of doctors, and then found the strength to return to the game. It was painful to look at Semin at that moment, because the loss of the Pole would be a real disaster for the team.

To top it all off, Loko also missed in the second minute added. Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov made a jerk on the right flank and delivered the ball to Ari. In turn, the naturalized Brazilian completed the perfect cross into the penalty area, and Berg, who escaped from Zhivoglyadov, sent a shell to the far corner. Marinato Guillerme only touched the ball, but failed to save his team. So the score became equal, and the teams exchanged goals with a minimum of dangerous moments.

The return of Anton Miranchuk and Fyodor Smolov and strange offsides

Krykhovyak really could not continue the match, and instead, Anton Miranchuk entered the field, who missed because of an injury for almost two months. And with the advent of his second brother, Lokomotiv quickly seized the initiative. Miranchuk began to weave attacking lace on the alien half, and João Mariou shifted to the center.

Very soon Semin threw Smolov into the battle, for whom this match is especially important. However, Fedor in the first fight after the injury was not easy, and the railroad could not convert his advantage in moments.

But Krasnodar immediately missed two amazing chances. At first, Berg, after a perfect cross, sent the ball into the far corner, but missed the target a bit. True, the judge in this episode raised the flag despite the fact that there was no offside in sight. Perhaps if the Swede were on target, VAR would intervene.

But Ari after a few minutes no one bothered to upset the former team, but the Brazilian did not get into the near nine after transferring another ex-railwayman Fernandes.

But the closer it came to the final whistle, the less forces remained for the teams, although Murad Musaev also refreshed the squad, throwing Ivan Ignatiev, Christopher Olsson and Daniil Utkin into the battle. Semin released on the right flank of young Daniil Kulikov.

Nevertheless, there were no more goals scored, although in the end both teams might have questions for the judges. Vladislav Ignatiev was knocked down in the penalty box by an opponent, but Vladislav Bezborodov, after prompting a video from his assistants, decided that he was offside. And a little later, the line judge again determined the nonexistent offside position of the Krasnodar footballer, this time with Utkin. Fortunately, Ivan, like Berg, did not score.

Thus, a tough and teeming game ended in a draw that did not suit both sides. But on hand she was the “Zenith”, which is now ahead of the nearest pursuer, just the railroad, by five points at once.