Defeat in the penalty shootout, Anton Miranchuk's injury and Eder's goal: how Lokomotiv lost to Partizan in the tournament in Qatar

Loss of Smolov and not a single victory at the first training camp

The beginning of the year was not too joyful for Lokomotiv fans. Firstly, the railway workers did not win a single victory in the first three control meetings. Wards of Yuri Semin tied twice (with the Romanian “Steaua” and the Korean “Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors”) and were defeated by the Croatian “Osijek”. Secondly, in these three meetings the red-green conceded as many as six goals.

And most importantly, the team lost Fedor Smolov, who nevertheless decided to try his hand at Europe and went on loan to Celta. Since the club has not yet acquired a single player, Lokomotiv is left with only one nominal striker - Eder. In addition, in test matches, Semin tried Rifat Zhemaletdinov in the attack, and he even scored Steaua.

And in the first game of the Parimatch Premier Cup, the railroad had to meet with no less formidable rival - the Serbian vice-champion “Partizan”. And it was very interesting to see how the red-green ones that were taking shape would look like.

Damage to Loko players and quick goal exchange

In the first half of the game, Semin expectedly relied on the main performers. Eder came to the forefront, and Zhemaletdinov took a more familiar place on the right flank. Of the unusual decisions of the coach, one can distinguish only the way out in the starting lineup of 20-year-old Stanislav Magkeev. A graduate of the club academy made a couple in the center of defense of Vedrana Chorluka, and Benedict Hövedes went to the left edge.

Unfortunately, one of the main results of the half for Loko was the injury of Anton Miranchuk. At the very beginning of the meeting, the footballer limped and asked for a replacement. He left the field, holding on to the right golenostop. Instead, João Mariou entered the game.

Later it turned out that Anton received damage to the fifth metatarsal bone, and this happened literally out of the blue. The footballer simply unsuccessfully accelerated. After a break, he was carried on a stretcher to an ambulance and taken to a hospital.

Not only that, Dmitry Barinov and Grzhegozh Krykhovyak also received unpleasant injuries, but in their case there were no forced castling, although it was alarming for both.

As for the game itself, the physical form of both teams, far from ideal, was striking. The game was very ragged in pace. Lokomotiv, for example, was active in the first minutes, but then took a break.

In general, the team of Semin did not demonstrate high speeds. Railway workers more often owned the ball and in front relied on the individual skills of Alexei Miranchuk and partners. Eder traditionally carefully clung to the balls and dropped them to teammates. However, most attacks passed through the right edge, and not through the replacement Mariou.

“Partizan” made a bid on counterattacks and succeeded in this. Quick attacks often became a problem for wards of Semin. Krykhovyak and Barinov did not always cope with them in the reference zone. The Loko defense was also imperfect. The young Magkeev was nervous, who at the beginning of the meeting gave the ball to Sadik Umar, but the Nigerian in this episode was not able to realize one on one.

But Eder took his moment after a half-hour of the meeting - he closed the lumbago of Zhemeletdinov on the right. It is necessary to note the magnificent cutting transfer of Miranchuk to a partner. Alex in the first half was not too noticeable, but at the right time acted effectively. It is no coincidence that on the last day of the transfer window in Europe, the media wrote about Milan’s interest in the midfielder.

But Partizan equalized almost instantly. Ex-CSKA midfielder Zoran Tosic from outside the penalty area struck precisely into the far corner. Big questions in this episode again arose for Barinov and Krykhovyak, who were unable to cover the Serb’s shot.

The failure of the railway and one shot on goal

But the second half at Lokomotiv frankly failed. After the break, several changes in the composition took place at the railway workers. Firstly, Daniil Kulikov and Murilo took places in the supporting zone. Secondly, Maciej Rybus replaced Hövedes.

One way or another, the game in red-green finally went wrong. In the attack, the team did not show anything, and all hopes were pinned on Miranchuk, who alone tried to come up with an interesting continuation ahead. Eder completely disappeared into the field, the Portuguese was tired and was almost invisible. As a result, for the entire second half of the meeting, the red-greens delivered only one blow to the opponent’s goal. You can also recall the goal of Rybusia, which was canceled due to an arguable offside.

It is necessary to write about other replacements from Semin. For example, Murilo spent only 20 minutes on the field and, for unknown reasons, gave way to Solomon Querkvelia on the field. The Georgian went to the center of defense, and Magkeev climbed into the support zone, where he composed a duet with another young pupil of Loko, Kulikov. In general, McGeev made a good impression with his game, although he made several cuts. Kulikov sometimes did not hesitate to carry out quite risky programs, but they were not frequent.

In summary, the second half, the railroad failed. In the attack, the team did not show anything at all, and there was simply no one to change Eder. It became obvious that at this stage of training, the team lacked even an hour. Partizan, which will have to hold its first official match in two weeks, naturally looked more active and more powerful, but failed to score the second goal.

Thus, the fate of the confrontation was decided in a penalty shootout, in which the players of the Belgrade team turned out to be stronger. Nemanja Stevanovich easily countered the blows of Roman Tugarev and Maciej Rybus in the right corner of himself. But the defeat did not upset Semin as much as the injury of Anton Miranchuk, because after Smolov the team lost another leader.