Miranchuk's spectacular trick, an unassigned penalty on Berg and Safonov's saves: how Lokomotiv beat Krasnodar in the RPL

Smolov against the former team and newcomers in the application 

The second round of the RPL presented the fans with two matches at once, in which the participants of European competitions from Russia met. In one of them, in Moscow, Lokomotiv and Krasnodar crossed, which at the end of the last season won the medals of the national championship and secured their participation in the Champions League.

Thus, the rivals got an excellent opportunity to test themselves against each other a little more than a month before the start in the main European Cup.

However, the matches of the southerners and the railroad workers have long acquired a special principle of principle. So, in 2019, Semin's wards were ahead of their rival in the fight for silver and received a direct ticket to the Champions League group stage. The opponents scored an equal number of points, and everything was decided by Loko's home victory over Krasnodar with a minimum score thanks to a controversial penalty. 

Last season, the capital's team was again ahead of the southerners, and both meetings ended in a draw with the same result - 1: 1. At the same time, Grzegorz Krychowiak distinguished himself in both fights, who also received a concussion in Moscow.

Fyodor Smolov's transfer from Krasnodar to Lokomotiv gave additional adherence to the opposition. This time, Marko Nikolic had no choice but to put the footballer who returned from the loan at the forefront of the attack, as Eder was injured. 

However, the Portuguese still took a place on the bench. Also included in the application for the game, the newcomers of the team, the Belarusian forward Vitaly Lisakovich and the Serbian defender Slobodan Raikovich. Only in the reserve was Anton Miranchuk, who was disqualified.

Nikolic naturally again decided to release Dmitry Rybchinsky's attack on the left flank, who gave two assists in the first round match against Rubin. 

As for Musaev, before the game with Lokomotiv, three players (Urosh Spaich, Tony Viljena and Dmitry Stotskiy) were missing due to injuries and did not change the winning line-up after the meeting with Ufa. The same 11 players entered the field who were mining the crushing victoria in Bashkortostan a week ago.

A scattering of dangerous moments and bad luck "Krasnodar"

The guests started the game more actively. From the very first minutes the Krasnodar players took the ball under their control and began to weave combinations near someone else's penalty area. The dangerous moment was not long in coming. Daniil Utkin, after Sergei Petrov's pass from the right flank with the bottom, shot into the far corner from outside the penalty area, and Marinato Guilherme got the ball with difficulty. 

And already in the next attack, the southerners almost earned a penalty. Vedran Chorluka with his hand caught Markus Berg, who was rushing into the penalty area of ​​Lokomotiv. Judge Kirill Levnikov, after consulting with assistants at VAR, went to watch the replay. As a result, the referee from St. Petersburg decided that there was still no violation of the rules in this episode.

Towards the middle of the first half, the game leveled off, and Lokomotiv created two of their dangerous chances. Matvey Safonov coped with unpleasant shots from Rifat Zhemaletdinov and Rybchinsky from outside the penalty area. It was especially difficult for the goalkeeper to save the team after Dmitry hit, but he managed to fold and got to the ball in the far bottom corner.

Krasnodar responded with a series of dangerous attacks. Nikolic's wards with great difficulty coped with combinations of guests near their own penalty area. So, in the 35th minute, a three-move with the participation of Remi Cabell, Christian Ramirez and Kristoffer Olsson almost ended with a goal, but the Swede miraculously did not get into the far corner from the lethal distance. Following his compatriot Berg waved past the ball, being right in front of an empty goal. 

And when it seemed that the first half would end without goals, Lokomotiv opened the scoring. And again, the team was helped by Miranchuk's skill. After Zhivoglyadov's pass from the right flank, he miraculously handled the ball flying in the shoulder area, right on his move, deceiving Kayo, and with the next touch sent him into the net.

So Alexei distinguished himself in the second match of the current RPL season in a row and scored the ninth goal in the Premier League this summer.

At the same time, it cannot be said that Lokomotiv did not achieve this goal. Krasnodar had more ball possession (61% versus 39%), but struck fewer shots (four versus six) and only once hit Guilherme's goal. 

The calmness of the hosts and the inertia of the guests

If in the first half the southerners still had an advantage, then the second frankly failed. One got the impression that Musaev's charges simply had no strength left. Lokomotiv gave the ball to the opponent and calmly stepped back, but Krasnodar did not succeed. 

In addition, after an hour of the meeting, Nikolic strengthened the team's support zone, throwing Stanislav Makgeev into the battle instead of Rybchinsky. The young footballer placed himself above Krykhovyak and Barinov, and Zhemaletdinov retreated to the left flank of the attack. 

Musaev replied by replacing Utkin with Magomed-Shapi Suleimanov, but running ahead, the technical midfielder did not play the best match and was practically invisible. A little later, Igor Smolnikov made his debut with Krasnodar, who entered the field instead of the tired Ramirez. 

If the guests did not succeed in attacking, then Lokomotiv's counter-attacks carried a serious danger. And if not for Safonov, the match could have ended ahead of schedule. At the very beginning of the second half, in front of the head coach of the Russian national team, who was present in the stands, Matvey did not allow Rybchinsky to realize one-on-one, and a little later he coped with Smolov's strike at close range.

Krasnodar managed to deliver several shots to the goal of Guilherme only closer to the final whistle. Wanderson and Cabella continued to lead the team. They were marked with a couple of shots from the penalty line. 

Nikolic in the end threw the debutant Lisakovich into the fight, and he almost scored one of the first touches. Safonov made the only mistake, giving the ball to the Belarusian, but immediately rehabilitated himself, coping with a blow to the near corner.

The final whistle marked Lokomotiv's absolutely fair victory. The railroad workers in the first two matches of the new RPL season scored six points out of six possible. Miranchuk did not leave the field again without a goal.