Smolov's goal and pass, Ayrton's removal and 10 saves to Guilherme: how Lokomotiv beat Spartak in the 25th round of the RPL

Key match in the fight for the Champions League

The first half of the season turned out to be ambiguous for both Lokomotiv and Spartak.

Both teams experienced problems, and the red and white teams had to prepare for a change of coach since December after Domenico Tedesco announced his desire to return to Germany.

However, in the second half of the season, both metropolitan teams changed.

The railroad workers won seven matches out of seven in all tournaments and climbed to third place in the RPL standings, and also reached the semifinals of the Russian Cup.

The ten-time champion of the country started in 2021 with defeats to Dynamo and Rubin, but then won four victories in a row in the RPL with a total score of 16: 5 and soared to second place, joining the fight for the championship.

Unsurprisingly, the meeting between the rivals in excellent shape has become one of the key in the battle for the medals.

Red and white, if successful, could throw back one of the main competitors.

In turn, the railroad workers got the opportunity to reduce the gap from the Champions League zone to one point.

At the same time, the red-greens did not win against the principal opponent in the RPL for almost four years.

The last time they turned out to be stronger was back in August 2017 at the Otkritie Arena.

One of the most striking confrontations in the history of the derby ended with a score of 4: 3 in favor of the guests.

Since then, they have lost three times to Spartak in six matches of the national championship and have parted with him the same number of times.

Both teams came to the next game not without losses.

However, the medical staff of the guests managed to create a real miracle and put on their feet both Samuel Gigot, who received a concussion, and injured Alex Kral and Ezequiel Ponce, to the derby.

The first two even took to the field from the first minutes, while the Argentine remained in reserve.

Lokomotiv could not count on the injured Vladislav Ignatiev and Ze Luis and the disqualified Maciej Rybus.

If the team has long been accustomed to the absence of the first two, the Pole is practically an uncontested candidate for the left flank of the defense.

As a result, the coaching staff of the railway workers really surprised the fans by throwing into the battle the 20-year-old debutant Alexander Silyanov, who had never entered the field in the RPL before.

On the right edge of the defense, it was not Dmitry Rybchinsky who appeared, but Dmitry Zhivoglyadov, who was more oriented towards destruction.

The attacking duo was made up of Fedor Smolov and Francois Camano, who scored goals in the cup match against Sochi.

Lokomotiv's ideal counterattacks

From the first minutes Lokomotiv gave the ball to the rival and made a bet on their proprietary quick counterattacks.

It seemed that the red and white, in turn, would put pressure on the left flank of the opponent's defense, which was occupied by the young Silyanov, but the guests first attacked more on the opposite edge, where Zhivoglyadov could hardly cope with the fast Ayrton.

Alexander himself acted calmly and confidently enough.

During one of the first attacks, the Brazilian performed a dangerous cross into the penalty area, and Sobolev only miraculously did not close the transfer of his partner.

And ten minutes later, Ayrton himself shot on goal with a ricochet from Zhivoglyadov's leg, but Marinato Guilherme reacted to the shot.

The hosts goalkeeper in the first half was generally very good and made as many as six saves.

Many of them turned out to be really difficult.

For example, the goalkeeper coped with a shot of Quincy Promes from outside the penalty area into the far corner.

Alexander Maksimenko also had to come into play.

For example, in the tenth minute, he did not allow Smolov to excel, who had previously left Pavel Maslov and Gigot in someone else's penalty area and found himself in an almost lethal position.

And on the 22nd minute Lokomotiv unexpectedly opened the scoring.

And in this episode, the opponent's defense once again showed itself not in the best way.

Dmitry Barinov calmly walked along the right flank and delivered a cross into the penalty area to the absolutely free Grzegorz Krychowiak.

In turn, the Pole had enough time to make a verified chamber on Kamano, who could only hit the empty net.

The missed goal forced Spartak to open up even more.

Accordingly, Lokomotiv received free zones, into which fast attackers could break in, and regularly used this.

True, in the end of the first half, the red and white almost won back, but again Guilherme acted above all praise, who first coped with Jordan Larsson's free-kick, and then parried Jikia's shot after a corner.

In another episode, Promes fell in the penalty area after a single combat with a defender, but the judge did not assign a penalty.

And in a retaliatory attack, the railroad workers again punished the opponent for careless actions in their half of the field.

Zhemaletdinov, after the transfer of a partner, fled one-on-one with Maksimenko, and Ayrton was forced to shoot him down.

As a result, the Brazilian received a direct red card, and Smolov sent the ball to his left corner from the set and scored his third goal in a week.

The goalkeeper in this episode seemed to hide too much behind the wall and did not reach the ball.

Controversial decision of the judge

After the break, Tedesco, as expected, went to change the tactical alignment.

The place of the inconspicuous Sobolev on the field was taken by Nail Umyarov.

At the same time, the team reorganized to a system with two central defenders, and the versatile Zobnin dropped to the left side of the defense.

Moses moved to the right edge of the attack.

Moments at the gates of Maksimenko with the appearance in the support zone of Umyarov really became less, but the point is that the opponent himself rarely created them.

True, in the 51st minute, the guests claimed a penalty after the ball hit Pablo's hand, but referee Kirill Levnikov, after consulting with his colleagues at VAR, did not point out the "point".

At the same time, in this episode, the railway workers, despite the ricochet, once again saved Guilherme.

In the future, "Spartak" continued to possess the ball, but practically did not penetrate the opponent's penalty area.

Especially active was Promes, who on the left flank caused big problems for Zhivoglyadov.

But the defenders of the hosts worked together to cope with the threats.

Pablo and Chorluk were especially good at wrestling on the second floor.

And the railroad workers themselves, on occasion, fled into dangerous counterattacks.

For example, in the 65th minute Smolov could have made a double, but Maksimenko coped with his shot into the near corner from the penalty area.

Alexander also did not allow Kamano to play on finishing.

Guilherme also continued to save the team.

During one of the attacks, Larsson was taken one-on-one with a pass from the depths, but the Swede was unable to outplay the naturalized Brazilian who had caught crazy courage.

This moment, it seems, finally demoralized Tedesco's charges.

There was less and less time left until the end of the match, and they could not play at least one ball.

In turn, Lokomotiv in the end could well have brought the score to a large one.

Nikolic threw Vitaly Lisakovich into the fight instead of Smolov, and the fresh Belarusian missed two advantageous chances at once.

Maksimenko first coped with his blow to the near corner, and then with his foot parried a shot to the far one from the penalty line.

The final whistle of Levnikov recorded the railroad's eighth victory in the eighth match after the season resumed.

And the first triumph in the game against Spartak in the RPL since August 2017 allowed the red-greens to reduce the gap from the red-whites to one point.