Timely substitutions of Nikolic and long-range strike of Angorin: Lokomotiv escaped in the opening match of the Europa League with Marseille

After the defeats of Zenit and Spartak in the first round of the group stage of the Champions League and Europa League, respectively, Russian fans could only hope for a successful start for Lokomotiv in the second most important European Cup.

True, the railroad workers had to start their tournament path with a confrontation with an extremely difficult opponent - Marseilles.

Jorge Sampaoli's wards in four rounds of the French championship scored ten points out of 12 possible and took the third place in the standings, behind only Angers and PSG, who played more games.

At the weekend, the away team confidently beat Monaco (2: 0), whose colors are protected by Alexander Golovin, thanks to a double by Amad Bamba Dieng.

It was strategically important for Marko Nikolic's team to score points at home, because in Group E, where Lazio and Galatasaray also play, any point can be worth its weight in gold, including in the fight for third place, which gives the right to continue the performance in the Conference League playoffs.

And the hosts managed to surprise the guests by betting on an atypical 4-3-3 formation.

Francois Camano, Fyodor Smolov and Rifat Zhemaletdinov acted in attack, and Dmitry Barinov, Alexis Beka-Beka and Daniil Kulikov - in midfield.

It is also curious that Tin Jedvai is located on the right edge of the defense, and Murilo made a pair in the center of defense to Stanislav Magkeev. 

From the first minutes of the match, it became obvious that the hosts were going to act strictly "number two".

They gave the ball to the opponent, almost completely abandoning high pressure, and settled in their own half, cleverly blocking the central zone.

Smolov, Kamano and Zhemaletdinov made up the first three defensive positions, and Beka-Beka, Barinov and Kulikov - the second.

At the same time, the railway workers tried to leave as few gaps between the lines as possible.

It was felt that Marcel was not very comfortable playing without free space.

The guests tried to look for him on the flanks, but they did not often succeed there either.

On the whole, Nair Tiknizyan and Edvay looked reliable, although they could not do without positional errors.

And the midfielders always had time to help them.

As a result, the Muscovites played almost perfectly in defense, although at times they still allowed the opponent to strike.

But Marinato Guilherme calmly coped with not the most dangerous shots of Matteo Guenduzi and William Salib after a corner.

However, the problem was that Loko had practically no counterplay.

The red-greens used high pressing extremely rarely, and if they did it, the technical football players of the French team easily left him.

It seemed that Marseille's excessive enthusiasm for attack, especially given the high position of the defensive line, could be used.

But the railwaymen often made a mistake when trying to organize an offensive and already in the center of the field they quickly lost the ball under pressure from the guests.

Only once did the team catch an opponent on a blot.

Smolov, after a perfect cast from the depths, left the defender on the left flank and shot into the near corner from outside the penalty area.

Unfortunately, the ball hit the post.

This moment remained an exception to the rule in the first half.

It was hard to imagine a more defensive performance, but in the second half Lokomotiv switched to a 4-5-1 without the ball.

Zhemaletdinov and Kamano sank low on the flanks.

Nikolic seemed to feel that it was from this zone that danger could come.

Alas, the coach's foreboding did not disappoint. His players acted almost perfectly in defense for an hour, but then they made a gross mistake. Tiknizyan allowed Cengiz Under to run away from him on the right edge, and then he braided his legs in the penalty area. The newcomer's decision raised big questions, because Murilo managed to insure the partner. And so the railway workers received a double punishment - a penalty and a second yellow card for the offender. Guilherme had repeatedly saved the team before, but failed to cope with the blow from Under, who struck hard in the center.

To Nikolic's credit, he did not let go of his hands and immediately began to make replacements, refreshing the midfield line and attack.

Konstantin Maradishvili, Faustino Angorin, Alexander Silyanov, Girano Kerk and Vitaly Lisakovch appeared on the field.

Silyanov took his place on the left edge of the defense and coped with his duties superbly, and the hosts actually began to act in a 4-1-4 formation with Barinov in the support zone.

It is tempting to write that the castling helped the railroad workers turn the tide of the meeting.

However, in reality, “Marseille” continued to calmly possess the ball, killing time.

Muscovites still did not have the slightest hint of counterplay.

However, in the end of the game, the railwaymen nevertheless took the initiative for a short time, and luck smiled at them.

It is significant that the return goal was organized by the substitute performers.

In the 89th minute, Silyanov fought for the ball with Valentin Rogier and made him make a mistake, while Anjorin burst into the vacated space and shot into the far corner from outside the penalty area.

The Englishman rented from Chelsea scored his debut ball in the second match for the Moscow club.

So Lokomotiv, having inflicted only two shots on target of the other's goal and possessing the ball only 30% of the time, snatched a draw from Marseille.

On the other hand, Nikolic's team played almost flawlessly in defense and quite deservedly became the first Russian team to score points in the group stage of the European Cup season.