Lokomotiv Lost In Krasnodar
This time, the fans wanted change. First and foremost, in the team’s character and its play. Lokomotiv’s captain Marinato Guilherme reverberated these hopes in his interview, saying they wanted to change for the better. Everybody understood that Krasnodar, who are betting hard for the Champions League ticket, are strong opponents, but feeling humiliated after the two consecutive losses to the League’s bottom-dwellers, Lokomotiv needed to restore trust here and now. The coaches made some changes to the lineup in an attempt to increase the potential.
The beginning of the game was spectacular - both teams used combination play. But soon Lokomotiv had troubles. Alexander Sheshukov picked up an injury and was carried off the pitch. Alexander Samedov fouled in his box and saw a yellow card, while the hosts were awarded a penalty. It resulted from bad positioning mistakes our players made, allowing Krasnodar to set up a rapid attack down the left flank. Guilherme tried to guess the direction of the strike but unsuccessfully, - Krasnodar opened the score.
The second half brought another blow - Mykhalyk got injured. Bozovic had to make another forced substitution. Meanwhile, Lokomotiv managed to create more opportunities than in the previous game against Ufa. Denisov was active on the left flank, the fullback attempted to score but Dikan chose a good position in the box. The Railwaymen were good at maintaining pressure near Krasnodar’s goal but always lacked a clinical finish.
Skuletic came in towards the end of the game and could have scored right away but failed to head a service coming from a flank.
In the remaining time, Lokomotiv lost another player to an injury - Vedran Corluka was knocked down with a back slide, and could only leave the pitch with the assistance of the doctors.
The scoreline didn’t change. Lokomotiv lost despite showing equal play.
Russian Premier League. Gameweek 25.
Krasnodar - Lokomotiv - 1:0 (1:0)
Goals: Pereyra, 37 (pen.)
Krasnodar: Dikan, Kaleshin, Granqvist, Sigurdsson, Petrov, Akhmedov, Shirokov, Pereyra (Wanderson, 70), Izmaylov, Mamaev (Laborde, 75), Ari (Bystrov, 90).
Lokomotiv: Guilherme, Corluka, Pejcinovic, Denisov, Logashov, Mykhalyk (Fernandes, 63), Sheshukov (Shishkin, 24), Kasaev, Samedov, Alexey Miranchuk, Niasse (Skuletic, 80).
Yellow cards: Mykhalyk, 16. Samedov, 38. Shishkin, 79. Laborde, 90. Pejcinovic, 90.
Referee: Sergey Lapochkin (St Petersburg)
April 25th. Krasnodar. Kuban Stadium.
