This confrontation turned out to be more serious than simple Moscow showdowns. For both teams, their own urgent tasks - championship and departure from the “tower” - meant victory here and now. However, the newly appointed Loko coach Oleg Dolmatov had three points more important: not to beat the torpedo that got stuck in the swamp meant not to give an instant result. And, of course, the club management needs it, even if it invites the coach who won the last time six months ago to work.
Dolmatov was not surprised. He returned to the center of the midfield a reliable Gurenko, and on the flanks he detached the antipodes - the young Fininho and the seasoned Evseev. Plus two clean forwards, which determined the nature of the game in the first twenty minutes. O'Connor and Sychev had a couple of half points, in which the goalkeeper of the “Torpedo” Kabanov, the lineman with the flag and, it seems, the hand of the defender took part - but it never came to a goal.
Dolmatov reacted to the scoreboard after half an hour of the game and released instead of the Brazilian Izmailov, once again confirming that Cherkizovsky prodigy can be found in any Loko coach. Soon the red-green ranks were filled up with a spender Bilyaletdinov, who smacked above the gate, and then became entangled in the defenses of other people's legs. Opponents did not answer - except that they were remembered by an unusually white form. What would that mean?
After a break, a slurred game gradually developed into a positional advantage of Lokomotiv. But the “Torpedo” did not press against the goal and time after time left Sychev out of the game. He made a double from offside, but with the flag down, it was not possible to repeat this feat. Asildarov was sent to help dispersed Sychev. He also snatched a couple of points from the Torpedo defense, but could not control the goalkeeper. The forward, who was in reserve with Slavo Muslin, exhausted Dolmatov’s confidence in 20 minutes and was replaced by Selsinho.
Meanwhile, the Loko game slut came together in a rut aimed strictly at the gates of the guests. But Bilyaletdinov slipped, Sychev missed, and Evseev, after hitting the ball twice, had every reason to recall the lexical layer he had raised somehow in Wales. The final bulk of the hosts was justified, and Loskov's productive blow in stoppage time was canceled by the referee. The double mistake of Polyakov, who almost rolled the ball into his own net, looked all the more ridiculous.
A draw after a defeat - is it progress? In the next round, the Dolmat brigade travels to the blue and white Torpedo neighbors through the swamp. And the loss of points in this match, with an somehow encouraging game, is unlikely to please. Not only Valery Filatov. But those who can write off overboard already him. Just like he is a coach.