Incidentally, the continuation in Luzhniki could not be a series of Spartak setbacks in the confrontation with Loko, but the theme of the “confidants of debauchery,” which almost all those involved in Russian football literature were actively pedaling for a dozen days. It seems that the book reader Anatoly Byshovets, if necessary, would have had no trouble extracting from memory more than one classic quotation in order to color his claims to the Czech referees. In the 58th minute, with a score of 1: 0, an absolutely legitimate goal was taken away from those guests - no less obvious than not counted in the cup meeting after the strike of Spartak Torbinsky. Is it possible that the episode was more fussy, and therefore it was difficult for the judges to see that the goal ball for Sychev was delivered by Zhedera's Spartak head, and therefore there was no question of an offside position.
Be that as it may, this moment in the end added a match to the match that lacked a hint of drama. Quite soon, the sloppy attacking Spartak was born with Pavlyuchenko’s goal - he cunningly, with a U-turn and ball jumps in synthetics, shot 20 yards from under Efimov in the left corner of Yakupovich.
A draw promised another judicial scandal. Everything seemed to go to her. But, to the credit of Lokomotiv, he did not allow his cohesive game to completely blur, like ice cream forgotten in the May sunshine.
In the very ending, Byshovets tried to return to the team a constructive beginning, partly lost with the reckless replacement of Loskov. As soon as Kontsedalov appeared on the pitch, he was well adapted to the longitudinal pass of Bilyaletdinov, gnawingly flipped from the right edge of the box into the near corner and forced Pletikos to hit the ball at random. It turned out - to Geder's leg, the rebound from which turned into an ideal self-propelled pass to Sychev, who was running into an empty net. So symbolically - with the participation of the same characters - fate returned to Lokomotiv the previously selected goal, and with it the well-deserved victory.
Deserved - because he played noticeably better than the leader, financially indicating an advantage even at the end of the boring first half. First, Loskov’s explosive pass from the depths to the course of Sychev turned into a corner. And his filing on the right by Samedov after a series of fleeting touches got to the far edge of the penalty area to Bilyaletdinov, who sentenced Pletikos with a low-angle shot under his legs apart.
The match turned out to be not rich in other acute moments. Fedotov, due to a losing score, earlier Byshovets was disappointed in the one-forward construction chosen from the start. Even during the break, he paired Pavlyuchenko with a young Prudnikov. But even with the doubling of bayonets at the tip, it did not cease to be blunt. Spartak midfielders, including Titov, worked quite sluggishly on the attack. And completely excluding Quincy from the game context. He, it seems, once again did not understand what the coach wanted from him, hid himself securely at the left edge and in a positive sense distinguished himself only by the fact that he quickly “hung” Rodolfo on the card. And therefore, the logic of Fedotov’s replacement of Bystrov by Boyarintsev turned out to be controversial - even though the replaced one did not shine on the right, but the strengthening of the opposite flank suggested much more clearly. As a result, Quincy, the only African blood player on the field, ran out of heat before the others, and the Loko victory attack began precisely with his oversight, when the Ghanaian lost the fight for the ball to Bilyaletdinov without a fight.
You will not call impeccable and the game is a bench of guests. Fixing the right edge for Samedov sent Kochish into free swimming. He was lost in the waves and for a long time remained the most inconspicuous on the field as part of the guests. Seriously Romanians drew attention only in the end, when he injured his ankle, taking the ball away from his own penalty box. His injury and prompted Byshovets to exit O'Connor. A bunch of two diverse and diverse forwards Loko looked much more advantageous. The Scot distracted Spartak's defenders and thereby provided much greater scope for Sychev. Which he eventually triumphantly took advantage of.
Spartak - Lokomotiv - 1: 2 (0: 1)
Goals: 0: 1 - Bilyaletdinov (38), 1: 1 - Pavlyuchenko (71), 1: 2 - Sychev (85).
SPARTAK: Pletikosa, Shishkin, Yiranek (Kovach, 68), Zheder, Kudryashov, Bystrov (Boyarintsev, 62), Sabitov, Kalinichenko (Prudnikov, 46), Titov, Quincy, Pavlyuchenko.
LOCOMOTIVE: Yakupovich, Spakhich, Rodolfo, Efimov, Ivanovich, Samedov (Kontsedalov, 84), Gurenko, Loskov (Fininho, 68), Bilyaletdinov, Kochish (O'Connor, 53), Sychev.
Warnings: Rodolfo (6), Pavlyuchenko (34), Prudnikov (70), Samedov (82), Kontsedalov (90), Fininho (90 + 1).
May 19. BSA "Luzhniki". 2 p.m.
Judge: Yaroslav Yara (Czech Republic).