Dynamo beat Lokomotiv in the 19th round of the Russian Championship

In the 19th round of the Russian Championship, Dynamo beat Lokomotiv at home – 2:1. The blue and white scored 35 points and, although they still occupy third place, they have already reduced the gap from second-placed Zenit to two points.

The derby between Dynamo and Lokomotiv was of fundamental importance in itself, and after all the other medal contenders lost points in the 19th round, its value increased even more. After all, the capital’s clubs are faced with the prospect of even joining the gold race and getting almost close to second-place Zenit. True, for this it was necessary to overcome the draw syndrome that struck the leading teams of the championship after the winter break. And in the first round, the blue-whites and red-greens tied 0:0.

At Lokomotiv, the new central defender immediately attracted attention – the athletic, two-meter-tall Frenchman Gerzino Niamsi, bought from Strasbourg for €3.5 million.

At the same time, another and also quite large recruit, Bosnian striker Said Hamulic, on loan from Toulouse, did not make it into the starting lineup. So far, the head coach of the railway workers, Mikhail Galaktionov, still gives preference to Artem Dzyuba in the center forward position.

Dynamo, as you know, did not take advantage of the winter transfer window, but it did not have personnel problems due to injuries or disqualifications, with the exception of Mumi Ngamalyo, who returned from playing for the Cameroon national team at the African Cup with an injury. In general, Marcel Lička’s team turned out to be better prepared for the first official match of the spring part of the season.

“Lokomotiv” had a very hard time getting into the game, as if its players were still under the stress received at the training camp, while the owners of the “VTB Arena” fluttered like butterflies, and soon began to sting like bees.

Especially in this sense, the Latin American quartet stood out – Jorge Carrascal, Bitellu, Luis Chavez and Diego Laxalt. At times they frankly, as they say, drove the railway workers around and it was in this dominant style that they scored a goal. Carrascal easily got out of the encirclement of three opponents, easily “split” right back Alexander Silyanov and rolled the ball from the front line to Bitella, who hit the goal with a touch.

Moreover, Dynamo continued to put pressure primarily on Silyanov’s zone of responsibility, who could not cope with the same Bitellu, and if the Brazilian had been more precise with the last pass, Lokomotiv would have had a very difficult time. And so, despite the big advantage of the blue and whites, the guests escaped with only one goal conceded in the first half. Although there was a situation when they could have evened the score, Mario Mitai hit the post after a set piece.

Before the second half, Galaktionov made a double substitution, removing Dzyuba and Anton Miranchuk from the field, who, as they say, “did not come to the match.” Timur Suleymanov’s appearance with Sergei Pinyaev enlivened Lokomotiv’s game, and the former quickly scored a goal. But the striker went offside, closing in Nair Tiknizyan’s cross, who ran away one on one with goalkeeper Igor Leshchuk and probably had to decide everything himself. And soon the old rule “if you don’t score, they score for you” came into play. Carrascal passed the ball into the penalty area to Konstantin Tyukavin with the expectation that he would play into the wall, but he turned the ball in the other direction towards Denis Makarov and did the right thing. Dynamo’s right winger, completely unnoticed in the first half, coolly fired into the corner closest to the goalkeeper and, as it turned out, brought his team victory.

Losing 0:2, Lokomotiv did not give up fighting for the result. Moreover, after a series of substitutions, he reduced the difference when Rifat Zhemaletdinov, who appeared on the field, scored. His close shot against the post from the penalty area guaranteed a very tense ending to the derby. And the railway workers really gave fire. Ilya Samoshnikov repeated Carrascal’s pre-goal raid, but defender Roberto Fernandez managed to take the ball off Tiknizyan’s foot in the final phase of the attack. Then the hosts were rescued by Leshchuk, who parried Vladislav Sarveli’s shot. Zhemaletdinov also tried to save the match, and not without goalkeeper Ilya Lantratov taking a corner into someone else’s penalty area, which, however, almost led to a goal against him.

Dynamo survived and won 2:1. Now he already has 35 points, and the gap from Zenit is only two points, and there he is not far from the leading Krasnodar. In addition, the blue and white team pulled away by four points from their closest pursuers, Spartak and Lokomotiv.

Alexander Ilyin