Lokomotiv has nine points after three rounds. It seems that Galaktionov does not divide tournaments into major and minor at all. For each match – the highest mood and the corresponding result. Khimki, after a good start to the season, went through a bad streak. There have been no wins since the beginning of August. Then we beat Orenburg in the Cup and then Rubin in the RPL. Then there were mostly defeats, but at the same time the squad continued to fill up with players. All this has given rise to rumours about the possible dismissal of coach Frank Artiga. The management denied it, but after the match with Loko they will probably return to this topic.
Galaktionov did not organize a grandiose rotation in the squad. For example, Dmitry Barinov and Sergei Pinyaev were at the base. It was also interesting to watch the first match of newcomer Cesar Montes, who together with Pogostnov took a place in the center of defense. For Artiga, the Cup is the only opportunity to see some of the newcomers in action and get to know them. Therefore, the rotation here was more powerful. But we did not see Georgiy Dzhikiya, one of the most interesting newcomers in the summer transfer window, either in the starting lineup or in the reserves.
Why does Khimki need so many players?
The two RPL outsiders have 64 players in their squads. Why?
The match did not start very well. The teams exchanged not particularly dangerous approaches and fought for the initiative. In the end, no one got the ball. Yes, Lokomotiv looked a little more solid, but the hosts were not going to give up territory. The first dangerous moment occurred precisely at Khimki: in the 16th minute, Mirzov picked up the ball on the wing, did not make the usual move, but went to the center and shot. Mitryushkin took the ball from the near corner.
Loko quickly responded to Saltykov’s efforts, but his shot into the top corner went wide of the post. Halfway through the half, the guests changed gears and began to press even more actively towards the goal. The most active was Saltykov, who distributed passes from the flank. At one point, Suleymanov received the ball, but slightly missed. At the end of the half, the forward had another chance, which he also missed.
“Khimki” – “Lokomotiv”
Photo: fclm.ru
Khimki didn’t really play very well in the second half of the half. But overall it didn’t seem like Loko had a big advantage. The match was going for three results. During the break, the coaches made a change. And so it started.
In the 48th minute, Loko took a corner, Khimki failed to clear the ball and it went back to Suleymanov in the penalty area. The striker hit the other player hard. But that was just the beginning. Two minutes later, the second ball came. In the middle of the penalty area, everyone forgot about Montes, who volleyed home. It was a beautiful shot.
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Loko scored their third goal in the next attack, after a mistake by the central defenders, but the video assistants saw a slight offside. However, the two-goal lead did not last long. In the 62nd minute, a long play led to the ball reaching the flank, where Pinyaev headed it in. Once again, the shortest visiting player scored with a header.
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Another 160 seconds and Sergei made it two. It was already a funeral. Another mistake in attack, a defeat, and Pinyaev did his job.
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It is hard to even imagine what was happening to the Khimki team at that moment. 20 minutes after leaving the locker room, four goals. But that was not the end. In the 70th minute the score was 5:0. Another ball loss and Sarveli went one-on-one, but was brought down by Terekhov. The penalty was converted by Suleymanov.
The coaches made changes, Loko finally slowed down, but they did not show up against Khimki. Only in the last 5-10 minutes did the guests start to leave the free zones. And yet we managed to get a goal back. The goal was scored by Bakaev after a strong defensive exit.
Khimki also has no luck with the refereeing:
What’s up with the table of refereeing errors in the RPL? Two newcomers to the league are the ones who suffer the most
Loko remains in first place in the group. Khimki is third with three points. They have matches against Orenburg and Rostov ahead of them, so they could drop to fourth place.
But the main thing is who will lead the team in these matches. After this result, it seems that Artiga will not stay for long at the Club.
