Lokomotiv – Spartak: the first derby of 2023 has been successful!

Athletistic/ Football. On Wednesday, February 22, at the RZD Arena, Lokomotiv and Spartak played their first official match in 2023. A week before referee Vyacheslav Bezborodov’s starting whistle, meteorologists frightened fans with the cold from February. And they were right – a bite of minus 13 degrees was recorded in the capital this evening.

The fate of the match, due to bad weather, was literally at stake until this morning, but closer to dinner it became clear – there will be a match! Remember that according to the rules of the competition, if the temperature is below 15 degrees, the clubs can officially file a request for a postponement of the match. March 7 was considered a reserve day, which was never needed.

A huge army of Moscow fans came out to greet the start of the second half of the 2022/23 season – media say 15,000 people attended the RZD Arena today.

To the fearless football fans who boldly defied the “Madness of the Whole Month of February”, I would like to say a special thank you for their dedication to the Millions Game.

From the first minutes of the match, Guillermo Abascal brought out on the field the Russians who were exceptionally hardened by frost – the reds and whites went to meet the railway workers without a single legionnaire!

An interesting decision by the Spaniard was justified one hundred percent, because it was in the first half that Spartak dominated the field and scored, as it turned out later, a fateful goal.

In the second half, the Spartacus legionnaires still appeared on the field, but they did not achieve much – the initiative completely passed to the owners of the “RZD Arena”.

Immediately after the final whistle, the club’s ex-head Andrey Chervichenko rudely, but fairly noted that the foreigners of red and white almost missed the won game. And so it was.

On Wednesday, the two teams played according to the classic 4-3-3 pattern, but the red-whites, due to the speed of movement, largely crushed the home team in the first minutes, crowning their advantage with one jewel shot of Danila Prutsev. in the 16th minute.

Even before the start of the match, experts warned that “Spartak” had well-honed the game pattern in the United Arab Emirates, where in February they confidently won a friendly tournament. And they were right – “Spartacus” the first 45 minutes looked like a team from the middle of the season.

“Locomotive”, frankly, against the background of well-adjusted actions of the opponent looked like a machine with factory settings – it did not lose in terms of game class, but in terms of parameters it was inferior through a door.

In the second half, everything changed – the metropolitan train found its way. Moreover, the hosts even managed to score a goal, but the all-seeing and all-knowing VAR system in any cold February spoke out against the railway workers.

Vyacheslav Bezborodov canceled out a superb shot from Stanislav Magkeev in the 76th minute to decide the game.

Alexander Mostovoy doubted the fairness of St. Petersburg referee’s decision after the game, stressing that he expects an explanation from the judiciary in the very near future

“The most important thing that happened to me was the disallowed goal, in my opinion, clean. The score should have been 1:1. I wonder what the judges will say now?” Mostovoy pointed out in a interview for SE.

Also shrugged, commenting on the referee’s decision to cancel the ball Magkeev, and Andrei Chervichenko.

“A very good and interesting match. While the team was Russian, the guys tore each other apart, everything was fine. Then everything went less well, thanks to Bezborodov’s decision, we managed to win,” said bluntly stated the official in an interview with Metaratings.ru.

Either way, it won’t be possible to hear a statement on the canceled prom from officials until tomorrow morning.

Separately, it is worth noting the actions on the pitch of Artyom Dziuba, whose move to Loko became the loudest transfer event in Russia in January.

It can’t be said that the great striker was lost in today’s match, but Dzyuba didn’t shine either. The brightest moment with the participation of Artyom occurred in the 76th minute, when Barinov made a pass into the penalty area, after which the turn was at the feet of Dzyuba – the former team captain Russian national struck decisively from a deadly position, but the ball went over the crossbar!

It is quite obvious that Dziuba, as a striker from the penalty area, is difficult at Lokomotiv. There are simply no skillful midfielders, like at Zenit, who would shower Dziuba with smooth passes! And they are unlikely to appear.

And this means that the player will have to rebuild somewhat – to roll back more. He simply won’t have any other option to meet the ball at Lokomotiv.

Of course, Galaktionov understands this, and therefore, immediately after the game, he praised Dziuba’s actions in an educationally verified manner.

“Artyom adapted to the team and brought emotions. He is a revanchist, his eyes are burning. This is what the team needs now,” Galaktionov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Galaktions’ words that Dziuba has already adapted to the club’s pattern of play are more like a psychological maneuver – the player needs to be encouraged. However, in reality everything will be a little more complicated – Dzyuba and Lokomotiv need time to get used to each other.

The only thing with which Dziuba can console himself is the fact that he did not lose the match duel against Queens Promes – the Dutchman frankly capitulated to the weather tests, having played his 30 minutes “in the cold”.

Nevertheless, today the red-whites won, creating a serious reserve for the final success. The team’s second game of the quarter-finals will take place on February 27 at the Spartak stadium.