The last pancake Comley: Lokomotiv almost won against Zenit

The draw between Zenit and Lokomotiv in the 26th round of the Russian Premier League once again intensified the fight for the championship and gave Krasnodar a chance to return to the first place in the standings. Meanwhile, CSKA continued to lose points in the spring part of the season, having drawn at home with Rostov, and the intrigue in the struggle for survival at the bottom of the table sharply revived.

Lokomotiv — Zenit

For the railwaymen, the match with the leader remained the last theoretical chance to return to the championship race. In the first half, the hosts managed to impose a fight on Zenit and looked confident enough.

In the opening 15 minutes, Lokomotiv had the territorial advantage. Mikhail Galaktionov's men hit the goal dangerously from outside the penalty area several times, and in one of the episodes, the goalkeeper of the guests, Denis Adamov, barely turned the ball to the corner.

Gradually, Zenit seized the initiative and began to own the ball more often in the other half of the field, but it did not come to really dangerous moments at the opponent's goal. As a result, the teams went on a break with the score 0-0.

In the middle of the second half, Lokomotiv had two great chances to open the scoring. First, after a cross from the corner and a series of rebounds, Artem Karpukas shot from the goalkeeper's line just above the goal. Soon, as a result of a counterattack, Nikolay Komlichenko hit from the center of the penalty area, but Adamov saved his team again.

The match was steadily heading towards a goalless draw, but there was a dramatic episode in the end. For playing with Igor Diveev's hand, the referee awarded a penalty to the visitors, but Adamov deflected Komlichenko's shot.

As a result, Zenit is still two points ahead of Krasnodar, but the Southerners have a match in reserve. Lokomotiv increased the gap from Baltika and Spartak to four points, but at the end of the round, competitors can reduce it to a minimum.

CSKA Moscow — Rostov

CSKA continues to have an unsuccessful spring season. The Army team went into the winter break as one of the contenders for the championship, the club conducted a large-scale transfer campaign, but since the beginning of March it has won only two out of eight matches in the championship.

First, there were three defeats in a row, followed by an away defeat from Krasnodar (0:4) in the return match of the "RPL Path" of the Russian Cup, as a result of which the army team flew to the "Path of the Regions". After that game, Moises, one of the leaders of the red and blue, was removed from the squad, who had a conflict with head coach Fabio Celestini.

Then the results seemed to start improving, but even defeating the teams from the bottom of the table was difficult. In the championship, CSKA beat Dynamo Makhachkala at home (3:1), and then Akron Togliatti away (2:1). Moreover, the last match was won after a controversial referee's decision in the end — the referees did not count the goal of the home team's striker Artyom Dzyuba, fixing the violation on goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev. After that, CSKA defeated Samara Krylia Sovetov in the "Path of the Regions" of the Russian Cup (5:2), but then there was a new wave of failures, and in games with teams from the bottom of the table. At first, the match was lost at home to Sochi, the last and almost doomed to relegation to the First League (0:1). Then an away draw with Krylia (1:1).

After that, Celestini's team dropped to sixth place, and rumors about the resignation of the Swiss specialist noticeably intensified.

The home match with Rostov did not add optimism to CSKA fans. The home match with Rostov also did not add optimism to CSKA fans. The Donskoy club is in the top ten, but has not yet guaranteed itself a place in the RPL. Over the past year and a half, the team has experienced the departure of a number of key players, long—time head coach Valery Karpin and president Artashes Harutyunyanets - people under whom Rostov maintained stability in 2017-2025 and was regularly in the middle of the table, and sometimes claimed medals.

Nevertheless, his assistant Jonathan Alba, who replaced Karpin in February 2025, managed to keep the team afloat and once again confirmed his worth in the away game against CSKA.

The visitors looked more confident in the first half and deservedly opened the scoring in the 36th minute.

After the break, the hosts improved and managed to equalize the score: in the 57th minute, Tamerlan Musaev scored after Danil Krugovoy's pass. However, the army could not achieve more.

Even the injury to the main goalkeeper Hidayet Hankic did not prevent Rostov from holding the draw. Daniil Odoevsky, who replaced him, confidently spent the remaining time and did not miss a single goal.

As a result, the army can count less and less even on bronze medals: the lag behind the third-placed Lokomotiv is five points. The chances of winning the championship are becoming more and more theoretical.

Now only a successful performance in the Russian Cup can save CSKA's season. On May 6, the army team will have a match of the final of the Path of the Regions against Spartak. If they win, the team will advance to the Superfinal, where they will play Krasnodar or Dynamo Moscow on May 24.

Rostov takes 10th place four rounds before the end of the championship, four points ahead of the transition zone and five ahead of the direct relegation zone.

"We were good in the first half, but CSKA played better in the second," Rostov midfielder Kirill Shchetinin shared his opinion with Izvestia. — It's a natural draw in the end. It's hard to say why we can't keep playing the same way we did in the first half. But if we play this kind of football as often as possible, we can beat any opponent.

The struggle for survival is escalating

In the matches of the 26th round, the situation at the bottom of the standings sharply worsened.

Two weeks ago, Sochi almost lost its chances of salvation, but then the team won three victories in a row — away over CSKA (1-0) and Rostov (1-0), and then at home over Krylia Sovetov (2:1).

As a result, Sochi residents have significantly reduced their gap with competitors. The team still occupies the last place, but the distance to the transition zone has decreased to five points.

In another meeting of the teams from the bottom of the table, Orenburg scored a strong-willed home victory over Pari Nizhny Novgorod (2:1) and rose from 15th place to 11th, getting out not only of the relegation zone, but also of the transition zone.

Nizhny Novgorod dropped to 15th place, but the gap between Orenburg, Dynamo Makhachkala, Krylia Sovetov and Akron is only one point.

In the match of the middleweights, Dynamo Moscow lost at home to Rubin Kazan (0:1).

The tour will end on April 23. In addition to the meeting of Spartak and Krasnodar, we are waiting for the confrontation of Akron with Dynamo Makhachkala and Akhmat with Baltika.