Augustinyak penalty drags Ural out of relegation zone against 10-man Lokomotiv

Lokomotiv Moscow 0-1 Ural Ekaterinburg 
Saturday 4 December, RZD Arena

Goal: Ural - Augustinyak (pen) 41’
Sent off: Lokomotiv - Jedvaj 47’
Man of the Match: Ramazan Gadzhimuradov (Ural)

Tin Jedvaj had an evening to forget as he not only gave away the penalty for Ural’s opener, but got himself sent off straight after half time.

Ural’s stubborn streak continued as they managed to frustrate Lokomotiv with relative ease in the first half, outdoing the hosts for corners, shots and shots on goal - and crucially, actual goals. 

Rafal Augustinyak struck with his second goal in consecutive games from the penalty spot after Jedvaj’s stray elbow caught Ramazan Gadzhimuradov. Within seconds of the restart, the Croatian defender piled even more pressure on his teammates by stamping on Kirill Kolesnichenko’s leg to receive a second booking.

Lokomotiv did threaten in spurts though, striking the crossbar twice in the last 20 minutes. First Francois Kamano curled a gentle shot onto the crossbar from the edge of the box, although it was perhaps a sign of Ural’s growing composure that Ilya Pomazun was confident enough to leave it. Then substitute Sergey Babkin unleashed a fearsome drive that smacked the woodwork from an angle about 20 yards out.

In between a desperate lunge from Maksim Nenakhov did just enough to distract Aleksey Gerasimov from tapping in a second shortly after from Gadzhimuradov’s inswinging cross. Ural were finding more and more spaces as Lokomotiv pushed forward, but lacked the precision to make the counter-attacks count.

In one fell swoop, Ural leapt right out of the relegation playoff zone, and cast more shadows over Lokomotiv’s desperate run.

Lokomotiv stay fifth on 25 points, while Ural go 12th on 16 points. 

Next RPL fixtures: Saturday 11 December - Rostov vs Ural; Sunday 12 December - Lokomotiv vs Ufa