Rubin 2-0 Lokomotiv: Excellent Rubin counter undoes defiant Lokomotiv

Lokomotiv looked the better side but were undone by the effective Rubin counter-attack that allowed the hosts to gain a 2-0 victory and move into fourth place in the Russian Premier League.

Lokomotiv's typical attacking 4-2-3-1 held possession against Rubin's similar formation for the majority of the first half, but the home side's more effective counter-attack provided the majority of the chances in a dull first period that was marked by poor refereeing more than anything else. The first incident of note came in the 10th minute, when a Jan Durica back pass was collected by Guilherme, however referee Vladimir Kazmenko missed the penalty claim despite the protests of Rubin's attackers. Dyadyun had a powerful shot saved by Guilherme before Karadeniz put a weak header at the visiting keeper. The 39th minute saw a weak free kick given on the edge of Lokomotiv's box after a soft challenge on Dyadyun by Jan Durica. Pablo Orbaiz's initial effort failed to make it past the wall, but the ball fell for Bibras Natkho, who put a strong low effort past Guilherme to give Rubin an arguably undeserved lead.

The interval saw Victor Obinna replace Dmitri Tarasov, leaving Jan Tigorev as the sole central midfielder for the visitors. The risk paid off however, as Roman Pavlyuchenko came close three times in the opening ten mintues of the second period, only denied by the post and a superb Sergei Ryzhikov. Slaven Bilic decided to compress the game into the centre of the pitch with his substitutions as the half went on, a somewhat unwise decision considering the strength of Rubin's midfield and the fragility of its wings. Nonetheless, Lokomotiv continued pushing and almost saw an equaliser through a Pavlyuchenko bullet header in the 79th minute, but Ryzhikov once again denied the 31-year-old. Rubin finally applied the finishing touch to their victory as Dyadyun sent a powerful shot past Guilherme on a rare home counter, leaving the match to finish at 2-0.

Slaven Bilic's bizarre substitutions once again left Lokomotiv struggling and extended their winless streak to four matches, with only one draw coming in that sequence. Rubin executed Kurban Berdyev's counter-attacking game plan perfectly and the Kazan side have come into contention for Champion's League places in recent weeks.

Man of the Match: Sergei Ryzhikov
Ryzhikov was barely called into action in the first period, but really proved his value following the interval, denying Roman Pavlyuchenko four times and holding onto an excellent Dame N'Doye header to keep yet another clean sheet. There is a reason Rubin have the second best defence in the Russian Premier League. That reason is Sergei Ryzhikov.

Russia 1-1 Brazil: Second-string Russian side lacks killer instinct over Brazil

Russia performed incredibly well by sitting deep and attacking on the counter, but a profligate frontline of Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Aleksandr Kokorin failed to put away chance after chance and allowed Brazil to hold onto a draw at Stamford Bridge.

Fabio Capello selected a number of lesser quality players for his side, although both teams started the match somewhat with a number of players playing in unfamiliar positions. Brazil remained in their typical 4-2-3-1 with Neymar central and Kaka and Oscar cutting in from wide, while Russia played a 4-3-3 with the regular winger of Bystrov playing centrally. Kokorin and Faizulin, the wingers for the side also came very central, crowding the centre of the pitch.

Russia started on the front foot, having four good chances within the opening quarter of an hour. Kerzhakov had a volley blocked by Thiago Silva barely two minutes into the game and Sergei Ignashevich had a free kick saved by Julio Cesar less than a minute later. Brazil slowly got into a rhythm and held possession for most of the half, but had few chances to go ahead. Neymar put a simple shot over the bar in the 23rd minute, while Faizulin spurned a chance on a counter-attack up the other end in the 41st.

The half saw a number of substitutions for Russia, who saw international stalwart Yuri Zhirkov introduced for the poor Kokorin while Dmitri Kombarov replaced excellent right back Aleksandr Anyukov. Brazil immediately started the second half better than the first, having a number of chances from Fred and Neymar fall slightly wide. Russia's first major attack of the half led to a corner that troubled Brazil, with Silva barely blocking the ball on the line but failing to prevent Faizulin from pouncing on the rebound and putting the Europeans in front. Marcelo came close to equalising in the 75th minute after substitute Hulk made an excellent run into the box, but the left back put the ball wide. It was not until the 90th minute that Brazil got their goal, as Marcelo sent a low cross at the feet of Fred, who made his first major contribution of the night with his goal.

Fabio Capello set his Russia side up to deal specifically with the opponents on hand, something which he has shown the ability to do so far in his time with the former Soviet team. His squad selection may have left some wondering however, with Alan Dzagoev and Igor Akinfeev failing to appear and Yuri Zhirkov relegated to an appearance off the bench. Nevertheless, Russia looked more comfortable in their system than Brazil and were unlucky not to take the win.

CSKA 1-0 Krasnodar: Excellent Love and Dzagoev bail out poor CSKA

CSKA Moscow failed to impress against Krasnodar, but superb performances from Vagner Love, Alan Dzagoev and Georgi Schennikov gave the home side a nervy 1-0 victory.

CSKA's initial formation resembled their typical 4-2-3-1, but once the side had a hold of the game it appeared to shift into somewhat of a 3-2-3-2 as Georgi Schennikov pushed up to the wing and Ahmed Musa came central. Meanwhile, Krasnodar sat in a deep 4-3-3 with Evgenni Shipitsin dropping back behind  Marcio Abreu and Mauricio Pereyra in the centre of midfield.

CSKA was on the front foot from the off, with Musa managing to miss two separate chances in the opening ten minutes. A few edgy minutes followed when CSKA looked like they could concede but a strong counter allowed Vagner Love to find space on the edge of the box and picked out Alan Dzagoev. Dzagoev was given far too much space in the area by the Krasnodar defence, and took his chance to slot in low to the left of the goal.

Following the goal, CSKA opened up and pushed for a second goal that never came. Georgi Schennikov pushed high up the pitch, allowing Ahmed Musa to come central alongside Vagner Love. Love himself distributed the ball excellently in the final third, but Musa was generally disappointing, spurning two further chances before the half, while Zoran Tosic put a simple volley well over the bar ten minutes from the break.

The break saw Shipitsin replaced by Hungarian attacking midfielder Vladimir Koman as Krasnodar pushed hard for an equaliser. They started the half well, but seemed to fall back after a small fight broke out between Igor Akinfeev and Pereyra and the game soon fell back into CSKA's hands. Pereyra came close to being sent off just minutes later and was quickly withdrawn from the game. Both Musa and Joaozinho eventually had chances to score in stoppage time, but in the end the match finished without any further incident for a 1-0 CSKA victory.

Man of the Match: Vagner Love
Love's movement and distribution in the final third was excellent and he came back well to stop a Krasnodar attack at one point. He did well to set up Dzagoev's goal and he could have had another two or three assists if Musa had put his shots on target more often.

Spartak 0-0 Lokomotiv: Visitors lucky to escape with Spartak draw

Lokomotiv Moscow were simply outclassed by local rivals Spartak, but superb defending from Vedran Corluka and Guilherme provided the side with a memorable goalless draw.

Both sides attempted to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but the match lacked balance due to the personnel employed by both managers. For Spartak, Ari drifted inwards leaving Kirill Kombarov to make up width on the right, progressing far higher up the pitch than his brother Dmitri on the left. Lokomotiv also suffered from balance issues, with Dame N'Doye, initially deployed on the left, looking out of place and struggling to make an impact in an unfamiliar position.


The match started drearily as Spartak kept possession around the halfway line, with neither side making any notable ventures forward. The first incident of note came in the 18th minute, after Kirill Kombarov volleyed a cross from his brother at the top of the goal, forcing Guilherme into an excellent save. Spartak continued to be the better side following the chance, but almost gifted Lokomotiv the lead when a Salvatore Bocchetti mistake allowed Felipe Caicedo to fire across the face off the Spartak goal on an efficient counter-attack. This was followed up mere minutes later by another great save from Guilherme, saving a powerful half-volley from Artem Dzyuba, who had done well to control a failed clearance in the box. Halftime came with no further chances, although Spartak had reasonable claim to being the better side.

Several potentially backfiring decisions were made at the half by Lokomotiv manager Slaven Bilic, who shifted Dame N'Doye central and brought on Maksim Grigoryev for Felipe Caicedo, who had been Lokomotiv's most impressive attacking player over the first period. He also shifted Tigorev into the backline, pushing the side into a 5-4-1 formation that counteracted Spartak's greater possession. These changes seemed to work as the match was instantly more balanced in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. Spartak saw Dzyuba miss another chance from a half-volley before Kallstrom was replaced by Bilyaletdinov to give the home side more creativity and attacking ability. The change instantly tipped the game back in Spartak's favour as the side pushed further into Lokomotiv's half. Lokomotiv came close from it's only two counter-attacks of the next 15 minutes of play, but the most notable chance came when substitute Bilyaletdinov's powerful volley was deflected onto the crossbar by Guilherme.

The 77th minute saw Spartak essentially give up on a victory and hold on for the draw by withdrawing Ari from the game for new signing Ognen Vukojevic. Before the end of the match however, Dzyuba managed to spurn another chance after Bilyaletdinov also came close. Deep in stoppage time, Lokomotiv were given a free kick well outside the box that fell to Dmitri Torbinski, whose long range shot was on target but failed to trouble the Spartak keeper Pesyakov. The match ended goalless, but Spartak were the better side by far, but were let down by a misfiring forward line who failed to capitalise on chance after chance.


Man of the Match: Vedran Corluka
Corluka was the most effective member of Lokomotiv's solid defensive unit. The Croatian pressured Dzyuba into several wasted chances and marginalised a normally impressive Yura Movsisyan. His late block on a Bilyaletdinov shot was important to maintaining the draw.

Europa League: Fenerbahce draw Lazio; Rubin are handed tough Chelsea tie

The UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie has been tough to Eastern European sides, pitting Rubin Kazan against Premier League side Chelsea, while Fenerbahce must face Lazio of Serie A.

Rubin have struggled in an ever-improving Russian Premier League this season, but were impressive in the Europa League group stages, going undefeated in Group H, which also contained the somewhat distinguished Internazionale Milan. Rubin also impressed by eliminating title holders Atletico Madrid, but were very poor in their narrow victory over Levante in the round of 16. Rubin have seen one major reinforcement arrive in the form of French defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila, who will add both creativity and defensive ability to Rubin's currently unbalanced midfield.

Rubin truly could not have received a more dangerous attacking opponent than Chelsea. With attacking talent such as Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata, Chelsea currently sit fourth in the English Premier League, just two points behind fellow Europa League quarter-finalists Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand. The issue for Rubin, however, will not be containing Chelsea's attacking talent, but unleashing their own. Rubin sit as the second strongest defence in the Russian Premier League, but have found goals somewhat hard to come by, with Vladimir Dyadyun and Salomon Rondon both misfiring so far this season. Travel will also be difficult for Rubin, having to travel all the way across Europe just two days before their away match against Kuban Krasnodar in the league.

Fenerbahce have been handed a somewhat easier tie in Lazio, however they are still in tough spot regarding the Italian side's attacking talent. Libor Kozak has been scoring for fun in the knock out stages so far, topping it off with a hat-trick against Stuttgart. The ever-present Miroslav Klose will also be a likely threat to Fenerbahce's aging backline, but the presence of a superior midfield will go some way to balancing the tie. Fener will likely look to the midfield trio of Raul Meireles, Mehmet Topal and Miroslave Stoch to control the centre of the park, whilst asking the attacking trio of Moussa Sow, Dirk Kuyt and Milos Krasic to cause damage to Lazio's inconsistent defence.

The fixtures will take place on the 4th and 11th of April, with Fenerbahce playing at home in the first leg and Rubin playing at home in the second. The full fixture list is as follows:
Chelsea - Rubin Kazan
Tottenham Hotspur - FC Basel
Fenerbahce - Lazio
Benfica - Newcastle United

Welcome

Hi. Welcome to Beyond the Iron Curtain, a blog where I will talk about the goings on of Eastern European football, from matches to transfer rumours to historical events and everything in between. My main focus will be on Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, but I will also feature the football of other nations, including Croatia, Serbia and the Czech Republic among others. Feel free to leave your opinions in the comments, but please keep it clean and free of any potentially inappropriate discussion. And above all, enjoy!