Semak called the match with Lokomotiv good food for thought

Zenit head coach Sergei Semak called the defeat from Lokomotiv in the ninth round of MIR RPL unpleasant, noting that the game gave plenty of food for thought.

The meeting in St. Petersburg ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of the guests, who scored the second goal in added time to the second half.

— We started well in the first half of the first half, then we gave away the initiative and allowed the opponent to create dangerous situations. The second half was better, we needed to score. There were good approaches, but the last pass was not enough for us to score the second goal.

In the end we missed the goal and lost. Unfortunately, such matches do happen. There are a lot of them this season. This is good food for thought for us. “Nothing is lost, but the defeat is unpleasant,” Semak said at a press conference.

On Match TV, he noted that the team gave the initiative to the opponent and conceded a goal, despite the advantage.

— The moment with the second goal? It was a mistake, we tried to keep the ball, but in the end we lost it and scored a goal. The match fell apart. We started well, partially lost the initiative, looked better in the second half, but instead of scoring, we conceded. The match is similar to the game with Dynamo, where we lost almost the same way. You also need to go through this to be stronger. As for Rodrigao, he is an important player for us and we need to include him in the game. There are many matches ahead, he must get match practice to feel the tone of the game. We are counting on him, we will give him time to get into shape faster.

Replacement for Isidore? He missed a lot, he didn’t train and is getting in shape, now he’s not one hundred percent ready, he’s just joining our team. He needs time to gain physical shape and establish connections with partners.

We understand that Lokomotiv came to wait for our mistake and play on the counterattack. The control was fragmentarily good, but when it was not there and we lost balls, opportunities for quick attacks appeared for Loko,” said Semak.

Lokomotiv head coach Mikhail Galaktionov noted the contribution of young players to the victory over Zenit.

— In the first half, we looked very decent, Dmitry Barinov had a good chance, which they should have converted, Zenit had one episode that ended with a goal. A strong-willed, “spiritual” victory, we told the guys that we were proud of the young guys, the boys. The experienced guys who were next to them supported the core that is necessary for a combat team.

The exit of (Maxim) Glushenkov – it was planned that he would strengthen his game during the match, and that’s what happened. And so, Anton Miranchuk received a card, there was a foul, we were afraid that there would be a removal, we quickly responded to this, Max did his job.

I believe in the level of preparedness, the spirit of teamwork, everyone together as one big family. Yes, something is not working out. But today the impulse that gives the team the upward movement is the very organization of the game, where order beats class,” Galaktionov told Match TV.

Watch live broadcasts of MIR RPL matches on the Match TV channel and thematic channels of the holding, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.