By the 6th round of the championship of Russia, the railway workers approached in the status of the main “hooligans” of the league. In the first five matches, Lokomotiv accumulated two red cards – more than any other RPL team. Yes, and minor violations on the account of Muscovites by that time were already enough: with 15 yellow cards, the team took second place in the corresponding rating, second only to Ural.

The match against Khimki, however, did not promise a tough fight and removals. Loko approached the game in the status of an obvious favorite, although they were lower than their rivals in the standings. It was expected that it was in the suburbs that the railway workers would take their first three points of the season, finally correcting themselves after an indistinct start (3 draws and 2 losses in 5 matches).

And the first half fully met these expectations. Gyrano Kerk had his best stretch of the 2022/23 campaign, scoring for the team after about half an hour of play. In the 22nd minute, the Dutchman scored a goal, and in the 34th minute he scored an assist, providing Loko with a comfortable advantage (2:0).

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However, in the 41st minute, the course of the game suddenly changed – and primarily thanks to the referee. At the end of the half, Khimki defender Alexander Filin sent forward Reziuan Mirzov to counterattack. This sortie, as it quickly became clear, was not promising: Loko’s defense player Mark Mampassi was the first on the ball. But the Ukrainian failed to understand the episode – and instead, he only brought additional problems to the railway workers.

Seeing a pursuer behind him, the defender, out of habit, waved him off with his hand, trying to stop him – and the insidious opponent squeezed the maximum out of this movement. Mirzov reacted sharply to a light go-ahead, falling on the lawn, so the referee immediately showed Mampassi a yellow card.

Video assistants, however, insisted on a more severe punishment, which was a shock not only for Loko, but also for most of the match spectators. After the intervention of VAR, judge Ivan Sidenkov went to watch the replay of the episode – and ultimately changed the decision, awarding Mark with a red card.

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The removal of Mampassi outraged many: the Russian football Telegram was instantly filled with posts analyzing the controversial episode, and most commentators agreed that Sidenkov had made a mistake. Judge Igor Fedotov thought so too:

– This is some kind of nonsense. Why did Sidenkov show a red card to the Lokomotiv player? Why did Lyubimov intervene in this episode and called the referee to the monitor? First! In this episode, there is no deprivation of a clear opportunity to score a goal.

Second! There is no serious violation of the rules. The Lokomotiv player puts his hand to the side and hits the Khimki player in the face. No go-ahead, no punch, no amplitude, no aggression – no serious violation of the rules, ”Fedotov writes in his Telegram channel.

According to journalist Ivan Karpov, the referees could recall a similar episode from the match between Orenburg and Ural, in which Leo Goglichidze was sent off for a similar reason: the player fouled in general in the central part of the field. Then the ESC supported the decision of the arbitrators with the following reasoning:

“The distance to the goal from the attacking player and the attacking player’s direction of movement would be sufficient for the attack to end logically if there was no foul against him,” the ESC said.

Fortunately for Loko fans, Mampassi’s removal did not affect the outcome of the game. Khimki increased the pressure on the opponent, who remained in the minority, but failed to bring the matter to a goal. But the railway workers took advantage of their chance in the end and even increased the score, achieving the first victory of the season – 3:0.