Improving Loko sinks SKA again

Lokomotiv defeated SKA for the second time in the space of a week, highlighting the progress the team has made since a poor start to the season.

The 2-1 victory in St. Petersburg pushed the team into the play-off spots – something which seemed a long way off when four defeats in the opening five games of the season cost Tom Rowe his job in Yaroslavl.

But under Pyotr Vorobyov, progress has been steady and that gap has been reeled in. Monday’s victory, coming four days after SKA was beaten 2-0 in Yaroslavl, reaffirms that this Loko team is more dangerous than its current league position might suggest.

The teams traded goals in the first period, with Dmitry Kalinin putting SKA in front before Ilya Gorokhov tied it up. There followed a long wait for a winner, and the frustrated home fans saw their worst fears realized four minutes from the hooter when Loko’s star of the moment Sergei Plotnikov (6 points in five games) snatched the win for his team.