Valiant Lokomotiv hold out for draw

[kennethlindheim]

Alberto Zaccheroni's first match in the UEFA Champions League as Inter coach ended in disappointment, as his side only managed a 1-1 draw against Lokomotiv Moskow at San Siro.

The Russian side started the strongest and had a great opportunity to score the opener on nine minutes.

Sergei Ignashevich's pass across the goal fell kindly to Vadim Yevseyev, who mis-kicked with the goal gaping.

The Italian side then opened the scoring on 14 minutes, very much against the run of the play.

Uruguayan Alvaro Recoba collected a pass on the edge of the area after a clever Christian Vieri step-over, took one touch and smashed a left-foot shot past Sergei Ovchinikov.

The home side began to dictate play, but passing was made difficult as the San Siro pitch began to cut up badly.

Vieri then had a golden opportunity to make it two, but he only managed to shoot over from a clever Kily Gonzalez cut-back.

Inter began the second half looking to improve on their lead, and Ovchinikov was called upon to parry a point blank Daniele Adani header from a corner.

The Lokomotiv Moskow equaliser then came out of nowhere on 54 minutes.

Dimitry Loskov's shot from the edge of the area deflected off Marco Materazzi, completely deceiving Inter keeper Francesco Toldo.

Lokomotiv started to take control of the match, with Marat Izmailov causing Inter problems with a cross from the right which Toldo had to deal with using his feet.

The lively Loskov then found himself free on goal on 62, but Javier Zanetti came across to tackle well.

Inter sensed that the game was slipping away from them and brought on Sabri Lamouchi and Julio Cruz to bolster the attack.

But it was Vieri again who had a great chance to give Inter the lead on 71, but Ovchinikov's athletic double-stop denied the Italian international.

Kily Gonzalez then raced clear of the Lokomotiv defence, but Oleg Pashinin came across to tackle the Argentine when he was about to pull the trigger.

Inter began to throw long balls at the Lokomotiv defence, but the Russians managed to deal with every ball, frustrating the Inter attack.

The Russians valiantly held on for a point at San Siro, leaving Group B still wide open.

[Jager]

Good on the Russians, but we did not play our game today. I hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass.

[Adnan]

Inter has to start performing in the CL or they'll be out in the early stages of the competition.
I have the feeling it's going slightly better with Inter now that Zac has taken over but it's still too early to judge that.

[Jager]

It is early, but from what I've seen, I would rather lose in style with Zac, than lose the way we did against Milan with no style at all.
:mrgreen:

Aside from the Loko draw,(where we had a bad halph) the team is playing with more enthusiasm and creativity. I think when Vieri finally finds his rhythm, the team will be allot more dangerous to play.

One thing they have to do, is find a way to have Martins on the pitch. He opens up so much room with his runs. Not only for himself, but everybody else on the pitch.