In Voronezh, where FC Fakel had hoped to make home ground count, Lokomotiv Moscow instead produced the kind of away afternoon that changes the feel of a season. The visitors left with a 5-0 victory and a little more daylight between themselves and Russia’s relegation places, with Mexico defender César Montes among the scorers.
Lokomotiv took control before the interval. Nikolai Titkov opened the scoring in the 25th minute, and Nikolai Komlichenko doubled the lead seven minutes later. By half-time, the Moscow side had established a commanding position against a Fakel team unable to find a route back into the contest.
Montes joins the scoring on a decisive afternoon
The third goal arrived four minutes after the restart and belonged to Montes. The Sonora-born centre-back reacted quickest when the ball rebounded off the back of a teammate inside the penalty area, turning the accidental touch into an opportunity. He finished with the outside of his right boot to make it 3-0.
Lokomotiv’s superiority did not fade after the Mexican’s contribution. Yegor Pogostnov added a fourth goal in the 64th minute, before Komlichenko completed his brace ten minutes later to settle the final score at five.
The result moved Lokomotiv onto 10 points and, at least temporarily, into 12th place in the table. More significantly for a club looking down as well as up, they now sit five points clear of the relegation zone after a trip south from Moscow that could scarcely have gone more smoothly.
