MOSCOW, July 20 (R-Sport) - A free-kick from Roman Shishkin in the dying minutes gave Lokomotiv Moscow a hard-fought 2-1 win away to FC Volga in the Russian Premier League on Saturday.
The Railwaymen had been on the ropes as Volga repeatedly came close to scoring before Shishkin curled in an 87th minute winner from the edge of the box.
"Thank God we won," Shishkin said in televised comments. "We're getting better and better with each game."
Earlier, Maicon opened the scoring for Lokomotiv with a 63rd-minute header off an Alexander Samedov free-kick.
Four minutes later, Volga pulled level as Mulumba Mukendi hit a calm finish to continue his scoring start at his new club after finding the net on his debut last week.
"We lost the game. The mistakes we made were understable in their own way," Volga coach Yuri Kalivintsev said in televised comments.
The match marked the Volga debut for longtime Lokomotiv striker Dmitry Sychev, who was largely quiet after coming on at half-time. His main contribution was to blaze over the bar when through on goal 20 minutes from time.
Shortly before Shishkin's winner, Mukendi had tested Lokomotiv goalkeeper Guilherme with a powerful strike as the hosts increased the pressure.
Earlier, Volga goalkeeper Ilya Abaev had weathered an onslaught from Lokomotiv, saving from Dame N'Doye, Maxim Grigoryev and Maicon.
Earlier in the day, FC Kuban held on for a 2-1 win at newly promoted FC Tomsk, who were left fuming after they had two penalty appeals turned down.
Later Saturday, Terek Grozny host Amkar Perm.
Friday saw a surprise 2-1 win for Dynamo Moscow at home to Anzhi Makhachkala, and Anzhi’s title rivals will be hoping to exploit their rivals’ difficulties. Zenit St. Petersburg visit Rubin Kazan on Sunday, a day before reigning champions CSKA Moscow host Krylya Sovetov.
Also in action this weekend are Spartak Moscow, who travel to Ural Yekaterinburg on Sunday, and FC Rostov, at home to FC Krasnodar later that day.
