Opening
This was not a classic Loko win with total control, more a match of survival after an early gift: a quick Rudenko goal in the 4th minute, a Baltika red card from the 12th — and then 75-plus minutes in which Lokomotiv seemed to have every condition but never closed the game out. The result was 1:0, although even with ten men Baltika stayed in the match until the end.
Loko played 11 against 10 for almost the whole game, had 65% possession and made 508 passes to 273, but lost on xG: 1.41 to 1.61.
