Lokomotiv edges Monaco 2-1 in snowy Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Goals by Marat Izmailov and Vladimir Maminov gave Lokomotiv Moscow a deserved 2-1 win over Monaco in their Champions League first knockout round, first leg match on Tuesday.

The Russians dominated the first half, played as light snow was falling on the pitch, with Lokomotiv's Georgian striker Mikheil Ashvetia wasting two good chances in the opening 15 minutes.

Russian international Izmailov finally put the home side ahead in the 32nd minute after evading two defenders inside the box and sending a rising shot into the top of the net.

Taking advantage of a dummy run by Dmitry Khokhlov, Izmailov collected Dmitry Loskov's cross from the left at the edge of the penalty area before calmly beating his markers and firing past helpless Monaco keeper Flavio Roma.

Maminov doubled the lead 14 minutes into the second half, beating Roma with a low shot into the far corner after a series of ricochets.

Moments later Loskov missed a great opportunity to put the game out of reach for the French Ligue 1 leaders but missed from close range after a nice set-up by Izmailov.

That miss came back to haunt the Russians as Fernando Morientes pulled one back for the visitors in the 59th minute, the Spanish forward heading in a Jerome Rothen free kick after being left unmarked at the far post.

WASTEFUL OBIORAH

Lokomotiv substitute James Obiorah then wasted an even better chance to restore a two-goal lead two minutes from time but the Nigerian fired well wide with Roma at his mercy.

Obiorah's miss coupled with Monaco's away goal could prove costly for the Russians going into the second leg on March 10.

The match was played amid tight security following a bomb blast in the Moscow metro this month that killed at least 39 people.

"It is a good result for us, even better than I had hoped for," said Lokomotiv coach Yuri Syomin, who said before the game he would settle for a goalless draw.

"It's a pity that we wasted so many scoring chances. Loskov, Ashvetia and Obiorah, just those three alone had several chances to put the game away," he added.

"Nevertheless, we played well as a team and aside from set pieces Monaco rarely threatened our goal."

Monaco coach Didier Deschamps was also satisfied with the outcome.

"It's good we scored an away goal but I must admit Lokomotiv played very well and we were lucky to come away with a draw," said Deschamps, whose team was missing skipper Ludovic Giuly and centre back Sebastien Squillaci through injuries.

"But we must play much better in the second leg if we want to reach the last eight," added the Frenchman.

"Some of our players probably thought they would make the quarter-finals without much trouble after being drawn against the Russians and you can't do that at this level. I hope they learned a good lesson tonight."

Summary

Lokomotiv Moscow 2 Monaco 1 - result

Champions League, first knockout round, first leg

Scorers:

Lokomotiv Moscow - Marat Izmailov 32, Vladimir Maminov 59

Monaco - Fernando Morientes 69

Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 26,000

Teams:

Lokomotiv Moscow: 1-Sergei Ovchinnikov; 14-Oleg Pashinin, 16-Vadim Yevseyev, 17-Dmitry Sennikov, 41-Sergei Gurenko; 7-Marat Izmailov (52-Winston Parks 78), 8-Vladimir Maminov, 10-Dmitry Loskov, 28-Dmitry Khokhlov (2-Gennady Nizhegorodov 82), 30-Malkhaz Asatiani; 32-Mikheil Ashvetia (50-James Obiorah 46)

Monaco: 30-Flavio Roma; 4-Hugo Ibarra, 32-Gael Givet, 27-Julien Rodriguez, 3-Patrice Evra; 14-Edouard Cisse, 15-Andreas Zikos, 7-Lucas Bernardi, 25-Jerome Rothen; 9-Dado Prso (24-Emmanuel Adebayor 65); 10-Fernando Morientes

Referee: Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain)

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