The Moscow club reclaimed the national title after a tight final against city rivals Spartak
Russia has named its new champion, as BSC Lokomotiv squeeze through a Moscow derby to claimed their fifth title.
Boris Nikonorov netted the deciding goal in a tight final which saw the Railwaymen take on their Moscow rivals Spartak.
The teams had met two days previously, where Spartak had come out on top after tense penalties.
The final was equally as close, as each side had scored once in each period to keep the game tied until the dying minutes when the Russian international Nikonorov scored his all-important winner to deny Spartak Moscow their first ever Russian league title, taking the final score to 4-3.
It is the second time Spartak have had to settle for runner-up medals this year, after missing out to SC Braga in the Mundialito de Clubes back in February.
In the match for third place, a surely disappointed Kristall, who are much more accustomed to battling in the final, were determined to take bronze after falling to the would-be champions in the semi-finals.
Angelo Schirinzi’s men took a decisive victory over Delta, winning by seven goals to three to secure third place, while CSKA took fifth with a victory from the penalty spot against Dinamo Samara.
As well as scoring the winning goal, Boris Nikonorov also took home the Top Scorer trophy while his Lokomotiv teammate Nuritdin Mamadiev won the MVP award for the whole tournament. The Superfinal MVP was Spartak’s Aleksey Makarov, and the runners-up also claimed the Best Goalkeeper award, which went to Denis Parkhomenko.
Final Standings:
Champions – BSC Lokomotiv
2 – BSC Spartak
3 – BSC Kristall
4 – Delta
5 – CSKA Moscow
6 – Dinamo Samara
Final Day Results:
BSC Spartak 3-4 BSC Lokomotiv (FINAL)
BSC Kristall 7-3 Delta (3rd place)
CSKA Moscow 5(2)-(1)5 Dinamo Samara (5th place)
Individual Awards:
Superfinal MVP: Aleksey Makarov (Spartak)
Russian Championship MVP: Nuritdin Mamadiev (Lokomotiv)
Top Scorer: Boris Nikonorov (Lokomotiv)
Best Goalkeeper: Denis Parkhomenko (Spartak)
FairPlay Award: BSC Kristall
