Portugal internationals João Mário and Eder were decisive on Sunday afternoon as Lokomotiv Moscow ran out 3-2 winners over Orenburg in the Russian Premier League.
New arrival Mário was a key contributor in two goals, winning a penalty for Lokomotiv and later setting up what proved to be the winning goal for Euro 2016 hero Eder, who got his second goal of the campaign.
Former Belenenses midfielder Ricardo Alves started for hosts Orenburg, while Lokomotiv came into the match on the back of a highly impressive 2-1 win away at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League in midweek. The 2018 Russian champions had also won their previous league game, beating Sochi 1-0 on the road last week on João Mário’s full debut following his summer move from Internazionale.
Sunday afternoon saw a more high-scoring game, with Lokomotiv leading 1-0 at the break through Dmitri Barinov’s goal. The visitors doubled their advantage early in the second half when former Sporting man Mário won a penalty under pressure from Vitaliy Shakhov, with Fyodor Smolov converting the subsequent spot kick.
Eder was introduced with fifteen minutes left to play and the striker got the vital third goal with just a few minutes left on the clock, rising to head home Mário’s free-kick past Andrey Klimovich. The goal proved to be a winner after Artyom Kulishev headed in a consolation for Orenburg in stoppage time.
Next up for Lokomotiv is a trip to Baltika in the Russian cup, followed by an intriguing clash with champions Zenit St Petersburg at home next weekend. After the meeting with Zenit, João Mário and Eder will prepare to host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and hope to build on their opening day win.
By Sean Gillen
