Starkovs savours Spartak success

Egor Titov was on target as FC Spartak Moskva capped a superb campaign by securing second place in the Russian Premier League, and a berth in next season's UEFA Champions League, with a 1-1 draw away against FC Lokomotiv Moskva.

Thrilling finale
Needing just a point to pip Lokomotiv to the runners-up spot, Spartak took the lead through captain Titov just after the hour mark, when the midfield player rose to head in Maxym Kalinichenko's superb arcing cross. Now needing to score twice to usurp second behind champions PFC CSKA Moskva, Lokomotiv reshuffled for the last half-hour, with Malkhaz Asatiani switching from defence to midfield. And the move paid dividends when the Georgian youngster equalised with five minutes remaining to set up a thrilling finale, but Spartak held on to earn a crucial point.

Starkovs progress
The spot in next season's UEFA Champions League is the culmination of a marked progress made by the side this term, under former Latvia and Skonto FC coach Aleksandrs Starkovs. The veteran was without top scorer Roman Pavlyuchenko for the second-place decider at the Lokomotiv stadium, and it was the home team that made much of the early running. On six minutes defender Vadim Evseev almost broke the deadlock after latching on to Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's left-wing cross, but he sent his shot just over the crossbar.

Kowalewski save
Lokomotiv went into the game without Lima and Dmitri Sychev, and their travails worsened when key midfielder Marat Izmailov was forced off early on. Igor Lebedenko replaced him, and almost made an immediate impact on 18 minutes after another superb pass by Bilyaletdinov, but goalkeeper Wojciech Kowalewski was aware to the danger and smothered his effort. Georgi Chelidze was shackled by Nemanja Vidić for much of the encounter, but he almost scored when he finally escaped his marker.

Asatiani alchemy
The Georgian youngster worked some space six minutes after the restart when the effervescent Bilyaletdinov released him in the penalty area, but Chelidze lost his composure when one-on-one with Kowalewski and the Polish goalkeeper saved well. Lokomotiv were soon made to pay for their profligacy when Titov handed Spartak the lead on 62 minutes, and it was not until the 85th minute that Asatiani equalised with a shot that took a wicked deflection off Vidić. Asatiani turned provider moments later with a smart cross that narrowly evaded Evseev as Spartak held on.