Published: 23 March, 2009, 21:29
Edited: 23 March, 2009, 21:29
CSKA have suffered their first loss in the Russian Premier league after going down at the hands of FC Tom in Moscow.
The Army Men had a lot to prove to their fans and themselves after a disappointing 2-0 loss to Ukrainian rivals Shakhtar last week, which ended their run in the UEFA cup.
But they started at home Luzhniki stadium just like they finished in Donetsk, conceding a goal after just 2 minutes. Unmarked Macedonian striker Goran Maznov put in the header after a corner kick. 1-0 for the Tomsk team, who finished the last season in 13th position.
After that CSKA took the ball under control and locked the visitors on their half, but were unable to level the score before the halftime whistle.
The course of game didn’t change after the break, and CSKA’s coach Zico made several subs to reinforce the attack.
Defensive midfielder Evgeny Aldonin was replaced by Czech striker Tomas Necid, and Milosh Krasic, put on the bench after a weak performance in the UEFA Cup, came in for defender Georgy Shennikov.
Necid and Wagner Love came close to grabbing the equalizer for the Army Men, but a brilliant performance from FC Tom keeper Sergey Pareyko cancelled all of Muscovites’ efforts. The 1-0 score didn’t change till the final whistle.
CSKA lost for the first time in the league, while Tom earned their first win of the season. Both teams now have 3 points after two games.