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The UEFA Cup 2005/06 season group stage tournament started with an early match on Wednesday - in Moscow, in Group B, the Russian champion "Lokomotiv" hosted Barcelona's "Espanyol" club and lost to them by a minimal margin.
0 - 1
53` [0 - 1] Raul Tamudo
At the beginning of August, "Lokomotiv" lost their attacking leader and recently performed poorly, not winning in the Russian Premier League for the fifth consecutive match, allowing the other Moscow club "CSKA" to catch up with them in points and had to concede the long-held first place in the championship according to goal difference.
The season in Spain didn't start any better for the "Espanyol" team, who lost three times in the last four matches and with only two wins out of seven possible, they are currently in 17th place in "La Liga" championship.
Due to injury, D. Loskov couldn't appear on the field, and the role of the leader in the "Lokomotiv" team was taken by the Brazilian Lima, controlling the game in the middle of the field. However, the Moscow attackers played poorly and the closest to scoring was defender A. Bugaev, but his shot went wide.
"Espanyol" responded with an attempt by F. Camara, after which the goalkeeper D. Ovchinnikov barely caught the ball. Nevertheless, he could no longer help his team in the 53rd minute when, after receiving a pass from P. Zabaleta, the away team's forward R. Tamudo sent the ball into the net with a precise shot.
The hosts pressed the opponents for the rest of the match, but created almost no dangerous opportunities, and only in the last minute, a header from I. Lebedenko flew over the crossbar. The Spanish team celebrated victory and earned their first points in the group.
