Lokomotiv Penza beat Slava Moscow 36 to 20 in the Premier League on Saturday evening. The hosts ran out comfortable winners at home, and the result extends their recent form against this particular opponent.
They came out on top, and here's the thing — Slava Moscow have been struggling for consistency all season. Their last five fixtures read like a downward spiral: losses to Стрела, Енисей-СТМ, Динамо Москва, Красный Яр, and against Penza this time around.
We had called for the home side earlier, 71 per cent confidence on the board. The prediction came through, and it wasn't difficult to see why. Slava Moscow had lost four of their previous five meetings with Penza, including a 18 to 26 defeat back in August.
The scoreboard tells you the story, but by then you'd already noticed how Penza controlled the tempo. They've been winning their recent games — 26 to 18 against Slava in August, 55 to 22 against ВВА-Подмосковье, and 31 to 41 against Енисей-СТМ, who are among the stronger sides in the league.
Slava Moscow's away record has been poor. They lost 0 to 57 away to Динамо Москва, 10 to 45 away at Красный Яр, and now this result. Three losses in four away games spells trouble for anyone trying to climb the table.
The hosts now have momentum going into the next round. Slava Moscow need to find a way back into it — and quickly, because the gap between them and the mid-table sides is widening.
