"Dzyuba is a legend of Russian football, everyone listens to him"

The 15th round of the Russian Football Championship, which is taking place this weekend, began with a sensation. Akron Togliatti scored an away victory over Dynamo Moscow (2:1) and was ahead of the capital club in the standings, which was significantly superior in budget and composition. Moreover, he managed to win this match even without his star striker Artyom Dzyuba, who missed the second game in a row due to injury.

Zaur Tedeev's team has not lost in the championship for five matches in a row — two draws with Zenit St. Petersburg (1:1) and Moscow Lokomotiv (1:1) and three wins. She finishes the first round in eighth place. In an interview with Izvestia, Akron defender Marat Bokoev commented on the victory over Dynamo, explained how the winless streak began, and how it was influenced by Dzyuba's speech in the locker room before the match with Zenit.

— How did you beat Dynamo?

— I would like to thank the fans. There were a lot of us today, and they supported us well. I think we deserved to win. There was a coaching set—up, and I think we fulfilled it 100%. Congratulations to all the fans and the whole team.

— Were you planning on going to Dynamo as a game against the favorite, or did you assume that since this team is next to you in the table, it means it is not stronger than Akron?

— We don't have anyone that we consider a favorite or an underdog - it's all for the fans. We set ourselves up for victory before every game. We know that Dynamo has good players, individually strong. And today, the coaching set—up was to play so closely with these players as not to let them create anything. We have completed it.

— From the end of July to the beginning of October, you could not win 10 consecutive league matches and at some point found yourself in the relegation zone. Due to what changes have you not lost five matches in a row in the last month and moved up to the middle of the table?

— First of all, we have done work on the errors. There were a lot of theoretical classes. We worked on ourselves psychologically, and everyone started thinking more about what was going on. And with God's help, we went on a good win-win streak.

— What mistakes were you working on?

— It seems to me that we had a lot of mistakes when the opponent quickly ran out to counterattack. Now there is less of it.

— In early October, after the home draw with Zenit, which began this unbeaten streak, Akron posted on its social networks a video of Artyom Dzyuba's fiery speech before the game, where he asked where the friendship and unity in the team had gone, and called for everyone to turn their shoulders and hearts to each other from this game. They fought in unison and said many more vivid words. Did his performance influence today's success?

— Dzyuba's speech also influenced us, all the guys, the whole team. Dzyuba is a legend of Russian football. Therefore, everyone listens to his words and carries them out.

— Artyom Dzyuba missed the last two matches due to injury. What is the difference for Akron in the game with and without him?

— Everyone knows that Artyom is strong in martial arts. And in the last two matches against Rostov (1-0) and Dynamo, in which he did not take part, we began to make fewer overhead throws. In today's match, for example, I hardly remember them at someone else's gate. Plus, Dzyuba helps us on the standards both at other people's gates and at his own.

— At the same time, at your goal in the first half, Dynamo made a huge number of overhangs into the penalty area.

— Yes, the first half was very difficult. For me, it was generally the hardest. But we were for each other, everyone insured everyone. That's why we won.

— Having risen to eighth place, is your team thinking about setting bigger goals in the championship?

— I don't know anything about that. Our tasks are always ambitious — to go to every match and win, to fight for each other. And then what will be the result. The main thing for us is to go out and do everything that depends on us.