In the Russian Premier League, Zenit remains in contention for the title alongside Krasnodar with just one round to go.
“Overall, I think it’s been a pretty good season. But we need benchmarks to judge properly. In terms of points accumulation, we’re on a solid pace. However, the fact that our main rival Krasnodar isn’t dropping points – that’s a credit to both them and us. For the third year in a row, the title race goes down to the final matchday. I believe that reflects well on both teams, and on all the clubs involved.
What didn’t work out? Certainly, we lacked goals scored – we could have netted more. That’s an area where we need to improve: goals from open play and set pieces. Defensively and in terms of points collected, everything is at a very high level – comparable to our best seasons.
So, the main downside is probably our finishing. I’d like to see more goals,” Semak said on the club’s website.
The match ended with Zenit defeating Sochi 2-1 at Gazprom Arena in front of 43,547 spectators. The first half finished 0-1 after Zakhar Fedorov scored for Sochi in the 31st minute. Zenit equalized in the 59th minute through Luis Enrique, assisted by Maxim Glushenkov, and Alexander Erokhin sealed the win in the 84th minute. Luis Enrique also missed a penalty in the 13th minute.
Lineups:
Zenit: Denis Adamov, Gustavo Mantuan, Douglas Santos, Alexander Sobolev (72′), Igor Diveev, Nino, Luis Enrique (76′), Alexander Erokhin (90+1′), Pedro (66′), Roman Vega, Maxim Glushenkov (88′), Vanja Drkušić, Wilmar Barrios (66′), Andrei Mostovoy, Marcus Wendel (76′), Daniil Kondakov.
Sochi: Alexander Degtev, Alexander Soldatenkov, Vyacheslav Litvinov (21′), Marcelo Alves, Artyom Makarchuk, Kirill Kravtsov, Kirill Zaika (87′→89′), Ruslan Magal, Zakhar Fedorov (68′), Pavel Meleshin, Maxim Mukhin (78′), Anton Zinkovsky, Alexander Kovalenko (89′), Artyom Korneev, Dmitry Vasilyev (77′→78′), Martin Kramarić.
Match statistics:
– Yellow cards: Zenit 1 – Sochi 3
– Total shots: 21 – 5
– Shots on target: 6 – 4
– Corners: 10 – 3
– Fouls: 9 – 15
– Offsides: 2 – 0
Referee crew: Chief referee Rafael Shafeev (Volgograd, Russia), assistant referees Maxim Gavrilin (Vladimir) and Denis Petrov (Astrakhan), VAR Sergey Karasev (Moscow), assistant VAR Sergey Tsyganok (Kaliningrad).