Last season, Akhmat became the most inconvenient opponent for Zenit, the Petersburgers, who confidently and with a margin once again became the country’s champions, were never able to defeat Grozny, drawing and losing at home. So the next meeting of the strongest team in the country acquired a special color. However, Sergei Semak was not left without experiments, he gave Mikhail Kerzhakov a break and sent Alexander Vasyutin to defend the number one position. But many coaches use goalkeeper rotation in cup matches, so this decision was not a surprise.
cautious start
Zenit did not force things from the opening whistle, so the first half of the half passed in precise mutual recognition mode. In addition, the initial minutes were marked by another blow to the legs of the long-suffering Claudinho, who is on the verge of injury for the fourth consecutive game, if we take into account the PARI Premier Cup match against Fenerbahce. If we were talking about hockey, it could be said that Zenit was not harmed by a moderately aggressive tough guy, who would discourage opponents from offending one of the team leaders. But in football these solutions to the problem are not respected, so Claudinho has to put up with it and at the same time not lose focus on the goals of others.
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When the time of the first half exceeded the equator, the home team began their favorite pastime, gradually tightening the attacking jaw on Shelia’s possessions. In one of the episodes, it even seemed to many viewers that Zenit had achieved their goal, but Chistyakov in this situation hit the net from the outside.
And yet, the Petersburgers squeezed the opponent before the break. A quick attack from the home team ended with a pass from Sergeev to Mantuan, who hit Shelia’s gates with a roundhouse kick. Zenit was able to score more, but the teams went into the break with a slight blue and white advantage.
expected premiere
In the second half, an event occurred that was eagerly awaited not only by the blue and white fans. Mario Fernández made his debut with the Zenit shirt, whose transition became one of the main topics of discussion last offseason. “Akhmat” in the debut of the second half was able to add a little and tried Vasyutin’s goal several times. But the timely substitution of Fernández helped Zenit move the game away from their own penalty area, and then the match continued in the way that suited the champion. The Petersburgers regained control of the ball and were extremely reluctant to share it with their opponents.
FC Zenit
Grozny did not give up and for a long time tried to achieve an acceptable result for themselves. But time passed, and there were no real chances at Vasyutin’s goal. But Zenit took advantage of their chance: Claudinho, after Casierra’s pass, sent the ball past Shelia, and the approaching Mostovoy did not take away his teammate’s goal, allowing him to deservedly score on the score sheet. After that, everything in this game finally became clear. The remaining minutes of the team spent the meeting frankly with the stormy accompaniment of the local fans. 2:0 – Zenit start the cup campaign with a sure home win over an awkward opponent.
