Spartak’s away win in Tomsk meant only one thing for Zenit; Win away in Grozny against Terek (a team impressing in the league sitting on fourth place) to stay first with the Moscow team.
Ten minutes into the game and Axel’s solo almost lead into an early goal for the Belgian but Mak was there getting the rebound to finish the job as Gorodov blocked Witsel’s first shot.
Kerzhakov’s first 30 minutes were pretty quiet but then…Balaj happened. The Albanian took advantage of Zenit’s poor defending and with two goals in three minutes (34′, 37′), turned things upside down into a quick turnover 2-1 for Terek into halftime.
Zenit tried hard to come up with the equaliser but was unlucky as Axel’s perfectly-balanced shot hit Gorodov left and right (!) post!
Nothing changed for the remaining minutes and Zenit faced their first defeat in the Russian league, leaving them second behind Spartak and in front of Terek, as the International break sees players joining their national teams.
