Petrovsky welcomed the matchday of the day in the league between third and second place teams Spartak and Zenit.
Spartak had the early possesion (65%) in the first 15′ minutes but Zenit got closer to opening the score with Axel Witsel cutting through Moscow’s defence but saw his shot hitting the woodwork (16′).
Becoming-regular-scorer Criscito had his chance once again from the spot after Eshchenko’s handball. The Italian, who was called up from his national team converted successfully and Lucescu’s men were on the driver’s seat early in the game (18′).
Spartak needed only ten minutes to bring things level with Bocchetti taking advantage Lodygin’s unstable save, writing the 1-1 with the “rebound”.
The game turned into a rodeo as Zhirkov and Giuliano co-oped and Dzuyba with the final close-range touch, regained the lead for the hosts at the 33′ minute. Goals were now flying in St. Petersburg as Ze Luis tied the score again for Moscow with a header (37′) and teams went into half-time levelled 2-2.
Axel was the man to put Zenit up front for the third time in the game, after his diagonal run and Giuliano’s pass, threw a left foot shot to rest in Rebrov’s net, 3-2 after an hour of game play.
Zenit sealed the crucial win with Giuliano’s goal from the spot (Kokorin was brought down) that bring them in first place tied with Spartak and CSKA following with a game less.
Axel Witsel and Nicolas Lombaerts now join their national team for World Cup qualifiers week, as do the rest of Zenit’s national players.
