One of the key match days in the Russian league race took place in Rostov where local team and this season’s “Leicester” of Russia hosted Zenit, in a derby between second and third place teams, as CSKA was looking securely after beating Dynamo in the Moscow derby.
Both teams had as priority to not concede, which lead to a poor first half with few chances from either sides and two not-so-busy keepers. Zenit had the possession and the initiative but couldn’t get the ball to Dzhanaev’s box while Rostov was having similar problems.
The game was leading to a goalless tie for half time but in an unexpected attack seconds before the whistle, Poloz found himself in a tet-a-tet with Lodygin, passed the ball to Kanga, who had no trouble scoring in a crucial moment for Rostov.
Second half found the hosts doubling their goals, as an out-of-the-blue pass (more like a clearance) found Azmoun beating Lodygin to put the Olimp-2 arena on fire at the 58′ minute.
Zenit was trying with long crosses to find Dzyuba with one of them almost paying off, haven’t the Russian hit the woodwork at the 68′ minute.
Yerokhin wrote the final chapter of the 3-0 triumph with a close range shot at the 76′ minute, that find Rostov in first place above CSKA, while Zenit see the 6-win run and their title hopes go up in smoke.
