Zenit travelled to Krasnodar to face local team as Russian Premier League returned after the international break. The rain that was pouring hours ahead of kick off made both teams starting the game with unnecessary mistakes due to slippery pitch.
Despite the weather conditions the game reached a good tempo with Krasnodar being the first on the score-sheet. Sigurdsson’s shot inside the box (7′) and Mamaev’s beautiful back-heel goal (22′), gave an early 2 goal lead for Kononov’s team.
Zenit re-grouped, gained ground and reached Dykan’s post with better chances as the pitch made every shot difficult for Krasnodar, who was now trying to maintain.
Javi Garcia put Zenit back in the game seven minutes before half time, taking advantage of Krasnodar’s confusion in the box; 2-1 for the first 45′ minutes.
An hour was too long for Hulk to be goalless as he “danced” through Krasnodar’s defenders to tie the game for the Blue-White-Sky blues, while Axel Witsel was making his comeback replacing Salomon Rondon.
Everything was ideal for Villas Boas’ team up to the 68′ minute when Ezequiel Garay faced the red card (last man) leaving Zenit down to ten, fighting for twenty minutes to save the away point.
Nicolas Lombaerts came in to hold the defence and Zenit escaped Krasnodar with the tie, remaining first in the Russian Premier League two weeks before the derby against CSKA Moscow.
