Sunday wrap-up of Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia

By: j | March 22nd, 2009

Followers of Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia are headed for an exciting campaign as Sunday’s matches provided a series of surprises.

In the match of the day, Zenit St Petersburg defeated Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast 2-1. After drawing 1-1 to Spartak Moscow in their opening match, Zenit was anxious for a victory but would need to play the match without the backing of their fans as the match was played in an imposed closed door setting. Beyond the lack of involvement from their always supportive home support, combined with the troubling pitch at Petrovsky Stadium and clearly fatigued from recent play, it was not going to be easy for Dick Advocaat’s men. Zenit took the lead on Ivica Križanac acrobatic scissors kick ten minutes after the start. The Aliens squared the match up nine minutes before the break as Bosnia and Herzegovina international Marko Topić took advantage of lax defending. However Fatih Tekke, who had come in for Viktor Faitzulin just before the hour scored the winning goal with an efficient finish with twenty-three minutes remaining. The margin could have been increased seven minutes later as Anatoliy Tymoschuk stepped up the spot but he completely mishit the ball as it drifted to the left of the goal. However with the lead Zenit were able to hold off the Aliens and took the 2-1 victory.

Elsewhere defending champion Rubin Kazan, who opened their season last week with 3-0 victory over Kuban Krasnodar were held to a nil draw by Spartak Nalchik. It was stunning rebound for Nalchik who lost last week 1-0 to Terek Grozny.

Lokomotiv Moskva who opened last week with a 1-1 draw to Khimki repeated the scoreline against Rostov, with Dennis Glushakov netting his second goal of the early year as time wound down. Serbian international Branimir Petrović opened the match for the host five minutes before the break.

Photo Credit: Football Club Zenit Saint Petersburg