Russian league returned after the International break with another home derby for Zenit (last with Dynamo) as second team CSKA visited Petrovsky stadium with the only goal to narrow the 5 point gap between the two and increase their hopes in the title race.
Witsel’s header- an easy block for Akynfeev- was the first chance from either teams after 15 minutes of gameplay. A couple of decent foul kicks from Hulk and a tet-a-tet from Danny found CSKA’s keeper steady and in place when needed, in a goalless draw for the first half.
Second half was nothing like the first as the game turned into a rodeo. It was when Hulk stepped up his game and with two goals in ten minutes (62′,71′) he was ready to give Zenit a huge win only to see Strandberg putting CSKA back in the game with 10 minutes of game-play left.
Even with 6 minutes of extra time CSKA couldn’t avoid the defeat and they now see the title changing hands as Zenit sit in first place with an 8 point difference and less than 10 games left for the SOGAZ Russian League.
