Turning 38 today, Villas Boas saw his players coming back from their international duties and immediately travelling to Krasnodar to face Kuban as Russian league returned (but with Tashuyev as coach, while the Portuguese still serving his 6-match ban).
An early goal warmed Kuban’s fans at the 2′ minute as Xandao lost Witsel and with a header beat Kerzhakov for the 1-0 to the hosts.
Zenit tried to break Krasnodar’s defence while Kuban was throwing in some harsh tackles to stop the visitors who at the face of their permanent scorer for club and country, Dzuyba, equalized at the perfect moment; Hulk curved the foul kick, the Russian jumped higher from defenders and tied things up at the 44′ minute with the Brazilian losing the one vs one with Kuban’s keeper for a full comeback.
Second half was a small replica of the first as Zenit got the early lead at the 54′ minute with Shatov’s shot only to see Melgarejo bringing the game once again into a tie ten minutes later.
The game was turned into a one team show as Zenit was losing one chance after the other with Shatov, Witsel, Dzyuba and Danny seeing their efforts stopped by an excellent Belenov.
CSKA’s earlier win takes them 10 points ahead of Zenit who now see their chances of defending the title decreasing as St. Petersburg prepares for the Champions League match v Lyon on Tuesday 20th.
