Zenit rout Rotor to make one step closer to the title

Zenit St. Petersburg 6-0 Rotor Volgograd
Saturday 24 April, Gazprom Arena

Goals: Zenit - Kverkvelia (OG 45+2), Malcolm (56), Mostovoy (65), Dzyuba (75), Erokhin (77), Sutormin (87)
Man of the Match: Andrey Mostovoy (Zenit) 

Rotor Volgograd’s resistance almost lasted till the break, but in first-half added time Solomon Kverkvelia’s own goal handed Zenit the advantage. Douglas Santos whipped a low cross in towards Sebastian Driussi, who got a faint touch before Kverkvelia diverted it into the back of the net.

Brazilian winger Malcom doubled the lead 10 minutes after half time with a smart finish, before sliding a simple pass across the six-yard box to an unmarked Andrey Mostovoy to slide home a first-time tap-in.

Artem Dzyuba was on hand to nod a close-range fourth, but Zenit weren’t finished; Aleksandr Erokhin came off the bench in Dzyuba’s place a few moments later, and wasted little time before lashing a vicious finish from close range. Aleksey Sutormin spun cleverly to complete the scoreline. 

Zenit extend their lead at the top of the table to nine points, while Rotor remain 15th on 18 points.

Next RPL fixtures: Saturday 1 May - Rotor Volgograd vs Akhmat Grozny; Sunday 2 May - Zenit St. Petersburg vs Lokomotiv Moscow