Zenit St. Petersburg 0-0 Lokomotiv Moscow

Saturday 29 February, Gazprom Arena

Man of the Match: Stanislav Magkeev

Zenit St. Petersburg dropped points for only the second time since last September after a goalless draw at home to Lokomotiv Moscow. Yuriy Semin was sent to the stands in the first half as his side frustrated the hosts.

Brazilian winger Malcom made only his third appearance since his record signing last summer, and almost helped give his side the lead after 15 minutes. With Benedikt Howedes backpedalling, he bent in a cross to Sebastian Driussi who could only nod high and wide.

Aleksey Miranchuk and Howedes later had wildly off-target shots, the latter an ambitious but poorly-executed overhead kick. Aleksandr Erokhin showed more accuracy with a beautifully measured curling effort that struck Guilherme’s post from Malcom’s layoff.

Other than a blocked Vladislav Ignatyev shot there was little further threat in the first half. Five minutes after the break Aleksey Sutormin’s close-range shot was punched clear after a sweeping move involving Malcom and Driussi.

Malcom energetically swept up two loose balls but was let down by Erokhin and substitute Sardar Azmoun’s inaccurate shooting. Deep added time Rifat Zhemaletdinov raced forward in a three-on-four counter. His perfectly weighted through ball fed Miranchuk through on goal, but Lunev smothered the opportunity.

Zenit St. Petersburg travel to take on Akhmat Grozny in the Russian Cup on Wednesday 4 March before hosting FC Ufa in the Russian Premier Liga on Monday 9 March. Lokomotiv Moscow host Akhmat Grozny in the RPL on Sunday 8 March next.

Zenit St. Petersburg: Lunev, Karavaev, Ivanovic, Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos, Sutormin (Kuzyaev 88’), Barrios, Ozdoev, Malcom, Driussi (Azmoun 69’), Erokhin (Zhirkov 77’)

Lokomotiv Moscow: Guilherme, Ignatyev, Kverkvelia, Corluka (Murilo 90’), Howedes, Barinov, Magkeev, Krychowiak, Al. Miranchuk, Joao Mario, Eder (Zhemaletdinov 76’)