FC Tambov 1-2 Zenit St. Petersburg
Wednesday 1 July, Nizhny Novgorod Stadium

Goals: FC Tambov - Ciuperca (pen 88’); Zenit - Azmoun (43’), Rigoni (90+1)

Man of the Match: Malcom (Zenit)

Emiliano Rigoni saved Zenit blushes in added time after Valeriu Ciuperca’s penalty had drawn FC Tambov level moments earlier. Sardar Azmoun had handed the champions the lead on the stroke of half time from Artem Dzyuba’s header.

Right at the end of a hard-fought opening period, Zenit’s lethal strike partnership combined to hand the champions the lead. Artem Dzyuba used all of his strength and aerial threat to claim his 10th assist of the season by nodding down a cross for Azmoun to poke home on the volley.

Yaroslav Rakitskiy was adjudged to have pushed substitute Artem Fedchuk in the back with normal time running out. Although Ciuperca calmly slotted past Andrey Lunev, Rigoni patiently volleyed into Giorgi Shelia’s bottom corner to seal a narrow win.

FC Tambov face Spartak Moscow on Saturday 4 July, while Zenit St. Petersburg travel to take on FC Krasnodar on Sunday 5 July.

FC Tambov: Shelia, Yurganov, Gritsaenko, Filin, Rybin (Kabakhidze 65’), Ciuperca, Karasev (Shlyakov 65’), Kilin (Kaplienko 74’), Kostyukov (Fedchuk 80’), Melkadze, Obukhov

Zenit St. Petersburg: Lunev, Karavaev (Smolnikov 81’), Ivanovic, Rakitskiy, Douglas Santos, Kuzyaev (Sutormin 67’), Ozdoev (Erokhin 90’), Barrios, Malcom (Osorio 81’), Dzyuba, Azmoun (Rigoni 67’)