Santos seals Zenit win over Sochi

Zenit St. Petersburg 3-1 FC Sochi
Saturday 17 October, Gazprom Arena

Goals: Zenit - Karavaev (16), Erokhin (24), Santos (90+3); Sochi - Zaika (56)

Man of the Match: Aleksandr Erokhin (Zenit)

Zenit went three points clear at the top of the table thanks to goals from Vyacheslav Karavaev, Aleksandr Erokhin and Douglas Santos as Brazilian midfielder Wendel came off the bench for his debut. Both players finished from close range before half time with captain and joint-top goalscorer Artem Dzyuba rested from the starting lineup. Kirill Zaika pulled one back for the visitors soon after the break with a fine individual finish, but in added time Douglas Santos crashed in a third from the edge of the box.

Zenit go three points clear at the top of the table on 24 points, while Sochi remain fourth on 19 points.

Next RPL fixtures: Saturday 24 October - Zenit St. Petersburg vs Rubin Kazan; Dynamo Moscow vs FC Sochi.