Zenit land crucial blow in title race with win over Spartak

Zenit St. Petersburg 3-1 Spartak Moscow
Wednesday 16 December, Gazprom Arena

Goals: Azmoun (8), Rakitskiy (73), Dzyuba (90+3); Spartak - Lovren (OG 22)

Man of the Match: Malcom (Zenit)

Yaroslav Rakitskiy’s volley and Artem Dzyuba’s finish landed the knockout blow for Zenit as they beat nearest rivals Spartak 3-1 at home. Sardar Azmoun had squeezed a low shot under Aleksandr Maksimenko’s despairing dive early on - incidentally, the Iranian’s first ever goal from outside the penalty area - before a bizarre own goal from Dejan Lovren.

Deep into the second half Rakitskiy lashed home a long-distance volley to put Zenit back in front, before Artem Dzyuba rejoined strike partner Azmoun at the top of the RPL top goalscorers’ charts on 11 goals.

Zenit stretch their lead at the top of the table to six points, while Spartak remain second on 35 points.

Next RPL fixtures: 27/28 February - Zenit St. Petersburg vs FC Rostov; Spartak Moscow vs Rubin Kazan