Sowe debut double scuppers Zenit

Zenit St. Petersburg 2-2 FC Rostov
Saturday 27 February, Gazprom Arena

Goals: Zenit - Poyarkov (OG, 73), Kuzyaev (78); Rostov - Sowe (44, 89) 

Sent off: Rostov - Maksim Osipenko (56)

Man of the Match: Sergey Pesyakov (Rostov) 

A pair of bizarre own goals preceded a firm Daler Kuzyaev comeback strike for Zenit at home against 10-man Rostov, before debutant Ali Sowe deflected an unusual equaliser in the last minute. He knew little about Aleksey Kozlov's close-range header back across goal on the stroke of half time, but his final touch saw it trickle over the line. 

Maksim Osipenko was sent off 10 minutes after the break for upending Sardar Azmoun when the Iranian was through on goal, which led to intense Zenit pressure. Firstly Nikolay Poyarkov inadvertently poked a loose ball past Sergey Pesyakov when spinning round, before a confident Daler Kuzyaev finish seemingly put the hosts in control, only for Sowe's dramatic late intervention. 

Zenit remain top on 42 points, while Rostov stay fifth on 33 points. 

Next RPL fixtures: Saturday 6 March - FC Rostov vs FC Sochi; Monday 8 March - Rubin Kazan vs Zenit St. Petersburg.