Brave Zenit fall just short as champions Chelsea edge past

UEFA Champions League Group H
Chelsea 1-0 Zenit St. Petersburg 
Tuesday 14 September, Stamford Bridge, London

Goal: Chelsea - Lukaku 69'

Romelu Lukaku broke Zenit's excellent resistance with just over 20 minutes remaining, escaping the attentions of Dmitry Chistyakov to plant a firm header into the bottom corner past Stanislav Kritsyuk. 

The European champions had been expected to coast through the game, but found a resolute five-man midfield ferocious in their pressing. Sardar Azmoun had very little to feed off until latching onto a hopeful through ball after the break, but Antonio Rudiger nicked the ball off his toes as he was about to pull the trigger. 

Artem Dzyuba came off the bench with 15 minutes remaining to partner the Iranian, and just five minutes later the pair came agonisingly close to a dramatic equaliser. Having won a flick-on header earlier in the move, Dzyuba slid into the six yard box to meet Azmoun's low cross but could only poke it wide from six yards out. 

Chelsea start off second in the group on three points, while Zenit end matchday one third with no points. 

Next Champions League fixtures: Wednesday 29 September - Zenit vs Malmo; Juventus vs Chelsea