Krasnodar 1-3 Zenit St. Petersburg
Monday 25 April, FC Krasnodar Stadium

Goals: Krasnodar - Manelov (73); Zenit - Sergeev (35), Malcom (42), Ozdoev (87)
Man of the Match: Dmitry Chistyakov (Zenit)

After Dynamo's loss to CSKA, Zenit caught a chance to increase the distance between the first and second places to six points. Artem Dzyuba missed the trip, so Yuri Alberto and Ivan Sergeev made a couple in the attack. With ten minutes left in the first half Sergeev found the pass from Daler Kuzyaev and netted his eighth goal in the season. Next Zenit counter-attack was fully Brazilian, as Wendel gave an assist to Malcom, who passed the ball under Matvey Safonov.

After substitutions in the second half, Krasnodar youngsters tried to come back, and the first step was successful. Coming from the bench Ruslan Apekov crossed into the box, where Irakly Manelov scored a header, his first on the RPL level. Krasnodar attacks became more intense in the final minutes, but Zenit substitutes also said their word. Andrey Mostovoy ran into the counter attack and gave Magomed Ozdoev a right to net the third goal.

Krasnodar remain sixth on 39 points playing one game less, while Zenit stay top of the table on 58 points. Winning the next game with possible Dynamo loss to Ural will bring St. Petersburg fourth consecutive title.

Next RPL fixtures: Saturday 30 April - Krasnodar vs Rostov; Zenit St. Petersburg vs Lokomotiv Moscow