St. Petersburg's Zenit secured a convincing 4-1 victory over Lokomotiv, taking the top spot in the Russian Premier League table.
Zenit secured a major victory over Lokomotiv (4-1) in the 22nd round of the Russian Premier League. A brace from Isaac, along with goals from Claudinho and Mastrangelo, ensured Sergey Semak's team took the top spot in the standings. The Moscow club failed to turn the tide of the game.
Push from the first minutes
The St. Petersburg team took the initiative from the start. In the 15th minute, Brazilian Claudinho opened the scoring, finishing a cross from the flank. By the 23rd minute, Lokomotiv's defenders lost track of Artyom Isaaka, who doubled the hosts' lead. The first-half score was 2-0.
We spotted their defensive weaknesses and immediately took advantage of them. The key is not to let the opponent recover.
— Сергей Семак, главный тренер «Зенита»
The railroad workers' collapse
In the second half, Lokomotiv tried to come back, but after Igbun's goal in the 57th minute, Isaac scored a brace (65th minute). Italian Mastrangelo sealed the match in the 78th minute by converting a penalty.
The head coach of Lokomotiv, Mikhail Galaktionov, admitted after the match that his team made too many individual mistakes: "Zenit was more aggressive and more rational."
Now Zenit is 3 points ahead of Krasnodar, while Lokomotiv remains in 6th place. In the next round, the Petersburg team will face Rostov, and the Moscow team will host Ural.