of the Champions League with a 2-0 win at Lyon, where both
sides had a man sent off.
Dzyuba, who also scored in the reverse fixture, hit both goals at
Stade Gerland on Wednesday to ensure the Russians
maintained their 100 per cent record in Group H, which is
propped up by winless Lyon.
Zenit, 3-1 winners over the Ligue 1 side on home soil, headed
into the fixture knowing victory would secure their spot in the
competition's next phase with two games remaining.
And the visitors came flying out of the blocks as Hulk's cross
paved the way for Dzyuba to open the scoring midway through
the opening half.
Lyon responded impressively, yet were left to rue a series of
missed opportunities when Hulk fed his strike partner for a
second in the 57th minute.
There was more drama to come as both sides were reduced to
10 men, with Maxime Gonalons shown red for the hosts before
Zenit's Aleksandr Anyukov also received a second yellow card.
But neither dismissal impacted the outcome, with Zenit virtually
guaranteeing they will end as Group H winners, while Lyon need
to win their final two fixtures to have even the faintest hope of
progressing.
The visitors were handed a boost before the game kicked off,
with Andre Villas-Boas able to call upon star striker Hulk
following injury.
Zenit almost went ahead in the 16th minute, as a marauding run
by Domenico Criscito ended with a fine cross that Anthony
Lopes parried into the path of Dzyuba. However, the forward's
subsequent effort was blocked on the goal line by Mapou Yanga-
Mbiwa.
That seemed to awaken Lyon, who created a good opening of
their own soon after when Sergi Darder was denied by Yuri
Lodigin.
The game took on an end-to-end nature and Zenit seized the
initiative in the 25th minute.
Hulk was the orchestrator, standing up his defender before
creating an angle and sliding a fine pass to Dzyuba - who curled
into an empty net.
Lyon continued to look a threat, however, and should have
equalised when Corentin Tolisso curled just wide from 12 yards.
An even better chance went begging in the 32nd minute as
Yanga-Mbiwa hit a sitter wide after Gonalons' effort had been
pushed away by Lodigin.
Lyon continued to dominate thereafter, with Henri Bedimo
striking narrowly over before Lodigin raced from his line to deny
Tolisso from point-blank range.
They again almost levelled just before the interval, only
for Darder's fizzing 25-yarder to fly narrowly wide.
The break appeared to halt the hosts' momentum
as Zenit emerged reinvigorated for the second half.
And Lyon were hit by a sucker punch in the 57th minute when
Hulk played a perfect throughball that Dzyuba poked
beyond Lopes and into the net.
Hubert Fournier's men never posed the same threat following
Gonalons' sending off, with Zenit almost grabbing a third as
Lopes turned away Hulk's 25-yard free-kick.
The only negative for the away side was Anyukov's red card,
although him serving his suspension in a game with little riding
on it will doubtless please Villas-Boas.
No comments:
Post a Comment