In the Zenit — Sochi match: the Petersburgers win and come out on top.

Having won three points in the match with Sochi, the blue-white-blues break away from Spartak and lead the Tinkoff RPL table.

Zenit entered the game prepared: and already in the 5th minute, Daler Kuzyaev, who occupied a place on the right flank, after passing from deep, broke through along the edge, shifting to the center, launched the ball into the far corner. The shot turned out to be inaccurate, but forced the goalkeeper of the Sochi team, Soslan Dzhanaev, to stretch out in a jump. The Petersburgers looked better in ball control and, in general, confidently seized the initiative in their own hands in the duel.

At the 10th minute Dzhanaev had to really save his team. After an overhead pass from the right corner flag, Alexander Erokhin sent the ball straight into the goal with a head kick, but the goalkeeper blocked his way into the net in the fall. The initial segment of the match remained completely behind the blue-white-blue; «Sochi» turned out to be a little unprepared for active football «Zenit » from the very first minutes and was almost closed in his half of the field, only very rarely going on the attack.

Six minutes later, during the next attack of the blue-white-blue, the defense of "Sochi" still fell. And if the Sochi team still managed to cope with the first strike of Serdar Azmun, then neither he nor any of the defenders managed to prevent Vyacheslav Karavaev from finishing the ball into the net - 1:0!

The second goal was not long in coming. In the 24th minute, the ball was again in the penalty area of Sochi until it landed next to Alexander Erokhin. The midfielder shot Janaev's goal right in the center. The goalkeeper had no chance to save his team — 2:0!

At the end of the half, the players of Sochi began to show themselves a little more actively in the half of the hosts' field, playing more combination football, performed several innings in the penalty area, played a corner, mainly counting on the tall Anton Zabolotny. But the central defenders of Zenit coped with the attacker and deprived him of the opportunity to reduce the gap in the score. Zenit went to the break after a very convincing 45 minutes and with a good start on the eve of the second half of the meeting.

In the second half of the match, Sochi cranked up the speed, realizing that without this the game would not be saved. And in the 57th minute, the guests even managed to win back one goal thanks to the skill of Kirill Zaika. Finding himself with the ball in the penalty area of Zenit, the defender technically worked the ball under his left foot and accurately sent it to the top corner of the goal 2:1. The players of Sochi believed in their strength and revived the intrigue that was practically absent before the break.

Sochi residents went forward with renewed vigor. At intervals, the guests managed to seize the initiative and even impose their own game. But the coaching staff of Zenit decided that it was necessary to make changes in the course of the game, and released two fresh players on the field at once. Artem Dzyuba replaced Serdar Azmun. Also, for the first time, Brazilian midfielder Wendel appeared on the field in a Zenit T-shirt, and Alexander Erokhin left. Magomed Ozdoev also entered the game, Wilmar Barrios went to the bench.

A few minutes later, Sebastian Driussi left the field, and Alexey Sutormin was playing instead. The match was still equal. The exchange of attacks continued until the final whistle.

At the end of the match, in the second added minute, the blue-white-blues increased the advantage - Douglas Santos directed the ball from outside the penalty area, and after a rebound flew into the goal. 3:1!