The Russian football premier league club Zenit in St. Petersburg won on Sunday, celebrating success in the local championship four rounds before the end of the season.
Zenit defeated Krasnodar in third place with the guests 4: 2 (2: 1).
It was the second title for the St. Petersburg club in two years, but in total six trophies have already been won, which is the same as for the most titled team in Moscow CSKA.
Already in the fifth minute of the match, the defender of the home center made a mistake at his penalty area, and Sardārs Azmūns noticed the Zenit in the lead. In the 29th minute, the result was equalized by Daniils Utkins, but even before going to the changing rooms (in the first minute of the compensation time), Artyom Juba was accurate, who sold the “pendulum”.
The visitors’ central defense should have had no trouble clearing the pass to 11 minutes into the game, but the keeper saved. In the 41st minute, Masiel Vanderson from Krasnodar did not take an 11-meter shot.
In the second half of the 50th minute, Utkina’s long shot went to the upper left corner of the goal, but the balance on the scoreboard dried up already two minutes later, Azmūns was the first to hit the goalkeeper in the penalty area.
In the 72nd minute, doubts about the victory were dispelled by Alexei Sutormin, who ran alone against the goalkeeper and was infallible.
The Russian Premier League season resumed in June after a break. Since then, four rounds have been played, with Zenit not losing points in any of the matches.
Zenit is 13 points ahead of second-place Moscow Lokomotiv, which cannot score more than 12 points in the remaining games. As a result, the St. Petersburg club managed to triumph in the Russian Premier League on Sunday.
Zenit is one of the most hated clubs by fans. The reason is often cited as the fact that the main sponsor of the team is the state-owned company Gazprom, which leads to the conclusion that the St. Petersburg unit is financed from taxpayers’ money. There have also been many cases where judges’ decisions are made in favor of this team.
Just like in the St. Petersburg SKA Continental Hockey League (KHL), Zenit is an informal “farm club” in the Russian Premier League. Another scandal this season was related to the transfer of Alexei Sutormin. Information in the Premier League database shows that the midfielder was purchased from Kazan “Rubin” for 50 thousand rubles or 618 euros.
Spectators of the Russian championship game are allowed to attend in limited numbers.
The break of the season in the Russian Premier League was announced in mid-March, after the number of people infected with the coronavirus in the country rose sharply.
