Zenit rescued a point in discount in a very discreet match against Malmoe (1-1) that helps them to secure third place in the group and a place in the Europa League crosses.
Malmoe caressed the victory, who had not yet scored, in a hard game, with hardly any chances, and after getting ahead of half an hour with so much from Rieks, but a penalty transformed by Rakitskiy, the second that Zenit had, ruined him Party.
Malmoe arrived with some resounding numbers (12 goals against, none in favor, zero points), the losses of two key men (midfielder Christiansen and winger Berget), the memory of the win in San Petersbugo (4-0) and involved in the resolution of the Swedish league, which leads with a point advantage with two games to go.
The Swedish champions could hardly hold on to the good image of the recent loss at home against Chelsea (0-1), which they followed today with a more than acceptable first half.
After removing a commotion in the area at 12 minutes that neither Dzyuba nor Karavaev knew how to resolve, started by a good move by Malcom, there was almost no danger. And he prowled the rival area on a couple of occasions, almost always with Birmancevic as the protagonist.
It was precisely he who started the 1-0, with a good wall with Rieks, who portrayed Lovren and defined inside the area with a placed shot.
Zenit, very discreet in the first 45 minutes, had no response, beyond a deflected shot from Karavaev.
Semak took advantage of the break to make two offensive changes with Erokhin and Mostovoi. And it soon paid off. Wendell surprised him in depth and Dahlin ran him over on his way out. But the Swedish goalkeeper recovered and deflected the penalty thrown into the middle by Dzyuba.
Zenit had a hard time retrieving the thread. The VAR later annulled a goal for offside tight to the Russian giant in the middle of a new phase of visiting dominance, but without scaring Malmoe, increasingly locked in.
In just over twenty minutes, Tomasson sent a clear message. He took Birmancevic (forward) out of the side (Olsson). But Malmoe did not suffer too much against a rival who did not seem very interested in the game either.
Chistiakov’s expulsion seemed to clarify the result, but the referee awarded Larsson a penalty for releasing his elbow on a jump with Dzyuba and Chistiakov transformed from eleven meters.
– Data sheet:
1 – Malmoe: Dahlin; Larsson, Ahmedhozdic, Brorsson, Moisander, Rieks; Peña (Rakip, m.78), Innocent, Lewicki; Birmancevic (Olsson, m.69), Colak.
1 – Zenit: Kerzhakov; Douglas Santos, Rakitskiy, Lovren (Erokhin, m.46), Chistiakov; Wendel; Barrios, Claudinho (Mostovoi, m.46), Malcom, Karavaev; Dzyuba.
Goals: 1-0, m.28: Rieks; 1-1, m.90: Rakitskiy (penalty).
Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia). He took a yellow card, for Malmoe, to Dahlin (m.48), Ahmedhozdic (m.56), Moisander (m.74), Rieks (m.90); for Zenit, to Wendel (m.55). Chistiakov (Zenit) was sent off for a double yellow (m.62, 88).
Incidents: Match of the fifth day of group H of the Champions League played at the Nya Malmö Stadion in Malmoe (Sweden). EFE