The need to win

The group stage of the Champions League started very badly for Zenit.

In St. Petersburg, Sergei Semak's charges lost to the group F outsider, Brugge (1: 2). 

A few days later, the strongest Russian team suffered its first home defeat in the RPL in almost two years, having lost to Rubin with a similar score, and dropped to third place in the national championship standings. 

Against the background of recent failures, rumors even appeared in the media about the possible dismissal of Semak.

Allegedly, his place can be taken by Mauricio Pochettino, who was able to bring Tottenham to the Champions League final. 

Under these conditions, the victory of the blue-white-blue was simply necessary.

But Borussia also had no right to lose points again, since in the first round of the group stage they were weaker than Lazio - 3: 1. 

Before the game, the Petersburgers again suffered losses.

Malcolm did not have time to recover for the important departure, and most importantly: Serdar Azmun fell ill with angina.

But Yuri Zhirkov fully recovered from the damage. 

Semak surprised the fans, leaving Magomed Ozdoev in reserve.

But the newcomer Wendel got into the base again.

Also, from the first minutes, Alexander Erokhin entered the field, who was marked by goals in the last three RPL matches. 

The starting lineup of blue-white-blue for the match # BorussiaZenit!

💙✊ pic.twitter.com/rxspVTPiWk

- FC Zenit ✨ (@zenit_spb) October 28, 2020

Borussia also experienced serious personnel problems.

While Thorgan Hazard and Manuel Akanji have recovered from their injuries, midfielder Emre Can tested positive for coronavirus.

Fortunately for the team, the rest of the players tested negative. 

In the match against Zenit, Lucien Favre decided to bet on a 4-2-3-1 formation, in which the attacking trio Jadon Sancho - Marco Reus - Erling Holland played the main role.

Zenit in defense

Both teams started the game very carefully.

Borussia had a little more possession of the ball, but did not strive to actively go forward, exposing their own rear.

After ten minutes, the guests even seized the initiative for a while, but this period did not last long.

Favre's team soon finally took possession of the ball and began to weave combinations at someone else's penalty area, albeit with practically no dangerous strikes.

By and large, the hosts' attacks got stuck in the opponent's support zone. 

The players of "Dortmund" created the first unpleasant moment in the 14th minute, when Giovanni Reina almost sent a shell into the near corner from the penalty line. 

The next chance to open an account was presented at the end of the meeting hour.

Daler Kuzyaev, in a subcategory, tried to knock the ball out of the opponent's feet, but broke the rules and received a yellow card.

Marko Royce undertook to fulfill the standard, but Mikhail Kerzhakov parried his blow to the near corner in a beautiful jump. 

Zenit, although it defended calmly and confidently, practically did not cross the center of the field.

The counterplay of the Petersburgers did not go well at all, and Artyom Dzyuba did not cling to the ball at all and extended the goalless streak to eight matches, although he acted very diligently.

However, in the 35th minute, the opponent's goalkeeper Roman Byurki almost helped the guests to score an unexpected goal.

After serving Douglas from the left flank, he played extremely poorly on the way out and allowed Sebastian Driussi to get ahead of himself.

Unfortunately, the projectile from the head of the Argentine passed above the alignment. 

At the end of the half, the hosts created a couple of chances.

So, Kerzhakov coped with the impact of Royce from an acute angle, and Holland from a dangerous position did not hit the target.

Offensive ending

The second half "Zenith" unexpectedly began without Dziuba, who practically did not meet with the ball.

It is not known whether his replacement was related to an injury or was dictated by tactical moments, but Artyom went to the bench, and Andrei Mostovoy took his place at the forefront of the attack.

However, the overall course of the game has not changed.

Rather, on the contrary, Borussia finally took the ball under their control, and the guests sat on the defensive.

But the creation of dangerous moments was still given to the Dortmund team with tremendous difficulty.

For example, right after the break, Royce shot into the post, but the referee recorded an offside position.

A little later, Mahmoud Dahud was noted for a promising long-range strike, but Kerzhakov with great difficulty reached the projectile with his fingertips.

The goalkeeper confidently coped with the shot from the substitute Thorgan Azar from the corner of the penalty area.

Semak also began to make replacements closer to the final whistle.

He strengthened the support zone with Ozdoev, and the left flank with Zhirkov.

At the same time, Driussi, who went to the bench, received a wrist injury. 

It seemed that Zenit would still be able to keep a draw, without even crossing the middle of the field, but 13 minutes before the end of regular time, Borussia got an offensive penalty.

Karavaev lost the position to Azar in his penalty area and pulled his shirt with his hand.

The Belgian immediately fell on the lawn, and the referee pointed to the "point".

Jadon Sancho's accurate shot left Kerzhakov no chance.

Here already Semak was forced to go for broke.

Instead of defensive midfielder Barrios, he released a football player of a more attacking formation Alexei Sutormin on the field.

But the citizens of St. Petersburg could not extract any dividends from this castling.

And in the end, 20-year-old Holland realized a one-on-one exit and put an end to the match.

Thus, Zenit suffered its third consecutive defeat in all competitions and the second in the Champions League.

With zero points, the blue-white-blue finish the standings of Group F. In Dortmund, the guests struck only four hits, and not a single one - on target.