The match between Zenit and Krasnodar was a priori considered one of the expected not only in the 14th round of the RPL, but also in the first half of the championship.
The confrontation between two representatives of Russia in the Champions League and prize-winners of the last two championships of the country attracted huge interest from fans, and the events ahead of the meeting further increased the excitement.
And we are talking here not only about the situation with Artyom Dziuba, but also about the performances of groups in the international arena.
Both needed to rehabilitate themselves for their failures in European competitions and take a break from the national teams on a high note.
One of the main intrigues was in which line-ups the teams would appear in the face-to-face match.
Zenit was most interested in the presence of Dziuba in the starting lineup, while Krasnodar was interested in a combination in defense.
So, Murad Musaev could not count on three defenders at once, and the most painful were the losses of Christian Ramirez and Sergey Petrov.
As a result, Dziuba still ended up at the heart of the hosts, although he was left without a captain's armband.
That unexpectedly went to the former footballer of Liverpool Dejan Lovren, only in the last offseason who joined the team of St. Petersburg.
Musaev, on the other hand, made a very original decision and sent the nominally central defender Alexander Martynovich to the right flank of the defense.
His place, paired with the seriously criticized Kayo, was taken by Yegor Sorokin, and Evgeny Chernov was on the left.
The first ten minutes of the meeting were not the most intense.
The hosts possessed a colossal advantage and practically did not allow opponents to take possession of the ball.
In the absence of a flamboyant game, all the fans' attention was expectedly focused on Dzyuba.
They not only booed one of the best players in the RPL of the last season, but also hung out an unambiguous banner with the caption "It's hard to go into history, but it's easy to get involved."
As for football itself, the main events began to develop after the 13th minute.
Despite the solid game advantage, Zenit was the first to concede.
Wendel made a gross oversight and touched the ball with his hand in his own penalty area.
After lengthy meetings with assistants, the chief referee Vladimir Moskalev nevertheless decided to watch the replay, after which, for the first time in the season, he pointed to a point in the penalty area of Petersburgers.
Markus Berg easily converted the 11-meter, but did not calm down and almost provoked a brawl on the field.
The Swede came close to the goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov and shouted something in his face, but the conflict was extinguished.
Sergei Semak's wards needed to correct the situation, but for a long time they did not manage to create a single dangerous moment.
Krasnodar played quite confidently on the defensive, only once letting Matvey Safonov be disturbed.
Douglas Santos hit, but he hit right in the center of the gate.
But in the very ending with a minus sign Kayo again distinguished himself.
In previous matches, the Brazilian has already managed to make several productive mistakes at once and become one of the most criticized footballers of the bulls.
The unsuccessful streak continued in the confrontation with Zenit.
The same Santos made a serve from the left flank into the penalty area, and the Krasnodar defender not only lost the position to Lovren, but also touched the ball with his elbow.
Moskalev again went to watch the replay, and a few minutes later appointed a second 11-meter.
Despite the negative reaction from the fans, Dziuba went to execute the penalty.
But the blow was not strong and did not become a serious test for Safonov.
In the second half, Zenit appeared much more organized and charged to win.
Semak's wards increased in intensity and even more pressed the opponent to their goal.
For 15 minutes, blue-white-blue five times harassed Safonov, and Dzyuba was more active than others.
Artyom twice found himself in a shock position, but failed to catch the goalkeeper by surprise.
Musaev tried to bring Krasnodar to life with substitutions, but the appearance of Tonny Vilhena, Remy Cabell and Daniil Utkin did not change the state of affairs on the field.
Game superiority was embodied in a goal already in the 65th minute.
Zenit carried out a massive attack, during which four of the hosts' players were in the opponent's penalty area at once.
Immediately it was not possible to bring the matter to a blow - the chamber of Magomed Ozdoev did not reach Dziuba, but Daler Kuzyaev was the first on the selection.
The midfielder struck for execution and sent the ball exactly to the far corner of the bulls' goal.
And after 14 minutes, Dziuba himself presented his answer to the critics.
The striker managed to recover after the unsuccessful first half and acted as the creator of the second goal scored by Zenit.
At first, he easily won the fight on the second floor against Kayo and made a discount on Ozdoev, and then closed the cross into the penalty area.
Not only all the players of the main squad, but also the substitutes of Zenit rushed to congratulate Artyom with a goal.
At the end of the meeting, Krasnodar tried to make a bulk, but they lacked either ingenuity or strength to crack the opponent's defense.
The appearance on the field and the overall Evgeny Markov, who was able to successfully fight on the second floor, did not help either.
And already in stoppage time, the guests completely forgot about defense and gave the owners two chances to excel at once.
In both cases, Dzyuba acted as the organizer, and Aleksey Sutormin, who came on as a substitute, was the finisher.
In the first case, the shot turned out to be extremely inaccurate, but on the second attempt he put the ball exactly in the corner and established the final score of the match.
As it turned out later, the blue-white-blue midfielder dedicated this goal to his father, who had passed away the day before.
Nevertheless, Dzyuba was recognized as the main hero of the central match of the 14th round of the RPL.
Like Zenit in general, he changed incredibly in the second half, and his inspired play became one of the key factors of the team's success.
In the last 45 minutes alone, he won seven single combats, gave two key passes and struck five shots on goal.
Nevertheless, Artyom himself decided to give the award to another person.
“Thanks to everyone who supported me.
I would like to give the prize to Lyokh Sutormin.
His dad passed away yesterday.
I want this award to go to him.
He deserves it.
A real man, "Dziuba admitted on the air of Match TV.
Zenit won a strong-willed victory over Krasnodar and continued their pursuit of CSKA in the standings.
After 14 rounds, the reigning champions have 30 points in their assets and are only one point behind the army team.
Musaev's wards suffered their sixth defeat of the season and remained in tenth place with 18 points.